New infrastructure for walking, wheeling and cycling is saving lives

For nearly a decade, Places for Everyone has been the flagship programme for building and improving walking, wheeling and cycling infrastructure in Scotland.

Funded by the Scottish Government, the programme has delivered over 250 projects; ranging from multi-million-pound transformations in cities, to new routes between some of our smallest communities.

As the programme draws to a close, our latest Impact Report reveals that active travel infrastructure continues to punch above its weight.

Let’s take a look at some of the highlights. 

10% of Scots have access to safe, high-quality routes

Through Places for Everyone, we have constructed over 190km of new or upgraded paths for walking, wheeling and cycling.

This means 10% of the Scottish population now live within 500m of high-quality cycling infrastructure funded through the programme.

We measured the impact of this in how safe people felt using these new routes. And across the 20 project sites we looked at, perceptions of safety had improved by 12%. 

Safer routes have powered almost 1 million more active journeys 

Our report shows that these safe, high-quality routes are encouraging more people to choose to walk, wheel and cycle.

Across 27 different projects, we measured a 78% increase in people walking, wheeling and cycling.

From before project completion to 2-5 years afterwards, the number of people travelling actively jumped from 1.2 million to 2.1 million.

When broken down by mode, this equates to a 118% increase (+400,000 users) in cyclists, and a 60% increase (+500,000 users) in people walking or wheeling.

Meaning 0.9 million more journeys are being made each year by walking, wheeling and cycling, thanks to Places for Everyone. 

The result? Healthier lives and less risky roads 

This boost in walking, wheeling and cycling is helping people stay healthy.

Over 3 years and across 51 project sites, the proportion of people who reported getting at least 30 minutes of exercise five days a week increased from 58% to 65%.

And when it comes to cycling in particular, people are travelling significantly longer distances - with the median cycling trip increasing by almost 7km.

For the first time this year, we were also able to measure the programme’s impact on reducing road casualties.

Over the same time span of 3 years and across the same 51 projects, an estimated 28 road casualties were prevented. This figure includes slight injuries, serious injuries, and fatalities.

Urban A roads saw the largest decrease, with 17 fewer casualties. Meanwhile, Places for Everyone prevented 5 casualties on rural A roads, and 6 on urban minor roads.

These numbers tell us that active travel infrastructure really does have the power to save lives. 

Fewer cars = less carbon 

As well as improving overall health and reducing road collisions, the projects delivered through Places for Everyone are also contributing to our Net Zero targets.

Thanks to the increase in walking, wheeling and cycling at project sites, there are an estimated 340,000 fewer car trips per year.

This has resulted in one million fewer road kilometres being driven in Scotland.

And replacing these car journeys saves 230 tonnes of carbon emissions each year.

To put this into perspective, that’s the equivalent of 230 people flying from London to New York.

Combined, this is strong evidence for continued investment in high-quality infrastructure that empowers people across Scotland to walk, wheel and cycle.

Because by making it possible for more people to choose active travel, we make an even bigger impact on our health, our wellbeing, and the world around us.

And it all starts with one journey.

Find out more about Places for Everyone.

Learn about our different areas of work in Scotland.