Encouraging Active Travel

We work to influence and encourage people to adopt active travel behaviours through our funding, support, projects and partnership work.

Active Travel: children scooting to school

Good infrastructure for walking, wheeling, and cycling is important, but people also need encouragement, support, and guidance to change their behaviour and switch their journeys from car to sustainable modes. 

Our Smarter Choices, Smarter Places programme, supported by Transport Scotland, provides funding for local authorities and public, third and community sector organisations to develop and deliver projects to encourage walking, wheeling, cycling and public transport across Scotland.

Our Community  Active Travel Grants are for community path projects that will make it easier for people to walk and cycle when making short everyday journeys such as to shops, school, work or to connect to public transport links.

We work together with our partners and Transport Scotland to make Scotland an active nation where everyone can choose to walk, wheel or cycle for short journeys. Below is a summary of our projects and those run by our partners that can help your community to change their travel habits:

Active Travel and work

Walking is the simplest activity to encourage and promote in the workplace. It fits easily in and around the working day. 

  • Our Step Count Challenge - is a fun, sociable way of encouraging teams of five to walk more by tracking and recording their daily step count.

  • Walk at Work and Workplace walk leader training - courses equip you and your colleagues with the knowledge, skills and confidence to get your workplace walking more.

  • The Walk at Work Award - an accreditation award that recognises and celebrates employers who are encouraging everyday walking in their workplace.

  • Way to Work - this site guides Scottish employers and employees to information on walking, cycling, car sharing and public transport, and features the latest sustainable travel news. Paths for All are members of this partnership of ten active and sustainable travel organisations, funded by Transport Scotland who created Way to Work to supports employers to help staff to travel in more active and greener ways.
  • Cycling Friendly Employer - Cycling Scotland offer this award to help staff to choose cycling as a healthy, sustainable, and accessible way to commute.

 

Walking and cycling

  • Net Zero Nation - this website from the Scottish Government supports people to make changes to how we live, travel and work. The aim is for Scotland to reach net zero emissions by 2045 and build a better, fairer world.
  • Cycling Scotland Training - includes Bikeability Scotland which gives children the skills and confidence to cycle safely on the roads, Essential Cycling Skills resources which help boost the confidence of those new to or returning to cycling and Play on Pedals which teaches pre-school children about the basics of bikes, safety and helmets. 
  • Walking to School – WoW - Our partners Living Streets Scotland run the Walk once a Week programme for schools – supported with funding from Paths for All's Smarter Choices Smarter Places programme. WOW is a pupil-led initiative where children self-report how they get to school every day using the interactive WOW Travel Tracker. If they travel sustainably (walk, cycle, or scoot) once a week for a month, they get rewarded with a badge. 
  • SustainableTravel.scot - This online tool, hosted by Paths for All, shows anyone looking for funding, advice and information on active and sustainable travel which agencies can help. It's a signposting site focusing on projects, organisations and agencies that are funded through Transport Scotland’s Active and Sustainable Travel Team. The site is designed to help individuals, organisations, public sector, schools, businesses and individuals clarify their thinking and access information that is relevant to them.