Bulletin four - November 2024 - Active Travel Transformation

Purpose

This note provides Local Authorities (LAs), Regional Transport Partnerships (RTPs), National Park Authorities and national delivery partners with an update on Transport Scotland’s Active Travel infrastructure and behaviour change programmes.

Previous bulletins have provided information on the introduction of the new delivery system, and detail on a number of the programmes being taken forward through it.  This bulletin provides information on the wider Active Travel programme and confirmed funding for 2024-25, and updates on progress across both infrastructure and behaviour change.

Background

Following an extensive period of engagement, the Active Travel delivery system across infrastructure and behaviour change has been transformed. On infrastructure, a new tiered delivery model has been developed and introduced, and on behaviour change, 2024-25 has seen the introduction of a new regional delivery model built on direct funding to Regional Transport Partnerships (RTPs).

Active Travel Programme 2024-25

Despite record funding confirmed for Active Travel of £220 million in the 2024-25 Scottish Budget, significant pressures around wider public finances remain, and there is a need for all parts of the Scottish Government portfolio to ensure a balanced budget. Investment continues in Active Travel projects and interventions to support more people to walk, wheel or cycle for shorter, everyday journeys, with more than £155 million allocated in 2024-25 to support activity across both infrastructure and behaviour change.

Looking ahead to 2025-26, we encourage partners to consider interventions that achieve impact and support the First Minister’s priorities of: eradicating child poverty; tackling climate change; boosting local economies; and improving access to public services, while being mindful of the Scottish Government’s challenging budgetary position.

Active Travel Transformation: Infrastructure

Tier 1 Active Travel Infrastructure Fund - £35 million

Tier 1 funding has replaced Cycling, Walking, Safer Routes (CWSR), and supports the design, development and delivery of a broad range of Active Travel infrastructure measures across our communities. The Fund is provided direct to LAs as part of the General Capital Block Grant allocation, removing the necessity to complete financial claims as required previously with CWSR. 

The Fund is now well established and has been allocated using a new distribution methodology that was agreed following extensive engagement with CoSLA. The methodology has been designed to ensure that allocations are coherent with our shared policy priorities and are focussed on reducing inequality and delivering modal shift - enabling more people to make the switch from their cars to Active Travel, while ensuring that all areas of Scotland are supported. It also introduces a minimum £200,000 allocation where required.

A programme of positive engagement and LA returns is now well underway to help us understand and embed the new delivery model and improve LA capacity and capability. Positive feedback has been received from LA partners on the continued support they are receiving from Transport Scotland to achieve their Active Travel infrastructure ambitions, as well as the flexibility that comes with funding being provided directly to them, without the necessity of a bidding process.

Thanks to those LAs that have recently submitted their mid-year reports updating on progress. Some emerging themes include: the delivery of safe routes to schools and 20mph zones; connecting rural and semi-rural communities; and the continued investment in future projects, with LAs looking ahead to their pipeline of projects as well as constructing this year. For further information on the operation of Tier 1 please continue to engage with Lisa.Peebles@gov.scot. 

Tier 2 Active Travel Infrastructure Fund - £10 million

On 8 October, Cabinet Secretary for Transport, Fiona Hyslop announced the allocation of £10 million of Scottish Government funding to Tier 2 of the Active Travel Infrastructure Fund to help make walking, wheeling and cycling easier for shorter everyday journeys.

Transport Scotland officials are engaging with LAs and RTPs to understand whether successful applicants can deliver their projects by 31 March 2025. Projects confirmed to date include: 

• Motherwell Train Station (North Lanarkshire)
• Connecting Woodside St Georges Road/Charing Cross Active Travel (Glasgow)
• Leith Connections (Edinburgh)
• Bell Street ‘Green Transport Hub’ - Active Travel Gateway Connections (Dundee)
• Alva to Tillicoultry Safe Active Travel route (Clackmannanshire)
• A807 Active Travel Corridor (East Dunbartonshire)
• Deanhaugh/Leslie/Haugh Street Junction Improvements (Edinburgh)
• Carlops Road Crossing Facility and Junction Improvements and Sherwood Crescent, Bonnyrigg: Traffic Calming and Crossing (Midlothian)
• A96 to Elgin Academy/ Bishopmill Primary School Priority Cycle Track (Moray)
• North Crescent Coastal Path Phase 2 and McGavin Park Kilwinning (North Ayrshire)
• Wick Street Design (Highlands)
• Weyland Bay Coastal Path Kirkwall (Orkney Islands)
• Dunbar Railway Station Southern Access (East Lothian)
• Rosneath Cyclepath Phase 2 (Argyll and Bute)
• Tweedbank Railway Station to Melrose Active Travel corridor (Scottish Borders)

If you have submitted your project and haven’t received a response, this may be because your project is further down the prioritisation list or exceeds the budget available for this financial year. If you need further information on the Tier 2 Active Travel Infrastructure Fund, please contact ravi.grandhi@transport.gov.scot.

Road Safety

• Trunk Road Casualty Reduction Programme - £4 million
• Road Safety Improvement Fund - £2 million

The Transport Scotland Trunk Road Casualty Reduction Programme has received £4 million Active Travel funding to improve pedestrian and cyclist infrastructure, with an emphasis on safety. This includes addressing key issues such as severance, and providing safe links for communities along the trunk road network.

Transport Scotland’s Road Safety Programme has been allocated £2 million through the Road Safety Improvement Fund (RSIF) for targeted road safety measures promoting Active Travel on the local road network. The goal is to enhance safety for pedestrians and cyclists in high-risk areas, ensuring safer journeys for those opting for sustainable modes of transport.

Scotland’s Road Safety Framework to 2030 sets an ambitious goal to become the global leader in road safety by 2030. Backed by national and mode-specific casualty reduction targets, the framework aims for a 40% reduction in pedestrian casualties resulting in serious injuries or fatalities (KSI) and a 20% reduction in cyclist KSIs by the end of the decade.

It is clear that we need to invest in road safety to achieve progress towards Scotland’s casualty reduction targets. The latest statistics show that pedestrian total casualties have risen by 3% from 2022 and pedestrian fatalities have increased by 13 to 47. While cycling casualties have fallen by 16%, cycling road deaths have increased from 2 to 7.

This funding is a crucial intervention to help specifically address the significant increase in fatalities on Scotland’s roads as well as achieve modal shift.

Transition of Design Projects

With construction project funding now directly managed by Transport Scotland we are also considering our plans for the transition of design projects. The challenging financial position has impacted our ability to provide funding for work beyond Sustrans’ contractual commitments this year, particularly our ability to fund design work to date. As with all programmes across government, further funding for 2024-25 is being considered in the context of balancing the Scottish Government budget.

We are working with Sustrans to understand in further detail the pipeline of projects within Places for Everyone (PfE), both those currently funded and those applications for new projects which are awaiting funding. With PfE winding down by December 2025, Transport Scotland will continue to transition to a model providing more direct funding to LAs, RTPs and NPAs with projects being directly funded by Transport Scotland from 2025-26.

We are engaging with delivery partners, and understand the need to minimise the amount of work required when applying for funding, while ensuring a robust and deliverable in-year programme. Furthermore, it is intended that we will not be making any significant changes to the current PfE funding criteria. Having been developed over time, these align with not only with our Active Travel Framework outcomes but also reflect the First Minister’s priorities.

We will provide further updates on the transition of design projects as we progress. Discussions have taken place with a number of LAs on their emerging plans. Amy Phillips is leading on the design funding work and would be happy to meet with any LA, RTP or NPA to discuss their plans if helpful. Please contact Amy.Phillips@transport.gov.scot (from mid-November).

Active Travel Transformation: Behaviour Change

People and Place Programme - £19 million

The People and Place programme commenced in Spring 2024 following an intensive period of engagement between RTPs, LAs and third sector delivery partners across the country. A key benefit of the new programme has been the collaboration among the organisations involved in identifying their own local challenges and how best to address them, and the fresh opportunities it has created for place-based innovation Alongside the RTPs developing ambitious new behaviour change strategies, plans, and ways of working, delivery partners have also rolled out new interventions such as Paths for All’s ‘Walking Workplace’ projects.

With RTPs accountable to their Boards, including Elected Members, we have seen a step-change in the openness and transparency around the way behaviour change interventions are planned and delivered. From papers published and meetings broadcast online, to entirely new data portals created, there is now a lot more opportunity for the public to see and scrutinise the work being supported.

The first half of this transitional year has seen a number of new relationships developed. The RTPs have hosted excellent events bringing together their national and local delivery partners, reflecting on what has worked well this year, and setting the direction for the years ahead. Focus is being placed on shared learning, from workshops with LA transport officers, to Paths for All’s upcoming Community Project Learning Event in December, and many others.

While there have been challenges along the way, primarily linked to delays in funding being released to delivery partners, collaborative working has managed this period of change and transition across the sector. Small teams have worked at pace to get the programme up and running, adapting to new governance and funding mechanisms. The People and Place Operational Group has worked closely to identify solutions, share learnings and expertise - building a collaborative and partnership-focused approach.

Monitoring & Evaluation Framework

For the 2024-25 programme, a new Monitoring & Evaluation Framework (co-produced by TS and delivery partners) has been provided to RTPs and shared with local delivery partners. Consultation and feedback with the RTPs is ongoing through the People and Place Monitoring & Evaluation Group. Work also continues with RTPs and LAs to develop our understanding of the level of capacity and resource within delivery partners to produce effective monitoring and evaluation data, and to find ways to pool resources and share best practice where possible.

Looking ahead to 2025-26, it is intended that sustainable travel interventions (such as those centred around the development of demand responsive transport, mobility hubs and shared transport provision) will be included in the People and Place programme for coordination by RTPs.

Community Projects Transition Fund (CPTF)

The CPTF is an interim arrangement between the national SCSP Open Fund ending last year, and support for community work being fully mainstreamed in to RTP’s place-based programmes from next year. CPTF opened for expressions of interest in March, with funding available nationally without geographical restrictions. It has now awarded over £2.1m to 54 projects including: local active travel hubs; bike share schemes; adaptive cycling sessions; and safer routes to school.

A second strand of CPTF is now underway. This has maximised Paths for All’s knowledge and experience as stewards of the SCSP programme to support the seven RTPs to engage with the wider third and community sector to design their future delivery models for community support.

Local Authority Direct Award (LADA)

Work is underway to improve and refine the LADA grant management process for 2025-26, supporting LAs with their sustainable and active travel programmes, and building on successes from this year.

LAs have welcomed the flexibility the funding provides, and looking ahead it is intended to continue providing a source of direct funding that enables LAs to meet their Active Travel ambitions in a way that is responsive to local needs and priorities.

Active Travel News

A number of Ministerial engagements have been hosted by partners over the summer and autumn, and thanks are extended to all involved:

• South City Way (Glasgow, June) - the final section of the South City Way, linking the Southside into the city centre, was opened in June. This exemplar route has transformed how many people access the city centre with 3.9 million cycle journeys recorded over the past three years.
• Torvean Mobility Hub (Highland, July) - the Hub includes cycle parking, a car park to support park and ride, a HI-Bike dock and a bus stop. This will help people to change their mode of transport making active travel and public transport more accessible.
• Bike Station and Score Scotland (Edinburgh, August) - an opportunity for engagement with communities experiencing transport poverty to see the direct impact of People and Place funding. Score Scotland promotes Active Travel within New Scots refugee families in South West Edinburgh.
• Alva to Menstrie Phase 1 (Clackmannanshire, September) – delivered through the Active Travel Transformation Fund, this new route provides an off road path between these two communities
• Loch Lomond & the Trossachs NPA (October) – an opportunity to hear about the new mobility partnership approach, which will lead to lower carbon emissions, promote tourism and improve connectivity across the National Park

The Transport Scotland Active Travel webpages have been updated, reflecting the range of changes to the delivery of Active Travel. Alongside these bulletins, a new section identifies a number of LA case studies highlighting the diverse ways LAs are choosing to allocate funding that best suits their circumstances to make walking, wheeling and cycling the most popular choice for short journeys.

Cycling Scotland has published data from its Traffic Surveys, with some encouraging figures including record numbers of bike trips on Leith Walk (CEC) (9% of all journeys), and national data showing increases in people travelling by bike across a number of locations. The annual national Cycling Scotland Conference also took place on 8 October, with a packed agenda including contributions from: the Cabinet Secretary for Transport; Deborah Paton, GCC; Kate Cairns, Road Safety trainer and CLOCS Ambassador; and Adrien Sartre, Political Advisor to the Deputy Mayor of Paris. 

Cycling by Design Update and Recorded Training Modules

Work is on-going to update Cycling by Design, informed by recent research and review by the Steering Group which includes members of SCOTS and Sustrans. Recorded Training Modules are also available on the Transport Scotland website Cycling by Design | Transport Scotland

Further updates

We intend to provide the next bulletin on Active Travel Transformation following the Draft Scottish Budget for 2025-26, which will be introduced to Parliament on 4 December.