Why the Scottish government must invest in active travel for the health and happiness of the country

It’s fair to say a lot has happened since the last Programme for Government (PfG). On 3 September 2024, Finance Secretary Shona Robison announced sweeping cuts across Scotland’s public services. This included £23.7m cut from funds previously earmarked for active and sustainable travel.

With £83m still unallocated from this year’s active travel budget, the chances of the government meeting its own commitment from 2021 to spend 10% of the transport budget on active travel feels a long way off. This commitment has been reiterated since 2021, with the active travel budget between 2022-24 showing healthy signs of growth. However, this growth has now stalled.

On 5 September 2024, First Minister John Swinney laid out his Programme for Government. It established that eradicating child poverty, creating wealth, improving public services and protecting the planet are his main benchmarks for success. To quote the first minister earlier in the year: “A good idea is a good idea.”

Creating more transport choice for more people is a good idea and this should be a top priority in the year ahead, despite challenging financial times. Changing how we travel offers an achievable way to improve the health and wealth of people in Scotland, and the ‘common ground’ the Mr Swinney spoke of.

Some ways in which active travel can help deliver Mr Swinney’s Programme for Government

Eradicating child poverty

Creating safe environments for children to walk to school, to play and to become part of their community is essential – and can’t be done by reinforcing car use. More active travel can break the cycle of poverty in a way that our current transport system can’t.

For many, creating more transport choice means removing barriers to walking and cycling. Most journeys taken by people in Scotland are short and local. The main barrier to taking these journeys in healthier and happier ways is a lack of access to safe infrastructure and to cycles.

Improvements to Scotland’s public transport are necessary but they won’t be quick and will be costly. Better access to bikes for children and adults, and including novel forms of ownership (such as shared ownership models), alleviate these pressures for government, local authorities and individual households. Access to bikes is access to services, shops, doctors, schools and so on.

Government must continue to fund essential grant funding projects, such as Cycle Access Fund, which works closely with communities to give access to bikes to those who need them most, including children.

Growth

Economically, active travel makes sense for businesses and individuals, the NHS and local councils. A population that walks and cycles more is more productive and takes fewer sick days, benefiting local and national economies.

Interventions which focus on walking and cycling are more cost effective than their car equivalent and local economies thrive when we support walking and cycling.

Active travel is economically beneficial across society, government should recognise this and place people and communities at the heart of its plan for growth. Projects such as Cycle Access Fund and Scotland Cycle Repair Scheme ensure that local businesses and local communities thrive.

Improving public services

An essential way for Mr Swinney to improve public services would be to fund active travel in line with the 2021 commitment to spend 10% of the transport budget on cycling, walking and wheeling. Building vital infrastructure is an investment in Scotland’s communities for years to come.

Building active travel routes which connect towns and villages creates vital links to other services. Active travel has the almost unique capability of providing access to key public services, like healthcare, while also taking the strain off these services.

A population which walks and cycles regularly is more resilient and resistant to injury and disease and so less likely to need the NHS.

Key active travel routes should be expedited to connect communities to their public services. A full cycle path network which works across local authority areas should be the ambition, but key routes must be delivered as soon as possible.

Government should ensure funding is available for essential behaviour change projects across Scotland. Projects such as Connecting Communities link people to places, helping bring communities together.

Protecting the planet

By planning our transport system around people instead of cars, we have an opportunity to protect people and the planet. This can be achieved cooperatively – integrated journeys are essential to creating low-carbon, sustainable networks for the future.

Like much of the UK, Scotland faces a housing crisis. It is imperative that future developments do not compound a housing crisis with further transport poverty. New homes need to be climate resistant inside and out; developments should be linked to active travel infrastructure from inception.

To paraphrase Mr Swinney, a bad idea is a bad idea. Locking Scotland into further car dependency and forced car ownership would be a bad idea.

It is essential that the Scottish government publishes its route map to 20% reduction of car kilometres by 2030 as soon as possible. It’s imperative that active travel takes centre stage in this route map as a truly low-carbon form of transport.

Government must continue to invest in active travel, and meet its 10% spending commitment. Otherwise, it can expect to fall short of other targets such as eradicating child poverty, creating wealth, improving public services and protecting the planet.