Active travel
Updated: 11 minutes ago
Introduction
Active travel is a convenient, accessible, and popular way to travel. Expanding access to active travel creates transport choices that cut traffic congestion, improve air quality, support economic growth, enhance quality of life, and deliver better health outcomes.
Active travel includes a wide range of different modes of transport. It refers to any journey that is fully or partially powered by people, including cycling, walking, roller skating, scootering, and using a wheeled mobility aid.
Current and previous governments have set ambitious targets for active travel. The previous Conservative Government set a target of 50% of journeys in towns and cities to be walked or cycled by 2030, alongside establishing Active Travel England to promote walking, wheeling, and cycling. As many councils are Highway Authorities, they have the power to make decisions about active travel policy.
Background on active travel
Active travel has grown in popularity in recent years. In 2024, walking trips per person increased by 4% and miles cycled per person rose by 12% compared to the previous year. The expansion of safer, more accessible infrastructure has made active travel more convenient, as in 2024 14% of Britons cycling at least once a week and walking distances at the highest on record since 2002 at 230 miles per person.
Active travel provides significant economic benefits. It is estimated to contribute roughly £36.5 billion annually to the UK economy, while the employment effect of cycling infrastructure is 1.28 times higher than that of general transport infrastructure. People who walk to their local high street visit twice as frequently and spend up to 40% more overall compared to those who drive, while bike parking has a five times higher retail spend per square metre than the equivalent area of car parking.
Active travel is an affordable way to travel. With rising, volatile fuel costs hitting people already struggling with the cost of living, walking and cycling offer affordable, reliable ways for people to travel around their communities.
Improving active travel infrastructure can keep residents without a car connected. Young people and jobseekers often do not have access to a private vehicle, so active travel provides an affordable, convenient means for them to access employment and educational opportunities.
Active travel expands transport choice and reduces congestion. Traffic congestion costs the UK economy £30.6 billion annually. An increase in the number of journeys completed by active travel would reduce the number of cars on the road, lowering congestion and making it quicker for those driving.
Increasing levels of active travel helps reduce air pollution and improve health outcomes. Road transport is one of the largest sources of nitrogen oxide, and with one quarter of all journeys made in the UK being under one mile, many trips are well suited to active travel. Opting to walk, cycle, or wheel, rather than drive, improves air quality by reducing the toxic fumes produced by vehicles engine idling in traffic congestion, thereby lowers the risk of respiratory and cardiovascular disease. Additionally, active travel helps reduce the burden on the NHS as it is an affordable, accessible form of exercise. Diabetes risk decreases among those who regularly exercise, going from 10.1% for those who do no weekly active travel to 7.5% for those who do at least 150 weekly minutes.
Most parents and teachers want fewer cars near schools as children are particularly vulnerable to the impacts of air pollution. Constant exposure to toxic air stunts lung development, increases the risk of respiratory conditions such as asthma, and can hinder cognitive development in children. Therefore, 76.5% of parents and 75.8% of teachers are concerned about air quality around schools. Additionally, 59% of parents say that walking or cycling the school run is the best way to spend quality time with their children. Expanding active travel around schools can therefore improve children’s quality of life and health outcomes.
A lack of safe active travel infrastructure is preventing people from getting out and about in their communities. The National Attitude Survey found that a majority of adults believe that more off-road and segregated cycle paths would encourage people to cycle more. Inadequate, unreliable bike parking is also a major barrier to cycling, with many people unwilling to leave their bikes in public places for fear of theft or damage. Making it easier to build more secure public bike storage would encourage more people to visit the high street and help make local areas more vibrant, enjoyable places to spend time. It does not have to come at the cost of car parking spaces as 12 standard bicycles fit into one car parking space. CEN’s ‘Let’s Take This Outside’ campaign calls on the Government to introduce permitted development rights for two-tier bike storage to tackle these issues.
Action by previous Conservative Governments
In July 2020, the government published Gear Change, a roadmap to help local authorities improve active travel infrastructure. New funding of £2 billion was announced, although this was reduced by £233 million in 2023. Gear Change highlighted the need for high quality, accessible, and secure infrastructure, including bike storage, in residential and non-residential areas to boost use and deter theft.
A consultation to introduce permitted development rights for bike storage in front gardens outside homes in England ran in early 2024. Unfortunately, due to the General Election, the outcomes were never acted on.
In 2021, the previous Conservative government granted local authorities the power to introduce school streets. Streets outside schools are open to people walking, cycling, and scooting and closed to motor traffic at drop off and pick up times, improving road safety for children and their parents. Successfully implemented school street schemes have seen a reduction in tailpipe emissions of nearly 23%.
The previous Conservative government made changes to the Highway Code to give greater protections to pedestrians and cyclists. The changes to the code include the introduction of the ‘hierarchy of road users’ that places those road users most at risk in the event of a collision at the top. The new measures also give greater clarification on overtaking cyclists and using shared road space and pavements.
Active Travel England (ATE) was established in 2020. ATE acts as the funding body and statutory consultee that aims to increase the number of journeys being walked, wheeled or cycled. ATE also acts as an inspectorate for local authorities and developers for new infrastructure.
The ‘Cycle to Work’ scheme was expanded in 2019 to include the purchase of e-bikes. ‘Cycle to Work’ is a salary sacrifice scheme aimed at making cycling more affordable by enabling employees to purchase a bike at a reduced cost. It is tax exempt meaning employers loan bikes and associated equipment to employees as a tax free benefit. This has successfully encouraged active travel, with an estimated 38% of participants commuting by bike for the first time.
Labour’s actions in Government
The third Cycling and Walking Investment Strategy (CWIS3) was finally announced after a year-long delay. It was originally due to be published at the end of CWIS2 in March 2025, but because of this delay, CWIS3 is already one year into its five year funding cycle. It pledges to deliver 5,000 new walking, wheeling, and cycling routes alongside 10,000 safer crossings. It creates a new target of 55% of short journeys in towns and cities to be walked or cycled by 2035.
The Government announced a new Road Safety Strategy in January 2026. The strategy set a national approach to reduce road deaths and serious injuries by 65% by 2035. Prioritising road safety will help protect vulnerable road users, such as pedestrians, cyclists, and children, and encourage more people to walk and cycle, as safety concerns are currently the main barrier to people cycling. The strategy seeks to promote better education, robust enforcement, safer street design and infrastructure, and the use of innovative technology.
In July 2026, ATE announced the Rural Design Guide. The guide is designed to address the challenges of building successful active travel infrastructure in rural areas. It also provides technical guidance for local authorities on planning and designing walking, wheeling and cycling facilities outside towns and cities, building on the core principles of LTN 1/20.
Policy recommendations for councillors
Call on the government to introduce a PDR for bike stores in front gardens. Presently, in England and Wales, complex restrictions mean planning permission is required to build dedicated bike storage in front of private properties. The previous Conservative Government consulted on granting permitted development rights (PDR) to allow people to build bike stores of no more than 2 metres in width, 1 metre in depth, and 1.5 metre in height, but due to the election the outcomes were never acted on. This would help reduce the time and cost of building secure bike stores, cutting bike theft, and mitigating the health hazard and fire risk of bikes blocking hallways and stairwells.
Introduce a Local Cycling and Walking Infrastructure Plan (LCWIP). An LCWIP is a framework created by local authorities to support the development of high quality, safe active travel networks through creating a framework for long term investment and public/private partnerships. They are not mandatory, but are often required to secure Government funding for active travel schemes. LCWIPs were introduced by the Conservative Government in 2017 as part of the first Cycling and Walking Investment Strategy. An example of Conservative-led council running a successful LCWIP is Buckinghamshire County Council.
Develop local education classes on safe cycling practices. Running inclusive and accessible classes for residents of all ages will build skills and confidence, helping address concerns about safety on the roads and improve cyclists’ understanding of the Highway Code. Sessions could cover bike-handling skills, understanding traffic signals, using cycle lanes correctly, and basic bike maintenance such as checking bikes and tyres. Partnering with local schools, community centres, and employers would spread awareness and make it easier for more people to attend.
Create a school streets scheme. Local authorities have the power to designate school street schemes that restrict vehicle access around schools on term-time weekdays. This reduces vehicle-related air pollution and supports safer active travel to and from schools. These schemes can include ‘park and stride’ (leaving cars circa 10 minutes walk from school), new road signs, and road crossings. They are first implemented using Experimental Traffic Regulation Orders (ETROs) that allow for schemes to be temporarily introduced and consulted on locally before being made permanent. Please see CEN’s case study on Hampshire County Council’s School Streets programme for more information.
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