Scottish Government cycling and walking funding at record levels so why is there a crisis? – Alastair Dalton

Child cycle training being cut despite active travel budget at new high

The Scottish Government’s active travel ambassador Lee Craigie doesn’t pull her punches.

Stepping down after four years advising ministers about their crucial work to boost walking, cycling and wheeling in the face of climate and health emergencies, she was blunt in her frustration at being unable to achieve more.

Despite praising the “vision and passion” of many of those involved, Ms Craigie said projects were being “drowned” in bureaucracy while the “disappointing lack of collaboration” was halting “this increasingly urgent modal shift”.

Lee Craigie, second left, visiting Forth Environment Link's Bike Buddies training scheme. (Photo by Forth Environment Link)

It’s a damning indictment on an absolutely core Scottish Government policy – to get people out of their cars to improve their personal fitness, cut congestion and reduce pollution and emissions when road transport is one of the country’s biggest emitters. Ministers have an incredibly bold target to achieve this – to cut road traffic by 20 per cent by 2030.

Ms Craigie said active travel is so important it should become a “super policy”, and shifted from the auspices of transport to wellbeing economy because it “directly infiltrates so many other policy areas”.

Taking soundings from senior figures in cycling and walking, they’re right behind her – and warn that things are worse than they were this spring when The Scotsman revealed redundancies at cycling and walking charity Sustrans despite record funding of £190 million from the Scottish Budget being channelled into active travel.

One said that it was being caused by the established method of channelling funding via such bodies being scrapped in favour of local authorities receiving the money direct, even though most have few, if any staff working on or with expertise in active travel. My source reckoned it would take councils years to build up teams to cope with the influx of funding.

Youngsters from Annan taking part in a Cycling Scotland Essential Cycling Skills course. (Photo by Cycling Scotland)

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Another very senior figure in the sector told me there was a “complete lack of confidence” over funding, blaming senior Scottish Government officials – way above Transport Scotland – for not approving grants. They told me they were “at a loss” over the situation.

The problem appears to be that although the sector may be awash with money for new infrastructure such as cycle paths, I’m told there is a “huge shortage” of revenue funding, such as paying staff and maintaining existing cycle routes.

I have previously highlighted their poor state, which will doubtless also be a bugbear for those who have been encouraged to try cycling, only to discover the state of the network on which they are being asked to ride.

I hear one of the major losers is, incredibly, child cycle training on roads – providing them with the vital skills that might nurture life-long cyclists. The cut in funding “makes no sense”, my informant said.

Of course, this is to an extent, a symptom of the wider major Scottish Government funding squeeze, which is also affecting other areas of transport, such as being likely to delay the scrapping of ScotRail’s polluting diesel trains with electric, battery and perhaps hydrogen replacements.

Ironically, the active travel minister Patrick Harvie is a Green politician. But in contrast to some controversial policies the Greens have promoted with the SNP, surely boosting active travel is one that can command all-party support?