General information on walking and cycling

This section outlines key information around what active travel is, what national and local government is doing to support active travel, information on the different approaches used for designing active travel interventions and also a focus on behaviour change, which is an evidence-based approach for developing active travel campaigns and interventions.

What is active travel?

The term 'active travel' refers to making any journeys in a physically active manner, such as walking, wheeling (using a wheelchair or mobility aid) and cycling.

Active travel usually happens for short journeys, such as walking to the shops or school, cycling to work or to see friends and family. In addition to exercise, active travel can be convenient, accessible, and is cheaper than driving the same journey.

According to the 2021 National Travel Survey, 72% of journeys in England were under five miles in length. While 82% of up to one mile journeys were walked, only 23% of journeys between one and five miles were walked. A five mile journey, where there are no major barriers, could be walked and cycled in up to 90 minutes and 30 minutes, respectively. This indicates that there is potential to move many shorter car journeys (under 5 miles) to walking or cycling active travel journeys, which could in turn reduce congestion, improve local air quality, the vibrancy of local streets and the health of the general public.

How do local and national governments support walking and cycling?

Active Travel has become an increasingly important priority for local and national governments across the world as it brings many benefits - including improved public health, improved air quality, safer roads, and more vibrant cities and towns. The Active Travel: Trends, Policy and Funding Briefing Paper sets out key benefits of active travel for the UK government, linking to these priorities as:

Promoting active travel can result in reduced emissions of Nitrogen Dioxide (NO2), Particulate matter (PM) and CO2 helping to tackle climate change and improve air quality
Active travel can contribute towards the recommended 150 minutes of physical activity for adults each week, which are hugely important for maintaining health
Walking and cycling can contribute towards economic performance by reducing congestion, supporting local businesses and more. The benefit to cost ratio of investments in walking and cycling are estimated at 5.62:1 (or ‘very high’ value for money)

What national policies and strategies does active travel link to?

There are a number of key national policies and strategies in which active travel has an important part to play. It is worth noting that active travel responsibility in Wales and Scotland has been devolved to the Scottish Parliament and Senedd, respectively, and the different policies and strategies are advised below.

UK-wide

The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence has set out guidance around ‘how people can be encouraged to increase the amount they walk or cycle for travel or recreation purposes’, which covers policy and planning, local programmes, and schools, workplaces and the NHS. This guidance, as it comes from a health perspective, is often referred to by public health and health providers as a basis for planning and work with other partners and stakeholders, including transport departments within local authorities. The guidance includes recommendations and considerations which can support active travel programmes of work.

England

The National Planning Policy Framework, which is the Government’s approach for planning, has several policies that link to active travel, including; an aim to achieve healthy, inclusive and safe spaces which encourage walking and cycling; opportunities to promote walking and cycling should be identified and considered at the early stages of transport planning and for development proposals, and that Local Cycling and Walking Infrastructure Plans (LCWIPs) should be used to help provide high quality active travel networks, including cycle parking provision.

The Government’s ‘Gear Change: A bold Vision for Cycling and Walking’ set out a goal for England to become a great walking and cycling nation, making cycling and walking the natural first choice for many journeys and half of all urban journeys to be made by active travel means by 2030. The Vision focuses on 4 key areas; Healthier, happier and greener communities, Safer streets; Convenient and accessible travel; and cycling and walking at the heart of transport decision-making and has four actions; Better streets for cycling and people; Putting cycling and walking at the heart of transport, place-making and health policy; Empowering and encouraging local authorities; We will enable people to cycle and protect them when they cycle. For cycling, there is a clear focus on building segregated cycle routes (where the cyclists are separated by a barrier from other road traffic) and improving the National Cycle Network, as well as setting time limits for the delivery of cycle lane schemes, which will be used as leverage against future funding. Whereas, for walking, the focus is on low-traffic neighbourhoods, school streets around school premises, and walking corridors. In addition, this strategy set out a commitment to developing a “cycling and walking on prescription” programme to overcome health inequalities and increase levels of physical activity, which local authorities have been invited to bid for, as well as supporting adult access to free Bikeability (cycle training scheme) across England.

Active Travel England are the new executive agency which will have responsibilities around active travel including; holding the government’s walking and cycling budget (£2bn until 2025); approving and inspecting active travel schemes; providing active travel training, design advice, good practice, and knowledge sharing and reporting on highway authorities active travel performance.

The 2020 review of the Cycling and Walking Investment Strategy (CWIS) examined active travel safety to deal with safety concerns. This led to changes in the Highway code around hierarchy of road users, clarity on pedestrian priority when crossing side roads and at junctions, and safer passing speeds and distances for cyclists. In addition, higher safety standards for lorries (e.g. side guards fitted to lorries) have been created due to safety concerns for cyclists around lorries on the road. We have created a ‘HGV and vulnerable road users factsheet’, which provides further information.

The CWIS also established an e-bike support programme, which supports short tryouts of e-bikes to encourage more people to purchase them. The CWIS has four key objectives;

To double the estimated total number of cycle stages made each year, from 0.8 to 1.6 billion stages in 2025, and developing the evidence base over the next year.
To increase walking activity, from 300 stages per person per year in 2025, and developing the evidence base over the next year.
To increase the percentage of children aged 5 to 10 that usually walk to school from 49% in 2014 to 55% in 2025.

CWIS is supported by £1.2bn of funding with £316m ring fenced for walking and cycling, with the remainder to be spent on walking and cycling, if required.

In 2020, the Government published statutory guidance for local authorities around reallocating road space for walking and cycling, following the increased opportunities around walking and cycling that transpired during the COVID-19 lockdowns. This included guidance on pop-up cycle lanes, closing roads, providing additional cycle storage, and temporarily widening pavements at key locations, such as around shops.