We’ve gathered insight to understand the challenges and opportunities faced by local authorities when delivering projects to increase rates of cycling in their area.
Key findings indicate clear challenges with capacity, short-term funding and logistics, but also opportunities, with local authorities often being the key drivers of change and taking forward initiatives in response to local need.
The Covid-19 lockdown demonstrated the importance of cycling and active travel infrastructure to enable people to travel easily and sustainably whilst also being able to physically distance. Thanks to money available through the Spaces for People fund and other initiatives, local authorities across the country have played a central role in making cycling easier, safer and more accessible, and have successfully introduced a raft of temporary measures, such as separated cycle lanes and widened footways. Data from our network of 46 cycle counters across the country has shown a 43% increase in rates of cycling from March to September this year compared with the same period last year.
The temporary measures introduced have demonstrated what can be achieved in a very short period of time, when resources are available and could have important lessons going forward for future infrastructure developments. Moving forward, with traffic levels rising and expected to return to or even exceed pre-pandemic levels, the challenge will be to sustain this change over the longer-term.
So, what prevents change from happening?
Capacity
A significant issue faced by most local authorities is capacity constraints, both financial and in terms of personnel. Many local authorities report there is a limit on what can be achieved with limited financial and staff resources. Much of the funding which local authorities access for active travel is short-term, usually on an annual basis, meaning they are unable to plan over the longer term, particularly with regards to uncertainty of funding year-to-year and what staff and financial capacity they may have to deliver projects. This limits what they are able to deliver in their local areas to improve cycling and walking facilities.
A priority issue for local authorities is sustained, long-term or multi-year funding which gives them the certainty they need to be able to invest in and deliver cycling and active travel infrastructure and initiatives.
Road space reallocation
To change a road layout to install new cycling or active travel infrastructure, a local authority is required to apply for a Traffic Regulation Order (TRO). This process has been reported to be overly complex which can lead to delays in getting a design for a new road layout or change to a road layout to install a cycle lane or other active travel infrastructure approved. Many local authorities have called for changes to the TRO process to enable them to install such infrastructure quickly and more easily, to help to promote modal shift to active travel.
The recent experience of installing temporary infrastructure measures can offer an opportunity. Temporary TROs (TTROs) are being used to help facilitate the faster implementation of temporary infrastructure measures for a period of up to 18 months. Such measures could be used as a ‘test case’ for the introduction of permanent changes and could help make permanent changes easier to achieve.
(Image credit: Sustrans)
Selling the active travel message
Scotland’s 32 local authorities are spread across a vast and varied array of rural and urban areas and communities, which provides both challenges and opportunities for delivering active travel.
In rural areas, where there may be further to travel for everyday journeys than in urban locations, it can be more challenging to get across the message for cycling. In these areas, there are also concerns about fewer connections to public transport and a greater prevalence of higher speed roads, both of which make it more challenging to promote modal shift to active modes. In these areas, driving is more likely as it is often seen as the only way to get around safely and easily.
(Image credit: Sustrans)
A possible solution to overcome these challenges is electric bikes (e-bikes). E-bikes have an important role to play in terms of connectivity, particularly in rural local authorities. Of course, whilst not every short journey could be replaced by an e-bike, by promoting access to them and the benefits they offer, local authorities, particularly those in rural areas, could more readily get across the message for cycling. Providing and supporting access to e-bikes, such as through bike libraries and free access to public hire schemes, will be essential to deliver this.
In contrast, in many of our urban areas it is much easier, quicker and cheaper to cycle than it is drive. In Glasgow, for example, it is quicker to travel from residential areas like Anniesland or Battlefield to the city centre by bike than it is to drive, and people cycling also cover a shorter distance. This offers the opportunity to urban local authorities to demonstrate connectedness by bike to a range of local services and amenities, and how easy it is to travel by bike in the area. Many such authorities have successfully done so through a range of campaigns and initiatives to encourage and incentivise active travel. Campaigns such as Walk, Cycle, Live Stirling and Smarter Travel Glasgow are good examples of where local authorities have successfully promoted active travel in their areas.
Parking and enforcement
Despite these opportunities, parking remains a significant issue. Many local authorities do not have the capacity to enforce new pavement parking and on-street parking regulations/laws. The Transport (Scotland) Act 2019 introduced new regulations restricting pavement and on-street parking in Scotland. Where a local authority has decriminalised parking enforcement powers (DPE), it is the responsibility of the local authority to enforce parking offences in their area, rather than the police, but many lack the resources and capacity to do so.
Poorly parked vehicles, including vehicles parked on the pavement, can be a real hazard for people walking and cycling, forcing them into the road and making it generally unsafe. Vulnerable road users, especially those with visual impairments or who use wheelchairs as mobility aides, are greatly affected by poor parking and a lack of enforcement of poor parking behaviour, such as parking over dropped kerbs and pavement parking over access points. This is a significant challenge for local authorities in promoting and encouraging cycling and highlights the importance of infrastructure and reallocation of road space.
(Image credit: Living Streets)
The issue of parking is further extended to schools, where parking at and near schools is a significant safety concern. Parking outside schools negatively impacts on safety, makes it less attractive to walk and cycle, and causes significant air pollution, negatively impacting air quality. Data from the latest Hands Up Scotland Survey shows a growing proportion of children travel to school by private car; however, encouragingly active travel remains the most popular mode of travel to school. Increased levels of cycling and active travel to schools can help to address issues of parking and improve air quality in the areas surrounding schools and can also improve health and wellbeing of children and young people.
Going forward, the challenge for local authorities will be to ensure that an increasing proportion of children travel to school actively to create a virtuous circle, where more children cycling improves safety, health and wellbeing, and air quality, which in turn encourages more children to cycle to school. This can be achieved through improving the road environment in and around schools, including creating traffic free zones and 20mph areas, supporting schools to access available funding for bikes and cycling facilities, and delivery of on-road Bikeability Scotland cycle training to give children the skills and confidence they need to cycle. Local authorities have a crucial role to play in delivering these solutions.
To conclude...
Achieving change in any policy area requires a level of political will and commitment from leadership and decision makers. Across Scotland’s local authorities, there are many examples of leadership and decision makers committed to active travel, and we hope in time for all leaders to fully back the importance of active travel. Leadership in favour of active travel and complementary policies is required to make positive gains in active travel.
While local authorities do face several significant challenges in delivering measures to increase levels of cycling across the country, there are also opportunities to deliver profound change to achieve improved societal outcomes for all through cycling and active travel. The principle challenge continues to be the lack of capacity and resources and the short-term nature of funding, yet the current pandemic situation, although challenging in many ways, has demonstrated what can be achieved in very tight timescales and constantly evolving circumstances, when resources are available to deliver change.