The active travel landscape in the UK

What has changed?

2020 was a big year for active travel, with the introduction of Gear Change, the release of the LTN 1/20 standards, and the announcement of Active Travel England as the government’s new ‘executive agency responsible for making walking, wheeling and cycling the preferred choice for everyone to get around in England’.

Similarly, in recent years Scotland has updated its ‘Cycling Framework for Active Travel’ and ‘Active Travel Strategy Guidance’, placing higher focus on the role of places and local authorities in the delivery. Wales has been following a similar place-based approach, by releasing the ‘Active Travel Act Guidance’ in 2021, which requires Local Authorities in Wales to plan and deliver active travel networks alongside supportive programmes. Northern Ireland continues working towards the ambitious goal of achieving 40% of all journeys less than 1 mile to be cycled by 2040,[1] by investing in urban active travel networks and greenways.

Despite this progress, it's also important to acknowledge ongoing challenges faced by authorities. Localised opposition has always been a risk when considering demand management strategies, as these would involve rethinking the way we move around and interact with our environments. However, the heightened media attention provided to the opposition itself increasingly risks normalising these views as the standard for wider society. Moreover, a negative framing is too often provided to these schemes by considering them as ‘anti-car’, instead of taking a more positive narrative by emphasising potential benefits and how these could be ‘pro-people’ by actually providing more choice[2].

This emphasises the importance of weaving integrated narratives into our policies and strategies, ensuring they can cover various modes of transport in a cohesive manner. For instance, while there has been significant funding allocated to buses and active travel initiatives, the full potential of these investments can only be realised when we treat them as complementary. Similarly, aligning private sector contributions with comprehensive strategies for enhancing local transport and economic development can significantly amplify their impact.

With travel patterns having returned almost to pre-Covid levels, and considering the current challenges in meeting government’s active travel targets[3], decarbonisation targets[4], as well as an urgent need to address social equity challenges, it's important to amplify our focus on exploring alternative approaches at the local level.

As we look ahead, and continue to invest in our towns, cities and villages, it's important to understand these recent developments and their implications for transport and public realm projects across the UK.

Looking ahead – What to focus on?

1. Start with the basics

In 2022, the DfT published ‘Active travel: local authority toolkit’. This publication includes a good indication of resources available to Local Authorities to deliver successful active travel improvements in their jurisdictions. This is a good starting point for Local Authorities in England to access the basic advice and tools available for developing Local Cycling and Walking Infrastructure Plans (LCWIPs), Travel Demand Management Plans, integrating active travel improvements with spatial and development planning, and promoting behaviour change. Devolved nations have also been publishing specific guidance to support Local Authorities navigate higher targets for active travel, such as those listed above. Key ones for Scotland and Wales here. Further supporting documents can also be found within individual government’s pages.

Whilst not statutory guidelines, it is also worth checking the publications made by other delivery partners who are pushing the boundaries on improving the active travel experience for all. For example, see ‘Walking for Everyone’ by Arup, Living Steets and Sustrans, or ‘Cycling for everyone: A guide for inclusive cycling in cities and towns’, by Arup and Sustrans.

2. Being an active partner

Diversifying your sources of funding and support for the delivery of active travel schemes will be key to enable the delivery of the ambitious transformation needed. For that, you need to be able to proactively identify these potential partnerships at the planning stage and maintain involvement as an active partner during design and delivery. Active travel England has already been taking an instrumental role acting as a statutory consultee on major new developments and developing guidance to support the assessment of development proposals. It is expected that the agency will continue developing its offer particularly considering the role that the private sector can play in delivering active travel improvements within the current landscape. It is therefore recommended that Local Authorities keep an eye developments of these type to be best placed to act as active partners for the development of schemes that deliver value to the wider community.

3. Integrated planning

The key role of Local Authorities for delivering active travel schemes has long been recognised, however, now more than ever strong leadership, technical capacity, and stakeholder management and communications skills will be needed. Understandably, competing pressures and constrained availability of resources within Local Authorities can make it challenging to develop all these within single teams. This is where partnerships and integrated planning will come into action.

Local Authorities’ key role is to set their active travel vision and develop context-sensitive integrated strategies. Before jumping into mode-specific solutions, we need to first consider the need to travel, and experience of travel. Thinking of the whole journey and place experience is key. It is not just about investing in the bus improvements; it is also thinking how people will reach the bus stop. Does it feel safe? Is there activity along the route? Does it allow people with different requirements to easily access it? How will these improvements be signalled to people?

With a clear vision and strategy, the implementation can be phased and delivered once relevant funding opportunities and resources become available. Partial delivery can also be coupled with other forms of local investment, for example, through development planning contributions or by partnering with local organisations implementing behaviour change campaigns and public outreach.

4. Use the best tools available

Active Travel England have developed and made free for use a number of tools to support the promotors of active travel schemes, including the route and area check tools to assess the quality of active travel designs for active travel interventions and schemes[5]. They have also provided route cross-section and crossing selector tools to support planners during the design process of active travel interventions and schemes[6]. A number research initiatives have also led to the development of exciting tools and innovations for planning improved and socially relevant active travel routes. For example, there is the Propensity to Cycle Tool which can help authorities in England and Wales plan for cycling investment based on a number of different scenarios. Staterra is another active travel analysis tool, which highlights movement preference and route quality across urban environments. Being able to select the right tool for planning and designing your schemes will be important to maximise the chances of delivering high quality outcomes.

5. Representation and stakeholder engagement

Delivering successful infrastructure depends on, first, obtaining the social license to do so, and second, ensuring adequate levels of usage and user representation once the infrastructure is in place. This means we need to bring people back to the centre of the equation.

A thoughtful engagement and communication strategy throughout the project lifecycle is therefore imperative. For that, early on you must try to gain an understanding of the main priorities and concerns from the different groups of interest in your local area. From there, you can develop targeted strategies considering how could your scheme help address those, and how the benefits can be communicated. Working with local associations again becomes critical to fill these information gaps and support the delivery of a successful scheme.

Immediate next steps?

Understandably this all might feel like a lot of information to take on board. The process of streamlining information to arrive to the solutions that work for your local area is something that many towns are navigating. This is where connections, support from third parties, and engagement in knowledge-sharing platforms can come in handy, as there are efficiencies to be realised by accessing customised advice.

As we move forward, it's crucial to remain proactive and collaborative in our efforts. By staying informed, leveraging available resources, prioritising integrated planning, and carrying out robust stakeholder engagement, we can navigate the challenges ahead and create more inclusive, sustainable, and vibrant places for communities.

Liani is a planner specialised in the delivery of Social Value through transport. She specialises on inclusive mobility and how this can be achieved through better integration of community needs and aspirations through the whole project lifecycle.

If you have any questions on this topic, or would like support, please contact your Delivery Associate, or email DeliveryAssociatesNetwork@Arup.com

References:

[1] Department for Regional Development (2015). Northern Ireland. Changing Gear: A Bicycle Strategy for Northern Ireland.

[2] Transport Planning Society (2023). Our response to the Department for Transport’s ‘Plan for Drivers’.

[3] UK Parliament (2023). Active travel: Government programme off-track as funding reductions hold back progress.

[4] Climate Change Committee (2023). 2023 Progress Report to Parliament.

[5] Active Travel England (2024). Active Travel England scheme review tools.

[6] Department for Transport (2024). Active Travel England design assistance tools.