Annual report & accounts 2024-25

  1. Introduction
  2. Highlights
  3. Education & training
    1. Bikeability Scotland
    2. Early years cycle skills
    3. Adult Cycle Training
    4. Other national standard and leadership courses
    5. Road User Awareness Training
  4. Monitoring cycling, road safety and connecting people
  5. Access to bikes, cycle parking & storage
  6. Transport Planning & Engineering
  7. Organisation

Education and training

Road User Awareness Training

Cycling Scotland provides a range of full-funded courses to improve driver awareness of safety for people cycling.

People in charge of vehicles that can cause the greatest harm have the greatest responsibility to reduce the danger they pose to others. This applies most strongly to people driving large goods and passenger vehicles, vans, minibuses, taxis and cars.

In 2024-25, more than 200 people who drive Large Goods Vehicle and Passenger Carrying Vehicles took part in training to improve their awareness of vulnerable road users, including people on bikes. 

This ‘on-cycle’ training qualifies for seven hours of Driver Certificate of Professional Competence and equips drivers of the largest vehicles to understand the risks they pose to people cycling and other road users. Courses were delivered by a network of partner training providers including Bike for Good, Recyke-a-bike, East Lothian Council and T French and Sons.

In addition, fleet operators that Cycling Scotland has previously supported to embed Road User Awareness Training reached more drivers in 2024-25. Lothian Buses became the first fleet operator supported to deliver both the theory and ‘on-cycle’ elements with staff qualifying as Cycle Trainers.

Cycling Scotland supported M Group Energy to embed a new fleet driver course in their occupational road risk training. This short theory input is aimed at car, van and grey-fleet drivers and will be evaluated in partnership with M Group Energy in 2025-26.

Our Road User Awareness Training offer includes support for young people who are learning to drive to develop safer driving habits on the roads. This is delivered in secondary schools by a partner network of cycle tutors and this year, we reached more than 1,600 pupils across 15 secondary schools in Scotland.

Case study

Park's of Hamilton coaches and Road User Awareness Training

Coach drivers from Park's of Hamilton pictured with their bikes, after taking part in a Road User Awareness Training session.

David Beggs, Depot Trainer at private coach hire organisation Park's of Hamilton, was part of the advisory group set up by Cycling Scotland to improve the content around Road User Awareness Training.

"Since updates to The Highway Code, the course was hugely beneficial for our drivers to understand the hierarchy of road users. We often work within urban and rural areas, and I was keen to give our drivers the most relevant and up-to-date information. I am now qualified to deliver the theory element of the PowerPoint presentation and I’m looking to train our drivers in-house with a delivery partner supplying the practical element.

"We wanted to give our drivers an understanding of the challenges of riding bikes around towns and cities where large vehicles occupy the same road space. This is an ongoing issue for us and although we have very few incidents with people who cycle, it’s beneficial for our drivers to understand the challenges for all vulnerable road users."

According to David, staff at Park's of Hamilton have benefited from "a better understanding from drivers regarding people on bikes, but also their desire to get out on a bike."

"I’ve had a number of drivers ask if we offered the cycle to work scheme and some of our drivers even commute to work by bike. It’s not just the training side, but the lifestyle and health choices that the drivers are now implementing."