Walk, Wheel, Cycle, Vote is asking candidates to imagine what our villages, towns and cities could be like if, instead of putting cars first, we started by designing streets that met the needs of children, the elderly, and disabled people. We believe that these could become places that everyone can enjoy and where people can prosper, including those who do need a car to get about.
From climate change to building a just recovery, if we are to tackle the pressing problems that face us, it is clear we need to refashion our streets to make active travel – walking, wheeling and cycling – possible for everyone. The Scottish government has recently announced a number of policies to support this end but actually implementing them will largely depend on local authorities. As we saw during the pandemic and the associated temporary Spaces for People measures, some councils have enthusiastically taken up the opportunities offered, while others are falling behind.
Fifty years of investment in motoring has entrenched car dependency. Understandably, people worry about the impact of changes intended to promote active travel on their lives. Some disabled people fear they may end up stranded by ‘car free’ policies, while many pedestrians struggle with pavements shared with bikes or poorly designed cycle paths. Past failures to tackle the legacy of car-centric planning head on have led to poor quality measures that leave cyclists and pedestrians fighting over limited space without doing enough to persuade drivers to leave their cars at home.
Walk, Wheel, Cycle, Vote recognises it can be hard to see how we can get there from where we are now to where we need to be. But the benefits at stake are huge and more and more we are seeing places in Scotland taking bold steps towards this goal. We are asking all candidates at May’s local elections to sign up to our three asks and commit to the following:
- Accessibility: Ensure that our streets, paths and footways are accessible to everyone, whether on foot or using any form of mobility aid; by putting accessibility at the heart of our street design, we will create places everyone can use and enjoy. More…
- Infrastructure: Create a long-term programme to rebuild our villages, towns and cities around walking, wheeling and cycling, with active travel infrastructure everyone can use, even after dark – the initial goal should be that every child who wants to can walk, wheel or cycle to their school. More…
- Investment: Provide the sustained, long-term investment needed to start this transformation of Scotland into a country that enables active travel everywhere – starting from 10% of the transport budget (capital and revenue), and rising to 20% during the council term. More…
We’re have briefing notes on all three of these asks, summarising the evidence behind them: accessibility, infrastructure and investment (all PDFs).