This roundtable brought together researchers and practitioners to discuss the enablers and barriers of active travel to schools, including bike buses, walking buses, safer school streets, and community participation.
The panellists explored examples of bike and walking buses across the UK, the rationale and significance behind them, and how local authorities can support bike and walking buses whilst managing risks.
This session was jointly presented by the Engage-Inspire-Learn programme within Places for Everyone as well as the Education & Young People team at Sustrans.
Feedback Survey
We would appreciate you taking a moment to complete our short feedback survey after you’ve watched the recording.
• Strathclyde Active Mobility Hub Survey: This survey supports the work from our panellists from the University of Strathclyde. Please take a moment to share the impact of their panel contributions on your practice.
• Download the FRideDays Bike Bus Toolkit and explore Sustrans’ support to set up a bike bus in your community
• Watch videos that showcase the work of the FRideDays Bike Bus team for inspiration, starting with Radnor, Ty’n y Wern, or Gwaelod y Garth
• You can get in touch with the Sustrans Bike Bus team at bikebus@sustrans.org.uk or follow the team’s activites on Twitter/X @fridedaysbb
• Access the Walk to School resources from Living Streets, including resources for Early Years, Primary Schools, Secondary Schools or Universities
• Learn more about the Shawlands Bike Bus and the coverage of their award-winning traffic calming technology in The Guardian
By Design Constructive Conversations – 21 February 2024.
This session focused on designing for diverse accessibility needs. What prevents people with varying disabilities or mobility needs being able to safely and confidently navigate public spaces? How can design features address these needs and make life easier for everyone – without one interfering with another?
Our expert panel spent half an hour discussing these questions and more around how urban design can ensure that designs are accessible to everyone regardless of their circumstances, and provide spaces where anyone can travel actively, where they live, work or socialise.
Following watching the recording you may find it useful to take a few minutes to reflect on the discussion.
What is still circling around in your head on this topic?
What do you feel is ‘squared away’ – you feel you have a much clearer understanding of?
What key takeaways or highlights do you have from the discussion?
Feedback Survey
We would appreciate you taking a moment to complete our short feedback survey after you’ve watched the recording.
Below are contact details for some of our panelists if you wish to contact them directly, and some links to further information relating to this topic that you may find useful.
Information on the inclusive design reports Robert has been working on, and other reports produced by living streets – the Slips, Trips and Falls report may also be of particular interest. Our Key Reports and Research | Living Streets
Grab a cuppa, get comfortable and join us for some informal constructive conversations about some of the challenges in delivering active travel infrastructure.
At each 1 hour session, our expert panel will spend half an hour discussing key questions and more around the chosen topic. Following this, you can take part in an optional small group discussion where you can share your own experiences on the topic, present a related issue in a live project, and receive advice and feedback from peers.
Other sessions
The ‘By Design’ series of constructive conversations explores how urban design in active travel projects can help to address some of the big issues facing society today.
Look out for more series on different topics in future, and if there is a topic you would like to suggest for a series, or a standalone session, please do get in touch with us placesforeveryone@sustrans.org.uk
The Climate Emergency & Infrastructure Constructive Conversations – 24 January 2024.
In this session we took a deep dive into the refreshed PAS 2080 standard (the standard for managing carbon in infrastructure). What does the introduction of this standard mean for active travel infrastructure projects? How can it be embedded into working practices, and what do project teams need to be thinking about so that they are ready for the changes it will bring to construction requirements?
Our expert panel spent half an hour discussing these questions and more around how PAS 2080 can help speed up decarbonisation in the built environment sector.
Following watching the recording you may find it useful to take a few minutes to reflect on the discussion.
What is still circling around in your head on this topic?
What do you feel is ‘squared away’ – you feel you have a much clearer understanding of?
What key takeaways or highlights do you have from the discussion?
Feedback Survey
We would appreciate you taking a moment to complete our short feedback survey after you’ve watched the recording.
Below are contact details for some of our panelists if you wish to contact them directly, and some links to further information relating to this topic that you may find useful.
Maria Manidaki, Technical Director – Decarbonisation, Mott MacDonald
Our panelist, Maria, suggested looking at the ‘PAS City’ example on page 24 in the above guidance, which illustrates a worked example of a fictional project and how they applied the PAS 2080 carbon management process and the key decarbonisation principles.
Grab a cuppa, get comfortable and join us for some informal constructive conversations about some of the challenges in delivering active travel infrastructure.
At each 1 hour session, our expert panel will spend half an hour discussing key questions and more around the chosen topic. Following this, you can take part in an optional small group discussion where you can share your own experiences on the topic, present a related issue in a live project, and receive advice and feedback from peers.
Other sessions
The ‘Climate Emergency and Infrastructure’ series of constructive conversations explores sustainability in construction of active travel projects.
The ‘By Design’ series of constructive conversations explores how urban design in active travel projects can help to address some of the big issues facing society today.
Look out for more series on different topics in future, and if there is a topic you would like to suggest for a series, or a standalone session, please do get in touch with us placesforeveryone@sustrans.org.uk.
By Design Constructive Conversations – 17 January 2024.
In this session the focus is on preventing pedestrian and child casualties. What makes a road or street safe to walk along and cross? How can design features slow, direct or change driver and pedestrian behaviour to reduce the potential for collisions?
Our expert panel spent half an hour discussing these questions and more around how urban design can increase safety of people travelling actively, and prevent casualties of people walking, wheeling, cycling, or otherwise actively travelling or socialising in public spaces.
Following watching the recording you may find it useful to take a few minutes to reflect on the discussion.
What is still circling around in your head on this topic?
What do you feel is ‘squared away’ – you feel you have a much clearer understanding of?
What key takeaways or highlights do you have from the discussion?
Below are contact details for some of our panelists if you wish to contact them directly, and some links to further information relating to this topic that you may find useful.
Feedback Survey
We would appreciate you taking a moment to complete our short feedback survey after you’ve watched the recording.
See below for some links to further information and projects mentioned by the panelists. Some of our panelists have also kindly provided contact details if you would like to get in touch with them about their work in this area:
Lucy Marstrand Taussig – Design Policy Lead for Streets, Transport Strategy and Policy, Transport for London
Kristina Mattsson – Project Manager, Traffic Safety, Vision Zero Academy, Swedish Transport Administration – kristina.mattsson@trafikverket.se
Cherie Morgan – Director of Projects, Play Scotland
The Vision Zero Academy was established by the Swedish Transport Administration. Vision Zero Academy is a global knowledge hub with the overall purpose to spread knowledge about Vision Zero and support and collaborate with different stakeholders around the world in their strive for safe road transport systems. Vision Zero Academy – Bransch (trafikverket.se)
Some visual examples of traffic calming measures from the Vision Zero Academy in Sweden:
Zhero is Heroes on route to Vision Zero – this is a campaign to bring together multiple stakeholders across society to achieve vision zero. Together we are Zhero – Zhero.se
The Swedish Transport Administration (STA) have requirements how to build roads and streets. But the municipalities can have their own requirements for design of the streets they have responsibility for. STA has some supporting documents for how to plan and design the traffic environment. This is a website with description and links to these documents: Traffic strategic work – Accessibility in a sustainable society
Note: the above website is in Swedish – there is a language option, but it takes you away from this page. We found google chrome was better than microsoft edge for translating this page.
Police Scotland works with Transport Scotland to regularly publish collision and casualty data. There is more information with links to the relevant databases here – Road traffic collision data – Police Scotland
Grab a cuppa, get comfortable and join us for some informal constructive conversations about some of the challenges in delivering active travel infrastructure.
At each 1 hour session, our expert panel will spend half an hour discussing key questions and more around the chosen topic. Following this, you can take part in an optional small group discussion where you can share your own experiences on the topic, present a related issue in a live project, and receive advice and feedback from peers.
Other sessions
The ‘By Design’ series of constructive conversations explores how urban design in active travel projects can help to address some of the big issues facing society today.
Look out for more series on different topics in future, and if there is a topic you would like to suggest for a series, or a standalone session, please do get in touch with us placesforeveryone@sustrans.org.uk
Sustrans’ Research and Monitoring Unit contributes to the monitoring and evaluation of a sample of Places for Everyone projects. When a scheme is selected, we work collaboratively with the project team to evaluate its impact. Every project will have a unique set of project aims, objectives and outcomes, as well as a monitoring plan outlining how these will be measured. Our role is to ensure the Places for Everyone outcomes are measured, and to report to Transport Scotland.
We do this by:
Addressing Places for Everyone outcomes by commissioning, collecting, and analysing data on a project level.
Utilising some standardised data collection tools which allow us to aggregate data programme-wide.
Writing summary evaluation reports for selected projects.
Reporting on the programme outcomes Scotland-wide using aggregated data and case studies from selected projects.
Working with the Places for Everyone Partner Development team to monitor and evaluate the Places for Everyone Knowledge Sharing and Events Programme.
Additionally, we support the entire programme by offering expertise to the Grant Management Team in relation to monitoring and evaluation deliverables. We provide guidance and training as well as support with the assessment criteria to ensure projects are impactful across the programme.
The three most recent blog posts about our work are:
All listed reports are authored by the Research and Monitoring Unit, rather than created by our project partners.
Impact Reports
Places for Everyone Infrastructure Impact Report 2022-23 This report presents the findings of the 2022-23 evaluation of the impact of the Places for Everyone programme, which aimed to assess the contribution of the programme to delivering Transport Scotland’s Active Travel Outcomes and a number of specific PfE outcomes. It draws on programme level monitoring data, aggregated data from a sample of infrastructure projects and five in depth case studies of completed projects.
Places for Everyone Infrastructure Impact Report 2021-22 This report presents the findings of the 2021-22 evaluation of the impact of the Places for Everyone programme, which aimed to assess the contribution of the programme to delivering Transport Scotland’s Active Travel Outcomes. The evaluation draws on aggregated data from a sample of 30 projects which were monitored both before and after project delivery throughout the history of the programme.
Lochindaal Way The Lochindaal Way, formally opened in October 2021, provides a safe, accessible, traffic-free route between the two communities of Port Charlotte and Bruichladdich on Islay. This report details the results of a programme of monitoring delivered before and after the construction of the path.
Lower Granton Road Shared Path Improvements were made to the path at Lower Granton Road in 2018 and the route was incorporated into the ‘QuietRoutes’ network. This report presents the results of a programme of monitoring conducted to assess the impact of the project against the Places for Everyone outcomes.
Glasgow South City Way Protected Junctions As part of the Glasgow South City Way project, protected junctions were installed at two locations along the Victoria Road section of the project and were the first such junctions to be trialled in Scotland. This report details the results of a study that looked at pedestrian and cyclist experiences at the junctions and how they impacted the road safety of all users.
Maidencraig Active Travel Links In 2020, Aberdeen City Council and Places for Everyone upgraded and enhanced the active travel facilities in Maidencraig, a wetland nature reserve to the west of Aberdeen. This report presents the results of a programme of monitoring conducted to assess the impact of the scheme against various outcomes.
Wishawhill Wood Path In 2020, a muddy and overgrown track through Wishawhill Wood, North Lanarkshire, was upgraded to a wide walking, wheeling and cycling path that connects the communities of Craigneuk and Wishaw. This report details the impact of the project on local levels of physical activity, engagement with walking and cycling, and the accessibility of the path.
Baseline Reports
Roseburn to Union Canal The Roseburn to Union Canal project aims to connect up existing active travel routes near Haymarket Station in Edinburgh and create community spaces through placemaking interventions. The project is currently under construction and this report presents the results of the baseline monitoring conducted before construction began.
Connecting Woodside The Connecting Woodside project aims to create neighbourhood wide active travel network in the community of Woodside in Glasgow. The project is currently under construction and this report presents the results of the baseline monitoring conducted before construction began.
Inverness Space by the Water The Space by the Water project will improve the path surfaces and accessibility of the Caledonian Canal path network in the communities of Muirtown Basin, Merkinch and South Kessock in Inverness. The project is currently under construction and this report presents the results of the baseline monitoring conducted before construction began.
Dumfries New Hospital Dumfries & Galloway Council, with support from Sustrans, is delivering high quality active travel facilities for the new Dumfries & Galloway Royal Infirmary Hospital. A programme of monitoring will be delivered before and after construction of the infrastructure; this report details the findings at the baseline monitoring stage.
Balgray Link The Balgray Link project aims to build a 2km long segregated cycle route connecting the communities of Barrhead and Newton Mearns and encompasses a 700m boardwalk overlooking the Balgray reservoir. This short report presents the baseline findings of a programme of monitoring delivered in 2019.
The Research and Monitoring Unit (RMU) at Sustrans have now published their report on the impact of the Places for Everyone programme, based on evaluation undertaken in the 2021-22 period.
Analysing data taken from 30 different projects across the history of the programme, and five case studies evaluated during 2021-22, the findings demonstrate how the Places for Everyone programme is continuing to deliver safer and more accessible walking, wheeling, and cycling opportunities across Scotland.
Following improvements to Lower Granton Road, 97% of users said that the path felt safe during the day with 89% agreeing the route felt safe with regard to motor traffic. Credit: Colin Hattersley/Sustrans, 2018.
The five new project case studies featured within the 2021-22 report include path improvements introduced along Lower Granton Road in Edinburgh, as well as an evaluation of the Lochindaal Way, a new traffic-free active travel route connecting two rural Islay communities.
Due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the delivery and subsequent monitoring of Places for Everyone projects, the scope and focus of the 2021-22 report was strategically altered to prioritise case study evaluation.
Nonetheless, these results clearly show the value Places for Everyone projects have brought to local communities across the country and how the programme is delivering on Transport Scotland’s Active Travel Outcomes.
All cyclists interviewed and most of pedestrians felt either safe or very safe when using the protected junctions on the South City Way. Credit: McAteer/Sustrans, 2023.
To read the Places for Everyone 2021-22 Infrastructure Impact Summary Report, click on either of the links below:
To receive further information and access to the full Places for Everyone 2021-22 Infrastructure Impact Report please contact rory.mitchell@sustrans.org.uk
By Design Constructive Conversations- 15 November 2023.
How can urban environments and public spaces be designed in such a way as to make them feel, and be, safe spaces for women and girls? Our panel discussed how urban design elements can make women and girls feel safe, and be safe when walking, wheeling, cycling, or otherwise actively travelling or socialising in public spaces.
Following watching the recording you may find it useful to take a few minutes to reflect on the discussion.
What is still circling around in your head on this topic?
What do you feel is ‘squared away’ – you feel you have a much clearer understanding of?
What key takeaways or highlights do you have from the discussion?
Feedback Survey
We would really appreciate if you could take a moment to provide feedback on this session.
Below are contact details for some of our panelists if you wish to contact them directly, and some links to further information relating to this topic that you may find useful.
Further Information
See below for some links to further information and projects mentioned by the panelists. Some of our panelists have also provided contact details if you would like to get in touch with them about their work in this area:
Scottish Women’s Aid Equally Safe learning framework and the tools available to increase gender and VAWG competence & use of gender lens across policy/practice plus information and a resource page (The framework is aimed at orgs across public sector, local authorities, third sector.): https://womensaid.scot/equally-safe-in-practice/
(Note: The next two links take you to the City of Vienna website which is in Austrian German, a Chrome browser was better able to translate the pages than Microsoft Edge).
Grab a cuppa, get comfortable and join us for some informal constructive conversations about some of the challenges in delivering active travel infrastructure.
At each 1 hour session, our expert panel will spend half an hour discussing key questions and more around the chosen topic. Following this, you can take part in an optional small group discussion where you can share your own experiences on the topic, present a related issue in a live project, and receive advice and feedback from peers.
Other sessions
The ‘By Design’ series of constructive conversations explores how urban design in active travel projects can help to address some of the big issues facing society today.
Look out for more series on different topics in future, and if there is a topic you would like to suggest for a series, or a standalone session, please do get in touch with us placesforeveryone@sustrans.org.uk
Making it easier and safer for people to travel actively is vital for increasing the number of everyday walking, wheeling, and cycling journeys.
This means ensuring that everyone, including those groups that are most vulnerable on the road, are adequately protected.
For example, children and young people.
Places for Everyone is working with partners across Scotland to ensure that the routes we deliver are accessible and intuitive for all ages and abilities.
The Walk Cycle Live Stirling project is an excellent example of how bold yet careful designs can be used to prioritise the needs of young Scots.
Routes to success
As the main connecting route between the city centre and university, Causewayhead has massively benefitted from accessible cycling infrastructure. Copyright: Sustrans, 2023.
Children and young people regularly make essential active journeys as part of their everyday lives.
From going to and from school to seeing friends and family, walking wheeling and cycling are the earliest available modes which allow children and young people to travel independently.
Currently under construction, the £9.5m Stirling project will soon deliver an extensive network of new walking, wheeling, and cycling links across the city.
This will not only facilitate more active journeys between residential areas, transport hubs, as well as retail and hospitality venues but also key destinations for education and learning.
Traffic-calming measures and landscaping improvements have made Albert Place a more welcoming and enjoyable place for all ages. Copyright: Sustrans, 2023.
Delivered in partnership with Stirling Council, Walk Cycle Live Stirling proposes to create two major routes:
Route one, dubbed the University route, will provide a safe and accessible route between Stirling Train station and the University of Stirling, taking in iconic landmarks like Old Stirling Bridge and the National Wallace Monument along the way.
Route two, the College Route, aims to bridge the gaps between Forth Valley College and the City Centre along Albert Place, Dumbarton Road and Raploch Road, passing under the impressive shadow of Stirling Castle.
The new segregated cycle lane along Dumbarton road helps keep young people safe from heavy traffic and encourages active journeys to and from Forth Valley College. Copyright: Sustrans, 2023.
Each of these strategic corridors has been designed to be largely segregated from the traffic via physical barriers, providing comfort and reassurance for all users.
Generational change
Healthier than other modes, travelling by bike is also often cheaper more affordable than public transport and private vehicle use.
Factors such as these are ones which young adults, in particular, benefit from.
Alex Avallone, a recent graduate from the University of Stirling, shared their thoughts on what the project could mean for current and prospective students in the years to come:
“I didn’t cycle when I was studying, mostly because the roads were too busy and I didn’t feel confident doing so. I took the bus or walked. Now, I hope a lot of people will think twice and choose to cycle instead”
Alex Avallone, Graduate, The University of Stirling
Katherine Henebry, Senior Grant Advisor at Sustrans, has been working on Walk Cycle Live Stirling throughout its construction, and has high hopes for its grand opening:
“After completion, children and young people can safely travel independently along two key corridors in Stirling. These routes are a new start for foundational memories to be made – on the journey to school, as well as in the broader exploration of their hometown’s rich history and environment. We’re so proud to have worked with Stirling Council to make these journeys a reality”
Katherine Henebry, Senior Grant Advisor, Sustrans
Due be complete by Summer 2024, Walk Cycle Live Stirling is set to connect communities in the city and surrounding areas through active travel in a major way. This will be particularly transformative for children and young people.
The project received £7.1m in funding from Places for Everyone, as well as £2.5m of Scottish Government investment from the City Region Deal and £258k from Stirling Council’s developer contributions allocation.
Thank you to all those who have continued to submit monthly financial information via the new portal system. If you have not done so, please bring your forecasting up to date as a matter of urgency.
As previously communicated, grants for 2023/24 cannot be accrued into 2024/25. Therefore, Places for Everyone must understand any need to carry forward grant by 31st October 2023, in order to request additional funds from the 2024/25 budget.
Should you incur an un-forecasted underspend in the current financial year (2023/24) and require additional funds in 2024/25, your request will only be considered once all other projects have received funding.
Concept and Design Funding
The application portal will be open for applications for funding towards Concept (Stages 0-2) and Design (Stages 3-4), for both new and existing projects, from the 29th November 2023.
Only Local Authorities, Regional Transport Partnerships and National Park Associations will be eligible to apply for funding towards new projects at this time; however existing projects being progressed by other organisations will continue to be supported and will be able to access funding for subsequent project stages.
The table below outlines the key dates for Decision Making Panels to be held in March and June 2024.
For existing projects, to ensure adequate time for final deliverables to be assessed and feedback provided, a prior deadline for submission for stage review has been set. This change will mean that the application for a continuation of funding will be greatly simplified, assuming all previous deliverables have been submitted to your Grant Advisor.
As with previous years, we are unable to publish an exact date for award of funding. However, we have aligned the assessment and decision-making process with when we expect to receive confirmation of funding from Transport Scotland and hope to be able to confirm the first wave of funding before Easter 2024.
Funding will continue to be awarded towards the same groups of stages. However, in line with recent communications from Transport Scotland, all funding will need to be spent by 31st March 2025. Funding for activities to complete the relevant stage group (Stages 2 or 4) in the 2025/26 financial year will, however, be awarded in principle.
Table of Decision Making Panels
Please note dates marked with an * have been altered due to our ongoing funding discussions with Transport Scotland. Dates may be subject to further change as our discussions progress. We’ll notify you as soon as any changes are confirmed.
2024
10th January
2024/25 Application Deadline (Round 1)
28th March*
Stages 3-4 Panel
March-April
Stages 3-4 Grant Awards Announced
10th April
Grant claim deadline for 2023/24 projects
15th April*
Open for 2024/25 Round 2 Applications (Stages 3-4 only. At this time, we do not expect to have another Stage 0-2 grant for funding this financial year)
19th April*
Deadline to submit deliverables for Stage Review for projects moving to Stages 3-4 (Round 2)
TBC*
Stages 0-2 Round 1 Grant Awards Announced
6th May*
2024/25 Application Deadline (Round 2)
24th June
Stages 3-4 Panel
TBC*
Stages 3-4 Grant Awards Announced
Dates have been updated in April 2024
Construction Funding
As part of the ongoing Transport Scotland Active Travel Transformation Project (ATTP), the award of new construction funding will be made directly by Transport Scotland from 2024/25 onwards. All new construction applications from Local Authorities, Regional Transport Partnerships and National Park Associations should now be directed to the ATTP Fund for 2024/25, more on which will be communicated once Transport Scotland has shared further information.
Organisations other than the above will be eligible to receive construction funding via Places for Everyone during 2024/25, decisions on which will be made on the basis of Extraordinary Decision Making Panels. If this applies to your project, please discuss this with your Grant Advisor and submit an outline request to PlacesForEveryone@Sustrans.org.uk, confirming when you expect to submit your final stage 4 deliverables for review.
Places for Everyone will continue to fund existing construction commitments and any existing commitments made in principle, through to completion.
Places for Everyone will continue to support change controls to existing commitments.
