News
Sustrans Report: European case studies offer advice to LAs
Published 27 July 2010 in Sustainable Development
A Sustrans and Transform Scotland Trust report entitled ‘Civilising the Streets: How strong leadership can deliver high quality of life and vibrant public spaces’ draws on the experience of 13 European cities to show how active travel can be advanced in Scottish cities towards achieving sustainable transport goals.
Cities were chosen that were similar in size and characteristics with one or more Scottish city, and which had seen an increase in active travel recently.
Key findings, as stated in the report, are:
- “In several cities in the study, there was not an initial public demand for active travel investment. However, strong, sometimes visionary, political leadership led to investment and once the changes were in place, the public appreciated the benefits and were supportive of further investment. This is likely because active travel strategies were based around improving people’s day-to-day life: through increased safety, less car congestion, recreation opportunities, and air quality.”
- “In all cases, the investment in active travel was coordinated and implemented by the local government (equivalent to Scottish city councils), and this was important to ensure that the solutions implemented met local need.”
- “Stockholm stood out as particularly inspiring in the Scottish context. While it does not have the highest cycling rate of the cities studied, in a little over ten years it has seen cycling go from an unpopular travel mode to a “trendy” and practical way to travel about the city. And public opinion went from sceptical to supportive in less than two years, due to the obvious benefits active travel investment brought.”
- “When developing plans for integrated active travel, local authorities should focus on improving the ‘quality of life’ in the city, instead of wider environmental and carbon reduction issues. While these larger issues are important, focusing on people’s daily experiences will result in investment that will genuinely improve walking and cycling conditions, include consideration of social issues, and provide opportunities to the public instead of asking for sacrifice.”
- “…it is important to remember that investment in active travel is not always initially popular, especially when it involves taking away road space from cars. The examples in this paper show that it generally did not take many years for cycling to become ‘normal’ or ‘trendy’. What is required is consistent promotion of active travel alongside changes on the ground to improve the experience of walkers and cyclists.”
- “Active travel strategies must set goals that span several years and include specific actions that will be taken to improve conditions and encourage an increase in cycling and walking. While public campaigns were used in some cities, these were in addition to the infrastructure that was provided and improved in all cases. In the ideal case, local authorities would develop a comprehensive, long-term sustainable travel strategy. The inclusion of spatial planning and other forms of personal and commercial transport will ensure a coordinated approach.”
To download the full report, find it here: Civilising The Streets PDF