Recommendations for policy, practice and funding

The following national recommendations are drawn out from the evaluation analysis and road safety implications:

1. Champion minor walking measures as a Road Safety strategic action

Investing in minor walking measures to an inclusive design standard will encourage safe walking on the footway by reducing the risk of slips & trips and enabling safer crossings. The CSA/SRA process is a robust way of targeting investment to deliver more safe walking for everyone, a core underpinning of a large scale reduction in car kilometres on route to Vision Zero.

2. Value the CSA/SRA process for its inclusive community perspective

The body of CSA/SRA work forms an important evidence base documenting strong community demand for minor walking measures and improved road safety for pedestrians across Scotland. The audits have an inclusion focus, representing Disabled people, older people and children which can help target where small investments could be most impactful. Improvements such as more collaborative working on prioritisation and co-funding, and multi-year follow-up by Living Streets to support cross-service collaboration and evaluation could improve delivery success.

3. Create a dedicated ‘Minor Measures Walking Fund’ as a multi-year fund

Footway repairs, drop kerbs, decluttering, and crossings are material changes that facilitate safe active travel and should be understood as small capital projects. A dedicated ‘Minor Measures Walking Fund’ could complement existing active travel funding streams, or form part of the Road Safety Improvement Fund. Multi-year funding and simple fund administration would help local authorities deliver rolling programmes and build delivery routines.

4. Conduct a nationwide ‘State of the Footway’ asset survey

The evaluation findings point to the overall poor quality of the footways within settlements. In some instances, strategic rebuilding could be more cost-effective than extensive minor patching. Conduct a national asset survey to assess the condition of footways across Scotland and estimate renewal cost and carbon implications. Existing local authority footway condition surveys and existing CSA/SRAs could be used as a starting point, and as a sampling method.

5. Introduce an Active Travel/Road Safety Prize for minor walking measures

A prize that celebrates the prettiest footway patch, the most life-changing drop kerb, the most sociable new footway, or the most hilarious declutter, could increase awareness, encourage innovation and spur action through positive reinforcement of the big local impact of minor walking measures.