Glasgow's Sustainable Travel Plans Receive a £10.6m Boost

Plans that make it easier for people to travel more sustainably in Glasgow have received a £10.6m funding boost.

The funding award will go towards a wide range of measures including building more active travel infrastructure across the city and improving the safety and accessibility of public spaces for pedestrians.

Initiatives such as those which encourage more walking, wheeling and cycling on the school commute will receive funding support, as will upgrades to bus stops, and schemes that empower employers to create cycle-friendly workplaces.

The £10.6m cash boost draws on four separate funding schemes backed by the Scottish Government through Transport Scotland - the Active Travel Infrastructure Fund (ATIF), the People and Place Programme (PPP), Local Authority Direct Award (LADA) and SPT's Capital Grant Fund.

ATIF Tier 2 funding of £3.8m will be used to deliver four major active travel infrastructure projects - Connecting Woodside (St George's Road), Connecting Yorkhill and Kelvingrove (Phase 1), Flourishing Molendinar (Phase 1) and Dumbreck Road Active Travel Link.

Work will start in the coming months to construct these new routes, all of which support national commitments to shape communities around people, with walking or cycling the most popular choice for shorter, everyday journeys.

Funding of £4.9m from ATIF Tier 1 will progress a range of smaller-scale, localised projects that increase the appeal of active travel including Phase 5 of the East City Way which will now advance to construction. Design work to support the delivery of Connecting Greater Govan and future phases of Flourishing Molendinar and the East City Way, will also now be progressed.

High visibility cycle counters and the continued roll out of our school cycle shelters programme will move forward, as will the delivery of upgraded traffic signals and pedestrian infrastructure at various locations across the city.

PPP funding of over £1m, administered by SPT, will support a wide range of initiatives to be delivered by third sector organisations including Women on Wheels and Bike for Good. Projects include those that reduce the barriers to active travel such as learn-to-ride group cycling sessions, subsidised bike access for people on low-incomes, and support for employers keen to encourage their staff to commute by bike.

An SPT Capital Grant Fund award of £435,000 will encourage greater use of public transport through bus route priority upgrades, improved access to bus and Subway stations, and enhancements to the Paisley Road West bus corridor.  While projects progressed through £341,958 of LADA award funding will include our Staff Travel Plan, road safety initiatives which encourage travelling actively to school, and winter gritting of cycling routes.

Cllr Angus Millar, City Convener for Transport, welcomed the multiple funding awards as a vote of confidence in Glasgow's efforts to support walking, wheeling and cycling across the city.

Cllr Millar said: "These funding awards are really great news for active travel in Glasgow.

"We want to create a roads network that encourages walking, wheeling and cycling across the city and it's great to see our vision being backed by the Scottish Government in this way. Some of these funding streams focus on construction-ready projects and I am delighted that the efforts we have made to develop designs for potential new infrastructure are being recognised.

"The funding will also enable us to invest further in organisations and activities that give people the knowledge, skills and confidence to use our growing infrastructure network, supporting them to walk, wheel and cycle more often. We'll also be delivering high-quality upgrades to pedestrian infrastructure across the city such as safer, step-free crossings, tactile paving, dropped kerbs, and wider pavements.

"Major infrastructure projects such as Connecting Woodside, the East City Way and Dumbreck Road Active Travel Link will all make vital connections to other routes that make it easier to move around the city by bike. We know that as more and more safe, segregated routes begin to knit together across Glasgow, people will be more minded to choose active travel instead of having to depend on the car for local journeys."

Cabinet Secretary for Transport Fiona Hyslop added: "I'm pleased that this £10.6 million award from the Scottish Government to Glasgow City Council will help realise their ambitions for better walking, wheeling and cycling infrastructure, alongside projects which encourage more active travel.  Through this investment we will make it easier for more people to choose sustainable transport.  

"To support the continued ambitions of our local authorities - and to keep making walking, wheeling and cycling easier for shorter everyday journeys - in 2025-26 the Scottish Government will invest over £188 million in active and sustainable transport. In doing so, we'll help more people live healthier lives, save money and encourage more people to leave their car at home for our air quality and our climate."