Active travel, or walking, wheeling and cycling, is the most sustainable and healthy transport options. They provide huge societal benefits as set out in Gear Change: a bold vision or cycling and walking

However, since then it has received a bumpy ride, although with the Welsh default speed limit being 20mph for residential roads, and more school streets and traffic calmed roads, things are changing slowly for the better. To help with getting better quality facilities, the government produced national design guidelines for cycle infrastructure: Local Transport Note 1/20.

These should be the standards used for all new cycle infrastructure but all too often this is still not the case and certainly not for National Highways. It gets away with lower quality standards CD143, by designating paths as shared which then perversely allows it to build paths of a lower standard (narrower) even though with pedestrians and cyclists mixing, there should be more room not less.

Labour has said that it is committed to seeing a half of all journeys in our towns and cities walked and cycled by 2030 (the previous government's target). However, it like the Conservatives is refusing to provide the funding to deliver the change needed. Its latest pledge of £616m over 4 years is less than that promised in the early 2020s. It also doesn't restore the unlawful £200m cut made by Rishi Sunak, which we were instrumental in challenging when other organisations were afraid to speak out. We will have to wait for the next Cycling and Walking Investment Strategy (CWIS3) before we will know the extent of the government's ambitions.

However, most people will be your local highways authority (combined mayoral, county, metropolitan or unitary authority) that will be responsible for local transport. In the remaining areas where there is still a two-tier system (most counties without a mayoral combined authority), the districts and boroughs will be in charge of planning.

If you have any active travel issues, you can contact our own Low Traffic Future or Cycling UK, Living Streets or Sustrans. You can also contact Wheels for Wellbeing if you want to campaign for inclusive cycling. It is also worth looking at guidance that the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) has produced.

All of these bodies have a wealth of information and resources to help you. If you can't find what you need or want some wider advice or support, please do get in touch.