New transport projects driven by local needs

Active travel will play a pivotal role in tackling the climate crisis, lowering air pollution and making our communities safe and healthy spaces for all to live.

With Scotland’s first Green Minister for Active Travel in place, it’s an exciting time for all those who already wheel, walk or cycle – and the many others who would like to get out and about more under their own steam. With Greens in Government, we’re making change happen.

It’s been great to see our vision for integrated, safe, and inclusive active travel infrastructure starting to become a reality.

Through the cooperation deal, we’ve persuaded the Scottish Government to commit 10 per cent of the entire transport budget to active travel by 2025. Already, we’ve delivered record funding of more than £150m for active travel in this year alone, and in the coming years funding will increase to nearly six times the level of funding per person in England.

But we’re not stopping there. Increasing active travel also means ditching the car-centric vision of transport that has dominated transport planning for decades.

This year, for the first time ever, the Scottish Government recognised active travel as a key part of our strategic transport infrastructure. That means a huge new network of cycle and walking routes will have the same status as our road and rail infrastructure.

We’re also seeing importance progress towards making our towns, cities, and rural communities safer for people choosing active travel.

I’m proud that after leading calls in Parliament for action, the Scottish Government has now committed to introducing a 20mph speed limit on all appropriate roads by 2025 – following the lead of best practice in the Scottish Borders and Wales.

But transforming active travel in Scotland is not just about what we commit to in Holyrood. It’s about what we can deliver for local communities to improve people’s daily lives.

Not only will our new Paths Fund empower projects to make improvements to local path networks and integrate them into our national routes, but we’re also piloting a new scheme to provide free bikes to children whose families may struggle to afford them.

Across the Stirling area, communities have been working hard for years to improve active travel connections, not least those involved in the Kings’ Highway project. This is a wonderful initiative to transform the footprint of an old 18th century military road into a new link in the Central Scotland cycleway and footpath network.

This exciting new route will bring huge environmental and health benefits to the area.

This project has been spearheaded by Gargunnock Community Trust, who have recently been joined by groups from Kippen, Buchlyvie, Balfron and Killearn to form a Kings’ Highway Development Group.

This project is entirely community-led, with support from other partners and local politicians like myself.

Their vision to connect rural parts of Stirlingshire demonstrates exactly why our communities are best placed to design active travel solutions.

Our green transport revolution must be driven by the needs and assets of our local communities.

Next year, Stirling will be host to the UCI World Cycling Championship time trials. I hope that this brilliant showcase of the best of the sport will inspire people across Scotland to take up cycling. It’s also a great testament to Stirling Bike Club who have helped re-establish Stirling as a world class cycle sport venue over the last decade.