Active travel in the UK

We are all aware of the existential crisis of climate warming and biodiversity loss resulting from our historic reliance on fossil fuels, the continual push for industrial growth and the maintenance of our consumer-driven lifestyle. It is overtly apparent we cannot continue the way we have been living as we have, particularly in the last half of the 20th and the early part of the 21st century.

This planet does not have infinite resources; many of the conflicts in the world today have scarce resources as their root cause. Such conflicts result in the direct loss of human life and have indirect consequence for human health in terms of climate change and biodiversity loss.

All of this can lead to people feeling that ‘it’s all too much, I can’t do anything that will make a difference’. One of ERA’s mottos is ‘A lot of people doing a little is still a lot’, so start with something small and you can always build on it over time.

There three main drivers for addressing the warming of the planet and biodiversity loss are, worldwide and national government policies, local government policies and us as individuals changing our behavior. What we do ourselves to reduce our carbon footprint matters, alongside how we interact with local and central government representatives.

One thing we can all consider doing is changing our behavior with respect to how we travel. In this article I want to focus on embracing active travel. I will explain what active travel is, what central and local government priorities are in facilitating opportunities for active travel, the aims of and the processes involved in creating active travel routes, timescales involved, how individuals can contribute to their facilitation and their benefits, and the resultant impact on local communities, future generations and to reducing fossil fuel use.

I will conclude that policies for active travel are high in rhetoric and aspiration but lack strategies and investment to make them a short-term reality.

In the summary I identify some opportunities for the reader to engage in active travel by using their car less and getting actively involved in creating routes.

What is active travel?

As of the 27 June 2023 West Sussex County Council announced it had secured £2.35 million in funding from phase 2 of the Department for Transport's Active Travel Fund to enable delivery on its priorities to improve people’s active travel choices.

WSCC defines active travel as ‘using physically active means for your everyday journeys, such as walking or scooting to school and cycling to shops. Advantages to active travel include increased fitness, cheaper journeys, and environmental benefits’.

Their stated aims are to ‘make walking and cycling to work, education and leisure activities more attractive, improve health and wellbeing by offering eco-friendly travel choices, broaden travel choices by offering safe, quick, and easy walking and cycling options, particularly for short journeys, support zero emission journeys and reduce reliance on car travel’.

WSCC aims broadly align with the Government’s Active Travel England’s aspirations: see here.

Active travel has the aspiration of reducing fossil fuel use, reducing road congestion and toxic emissions, and improving the nations health through exercise and breathing cleaner air. Currently, central and local government’s funding for active travel prioritises towns and cities where traffic congestion and poor air quality is a significant issue. The DfT Department for Transport (DfT) and Active Travel England (ATE) share the common objective of delivering increases in active travel to 50% of all journeys in urban areas.

The West Sussex Walking and Cycling Strategy Appendix 1 (pp 30-46) provides a full list of schemes proposed by stakeholders. These are subdivided by scheme type and prioritised high to low. There are over 200 schemes for inter community urban and inter community leisure, of which five identified prospective schemes in the Rother Valley area relate to Midhurst.

During Covid the air quality improvement in Midhurst was noticeable, with a significant reduction in the smell of exhaust fumes resulting from the reduction in road traffic. If as many people as are able could change from using their internal combustion car to walking or cycling there is no doubt that air quality would improve.

In and around Midhurst the following active travel (WSCC Walking and Cycling Strategy) routes are identified: Jubilee Path (p 35), Cowdray Park Cycle Route (p 39), Rother Valley Way Midhurst to Petersfield (p 39), Midhurst to Pulborough and Midhurst to Cocking (p 40).

Creating active travel routes

This is quite a complex, time-consuming process and it is expensive to take it from an idea to implementation. The process involves identifying route options, feasibility studies, landowner engagement, environmental and biodiversity studies, planning applications, fundraising, project management and route maintenance post construction.

There are some opportunities for active travel routes that can be identified and integrated into highways and local authority road improvement schemes. Priorities are focused, however, on towns and urban areas where traffic congestion and poor air quality are major issues. In these settings if there are safe walking and cycling opportunities then the uptake in active travel is more likely and traffic volumes could decrease.

Sustrans details the processes for creating walking and cycling routes here.

Funding

If an active travel scheme is integrated into highways improvement plans then funding is usually available from central or local government sources. However, if schemes are proposed by local interest groups, then funding can often rely on those interest groups raising their own funding. £2.35 million funding does not go far: estimated costs are upwards of £250,000 per kilometre when creating a new path in infrastructure costs plus planning, legal and land lease costs etc.

Central government’s framework criteria for the granting of funding for active travel (Active Travel England) heavily focuses on reducing car travel in towns and cities with a minor reference of rural areas.

If you read the WSCC Transport Plan 2022 to 2036 (TP), it states for the Chichester area (page 5, 5.3) that ‘Our Transport strategy for the Chichester area (in no particular area) is to improve active travel facilities within existing communities and the towns between towns such as Chichester, Selsey, Bognor Regis and the Bourne area, particularly on priority routes and corridors where strategic development is planned; increase space for travel in the A286 ring road and the A285 Westhampnett Road corridors; deliver Air Quality Action Plans in Chichester’.

Pages 7 and 8 (5.7) for South Downs National Park states, ‘increase space for active travel through infrastructure improvements on priority routes - deliver Air Quality Action Plans for Midhurst’.

Page 8, (6.3) of the WSCC TP states it is ‘unlikely to be able to deliver the Plan alone as it has neither the resources, statutory powers nor funding to do so. Therefore, we will work in partnership with other organisations such as Transport for the South East in the public, private and third sector to help deliver the Plan’.

‘Plan’ as used above refers to their Transport Plan 2022 to 2036 as a whole, not their Active Travel Plan, which is referred to on pages 41 to 44. The Plan is in three sections: Short term 2022 to 2027; Medium term 2027 to 2032; and Long term 2032 to 2036. The short- and medium-term plans for active travel, like the overall plan, focus on towns, cities, and urban areas with little or nothing for rural areas such as the Rother Valley.

In the Long-term plan 2032 to 2036 it states on page 44, ‘Longer term (2032- 2036) active travel priorities. Delivery of a rolling programme of active travel infrastructure schemes to be identified through the West Sussex Walking Cycling Strategy’.

See here for West Sussex Statmap which shows aspirational routes for West Sussex. Click on the map and  you will see the suggested routes in red and completed ones in green. You will see the number of completed ones are insignificant compared to the suggested routes. When you look at the suggested routes the highest number of routes are in cities, towns, and urban areas.

Click on Midhurst and the map identifies Midhurst Greenway (see here for current status), and the proposed  walking and cycleway between Midhurst and Petersfield (see here p 39 ) ID 283, as previously mentioned.

In Appendix 1 there are over 200 schemes entered by stakeholders, subdivided by scheme type and prioritised high to low by Sustrans Rate Tool Ranking.

It also states, ‘All schemes subject to funding and feasibility work’.

SDNPA Walking and Cycling Strategy p29, the map lists the three routes linking to Midhurst (Midhurst to Petersfield, Midhurst to Pulborough, Midhurst to Cocking and on to West Dean) as ‘aspirational routes’.

SDNPA Walking and Cycling Strategy also details the criteria processes involved in creating an Active Travel route.

On p10 it does mention CiL (Community infrastructure Levy) as one possible source of funding.

Summary

I have identified aspirations for Active Travel by central and local government, some of the processes involved and some of the difficulties with funding not matching aspiration.

In my introduction I said, ‘I will conclude that policies for Active travel are high in rhetoric and aspiration but lack strategies and investment to make them a reality’. Now this article may seem to the reader to have a very negative view and why would anyone want to get involved in creating an Active Travel Route?

We all would like a healthy future for ourselves and future generations of our families. At the time of writing this article the United Nations Secretary General declared that our planet is in danger of transitioning from Climate Warming to ‘Climate Boiling’. See here.

To repeat ERA’s motto ‘A lot of people doing a little is still a lot’, if you are interested and have an hour or two a week to spare, get involved in Active Travel, promoting it benefits. There are many local community interest groups working with a range of partners to create access to safe travels routes for pedestrians, cyclists, and people with mobility support needs. Lobby your local councilors, scrutinise local planning development applications to see if there are provisions for active travel.

Midhurst Area Cycling work closely with local government to create safer routes in around the town and Petersfield Bicycle Buddies helps with cycle safety and other support to get you active travelling.

Remember you have the right to question your elected representatives on their support for safer routes for active travel in your area.

We could all start by trying to leave our cars at home for one trip a week. If you are going into Midhurst or Petersfield, go on foot, cycle, or take a bus.

For additional information see also Active Travel England Corporate Plan.