More than 200 delegates and speakers joined us in Dundee for the national Cycling Scotland Conference, to explore the theme: "Investment in everyday cycling delivers results"
Chair Laura Young welcomes delegates to the 2025 Cycling Scotland Conference in Dundee
Professionals from the active travel sector, local authorities, regional transport partnerships, campaigners, civil servants, politicians and volunteers joined us in Dundee on 10th September, for a day of networking and learning at the 2025 national Cycling Scotland Conference.
Chaired by Laura Young, award winning climate activist and environmental scientist, the day provided delegates with an opportunity to connect with one another, share learning and celebrate important progress in supporting everyday cycling.
Keynote speakers
Dundee City Council Leader, Councillor Mark Flynn, kicked the day off by welcoming delegates to the conference and shared the city’s recent achievements in supporting more people to travel by bike, including completion of the Broughty Ferry to Monifieth Active Travel Corridor, roll-out of secure residential cycle storage, and delivery of on-road Bikeability Scotland cycle training in every primary school.
"The benefits of cycling are every clear and well-known: it serves people to live healthier lives, a better environment and air quality, and provides transport options. It makes a positive difference to people’s lives and habits. It starts at school – every pupil in Dundee now receives on-road cycle training, helping them better understand roads and embeds active travel habits at an early age."
Cllr Flynn went on to share recently published and exciting plans for Dundee’s Active Freeways programme, which will provide a network of dedicated, protected cycle routes, connecting communities across the city, including Ninewells, Lochee, Stobswell and Strathmartine, to the city centre.
"Broughty Ferry to Monifieth is a substantial improvement, making safer cycling for families a reality. But we’ve ambition to do so much more. We know investing in everyday cycling can only bring positive outcomes for people and a better standard of life for everyone, supporting businesses and better health for our city. We are committed to achieving more on this."
Cabinet Secretary for Transport, Fiona Hyslop MSP, delivered the ministerial address to delegates, commenting on progress being made across Scotland to support more everyday cycling, and announcing the latest Bikeability Scotland participation figures, with a milestone of half a million pupils receiving the training since it launched in 2011.
She expanded on the progress being made, citing examples of investments in everyday cycling delivering results across Scotland.
"Today’s theme hits the nail on the head. Monitoring has recorded an 83% increase on Edinburgh’s City Centre West East Link from 2024 to 2025. The message is clear: build high quality, safe, accessible infrastructure, and people will use it. Often swapping car journeys for cycling and walking."
Following her address, the Cabinet Secretary answered questions on the Scottish Government’s renewed car KM reduction target, active travel infrastructure funding, and keeping road safety on the Government’s agenda.
After the morning break, Jillian Evans, Head of Health Intelligence & Learning Health Systems, Public Health, at NHS Grampian, delivered a keynote speech on the vital role that active travel can play in tackling Scotland’s public health crises.
From tackling geographic health inequalities, elevating life expectancy and reducing the cumulative burden on the NHS: “We need ambitious vision, and walking and cycling to be the norm and to be part of prevention. This is a call to arms to prevent ill health.”
Rebecca Morris, Vision Zero Communications Director and road safety campaigner, addressed delegates on the road safety crisis impacting lives across the UK.
Calling attention to the low numbers of drivers given permanent driving bans after causing death by dangerous driving, Rebecca called for urgent, proactive steps to remove dangerous drivers from our streets and save lives.
"Six times more people are killed on the roads each year in the UK than are through knife crime. If this were planes or trains, they would grind to a halt. In any other area of our lives, we would never tolerate this level of harm."
"We need far more deterrence and lifetime driving bans. We need to speak out, amplify victims’ voices. If you’re in a position of power and influence, we would urge you to come forward and be part of this."
Glenn Lyons, Mott MacDonald Professor of Future Mobility at the University of West of England, shared data revealing the evolution of transport trends in the wake of the pandemic and passionately made the case for investment that unlocks – and even helps to drive – demand for sustainable transport, including cycling.
Touching on the challenges and barriers that sustainable transport projects can face to get from conception to reality, Glenn highlighted high-profile examples of cycling and public transport projects across the UK which have had an immediate positive impact – and which are dramatically outperforming their initial expectations.
Glenn and Rebecca Morris took part in a joint Q&A with Conference Chair Laura Young, covering audience questions and topics including rethinking our priorities for transport and how we can better design, more accessible public spaces that serve all types of people.
In the afternoon, Brian Deegan, Director of Inspections at Active Travel England, gave a closing keynote address on what he sees as setting cycling apart in transport planning: from its ability to free up street space in tightly packed areas for other uses, through to its power to lift young people out of transport poverty.
After sharing how having a bike had opened up the world to him as a child, Brian went on to explain how improvements for cycling can lead directly to a "virtuous circle" of improvements that bring benefits for everyone:
"There is a calming effect of bikes being on the road. Cyclists calm traffic, improve safety for all road users, including pedestrians. Everything starts with restrictions on cars. As soon as you create more space – for buses, for crossing the road, for cycling… more people are encouraged to do it, and the more these benefits are felt."
During the closing audience Q&A, Brian discussed ongoing progress for cycling in Scotland and the central importance of making road junctions safer for people travelling by bikes as part of the development of cycling networks.
Breakout sessions
Breakout sessions included a speaker panel on developments in cycle training in Scotland, and a facilitated networking session exploring road safety, opportunities and challenges to effective investment in cycling, the value of communicating success through data, and the involvement of local voices in active travel investments.
A visualisation shared by Councillor Steven Rome, showing proposed separated cycle lanes on Lochee Road in Dundee, part of a planned network of city-wide cycling routes currently in development
A panel session of local authorities discussed the successes and challenges of delivering new networks of cycling infrastructure, with representatives from Glasgow and City of Edinburgh councils, Transport Scotland, and Councillor Steven Rome, Convenor of Fair Work, Economic Growth & Infrastructure at Dundee City Council, who shared more information on Dundee’s newly published plans to develop a network of protected cycle routes across the city.
Delegates also had the opportunity to join a led walk or cycle tour of new and planned active travel improvements in Dundee city centre, taking in the transformation of Dundee Waterfront.
Bikeability Scotland – young people’s voices video
After lunch, delegates were given a preview of a new video featuring the voices of young people taking part in Bikeability Scotland cycle training.
Cycling Champion of the Year award
Ahead of Brian Deegan’s closing keynote address, Conference Chair Laura Young announced Scotland’s Cycling Champions of the Year, presented jointly by Cycling Scotland, Cycling UK, Scottish Cycling and Sustrans Scotland.
Katherine Cory, cycling campaigner and co-founder of Shawlands Bike Bus, and Phil Noble, former Strategy and Development Manager for Active Travel at City of Edinburgh Council, were announced as joint winners, celebrating their impact in helping to enable more people, of all ages, to cycle.
The Conference was wrapped up with a summary from our chair, Laura Young, who provided a thanks to all speakers, attendees, sponsors and exhibitors. We look forward to welcoming delegates to future conferences.
