Twelve English towns and cities will receive £100m under a government scheme intended to increase the number of people cycling, it was announced today.

The transport secretary, Ruth Kelly, said she hoped the initiative would "pioneer new ways of encouraging people to get on their bikes".

Bristol has been named as the UK's first "cycling city" after pledging to double the number of people biking on its streets over three years.

The city will receive £11.4m, rising to £23m after three years, to create the UK's first on-street bike rental network, modelled on the successful Paris scheme.

Officials will encourage the provision of showers and lockers for people cycling to work, and also aim to double the number of children receiving cycling training.

Eleven other English towns and cities - York, Stoke, Blackpool, Cambridge, Chester, Colchester, Leighton Buzzard, Southend, Shrewsbury, Southport and Woking – have been named as demonstration areas for the scheme.

They will be added to the current six demonstration areas - Aylesbury, Brighton, Darlington, Derby, Exeter and Lancaster.

Kelly said a quarter of journeys made every day by car were of "less than two miles".

"The first step in persuading people to leave their cars at home is to offer them a real choice," she added.

"Providing … dedicated cycle lanes, more training and information will have a big impact on how people choose to travel."

Phillip Darnton, the chairman of Cycling England, said the initiative was designed to create a change in cycling levels "starting in 2008 and for years to come".