Keynote speakers include:

• Mark Flynn, Dundee City Council Leader
• Brian Deegan, Active Travel England Director of Inspections
• Rebecca Morris, Vision Zero Communications Director
• Jillian Evans, Head of Health Intelligence and Divisional General Manager, NHS Grampian
• Glenn Lyons, Mott MacDonald Professor of Future Mobility at the University of West of England   

The Conference will be Chaired by Laura Young, award winning climate activist and environmental scientist. 

Image: source Cycling Scotland website

The Board provides strategic leadership for Cycling Scotland, working with the staff team, and they’re are looking for new trustees with a variety of skills including transport planning, legal or HR. Recognising the value of diversity, they encourage applications from people of all backgrounds.

The recruitment pack details the responsibilities of a trustee and how to apply. The deadline for applying is Wednesday 23rd April 2025.

Investment in landmark cycle routes delivering record share of journeys by bike in Scotland

• Record proportion of journeys being made by bike on Edinburgh’s new City Centre route and Glasgow’s South City Way
• Over 1,700 more people cycling on Glasgow’s South City Way in two-day survey period in September 2024 vs 2023, a 46% annual increase
• Edinburgh’s City Centre West to East Link sees additional 1,000 people cycling in two-day survey period in January 2025 vs 2024, an 83% annual increase
• Evidence of wider impact of South City Way, with growth in cycling on nearby streets

New traffic data collated by Cycling Scotland, Scotland’s national cycling charity, has revealed the growing success of two new landmark cycle routes in Glasgow and Edinburgh, and their impact in supporting more people to travel by bike.

Over a 48-hour period in September 2024, traffic surveys recorded 5,457 bikes on the South City Way cycle route on Victoria Road in the south of Glasgow. This was out of a total of 36,417 travel methods recorded, meaning that 15% of people cycled their journey – a new record cycling modal share for an urban street in Scotland.

Overall, 1,718 more bike journeys were recorded on the South City Way over the two-day survey period in September 2024, compared to the same period in September 2023. This is a 46% year-on-year growth in the number of people cycling along the route.

Illustrating the wider impact of the route, cycling was recorded as accounting for 4.3% of journeys on nearby Nithsdale Road, which has no safe cycle lanes, but which connects the nearby area of Pollokshields to the South City Way. The number of people cycling on Nithsdale Road increased by 45% from September 2023 to September 2024, with nearby Allison Street also recording a 22% increase in cycling over the same period.

Edinburgh’s City Centre West to East Link (CCWEL) – which connects Roseburn to the city centre – recorded a cycling modal share of 8.3% in September 2024, just nine months after it was completed.

A 48-hour traffic survey conducted in January 2025 on the CCWEL recorded a total of 2,199 people cycling on the West Coates section – 1,000 more bike journeys compared to the same two-day period in January 2024, shortly after construction of the route. This is a 83% year-on-year growth in the number of people cycling along this route.

Glasgow’s South City Way is one of the most ambitious urban cycle routes in the country, showcasing what investment in a good quality network of safe cycling routes can achieve. Running for 3km, the route’s fully separated, on-street cycle lanes provide a high-quality, direct link between communities in Glasgow’s Southside and the city centre. The route was developed by Glasgow City Council and Sustrans, with cross-party support and funding from Sustrans’ Places for Everyone Programme. Glasgow City Council continues to expand it further, with new connections planned through development of the citywide network of active travel routes.

Officially opened in early 2024, Edinburgh’s 4km City Centre West to East Link (CCWEL) provides a high-quality west-east cycling route connecting Roseburn in the city’s West End to Picardy Place, via Haymarket Rail Station. The project included improved road crossings, footways, street surfacing and greening improvements along the route, and was delivered by City of Edinburgh Council, with funding from Transport Scotland through Sustrans’ Places For Everyone programme, alongside additional funding from the Scottish Government and the Council’s transport budget.

At Picardy Place, the CCWEL now connects to the 2km Leith Walk cycle route, which saw a total of 580,000 cycle journeys in 2024 – a 40% increase on the number of cycle journeys recorded in 2023.

Cycling Scotland organises traffic surveys across Scotland to monitor changes in travel behaviour, working in partnership with all 32 local authorities at over 100 locations. Conducted biannually in May and September each year, these nationwide traffic surveys help to track changes in modal share, highlighting how new high-quality cycle routes such as this are supporting more people to make sustainable journeys.

Annalise, a commuter who cycles with her son to school along Glasgow’s South City Way several times a week, shared her thoughts on the route: “It’s brilliant to have this and it makes such a difference. I’ve lived in other parts of the city that don’t have anything like this, and I didn’t cycle as much as I do now. We cycle together to school a few days a week, and I then use the route the rest of the way to get to work in the centre. It saves me so much time.”

Julie, who uses the CCWEL to cycle to work in Edinburgh city centre said: “This is a route I take every day. It makes a huge difference in terms of how safe you feel. The biggest difference I’ve noticed are the different types of people on the road as well as regular commuters. So many school kids using it and people with cargo bikes. It’s joyful to see more people using their bikes.”

Cabinet Secretary for Transport, Fiona Hyslop MSP, said: “I’m pleased to welcome this latest evidence from Cycling Scotland. It confirms what cities around the world and here in Scotland already know – where you create a safer environment for cycling through quality infrastructure and support to use it, you see more people cycling.

“In turn, this means more people living healthier lives, saving money, leaving their car at home and reducing their emissions

“To support the continued ambitions and leadership of our towns and cities – and to make walking, wheeling and cycling easier for shorter everyday journeys, in 2025-26 the Scottish Government will invest £188 million to make it even easier for people to choose sustainable active travel.”

Councillor Angus Millar, Convener for Transport and Climate at Glasgow City Council said: “The continued growth in the number of people using the South City Way demonstrates that when we build safe, segregated and accessible active travel infrastructure, Glaswegians will come and make use of it.

“It’s clear that rebalancing our roads by adding active travel infrastructure helps people feel more at ease when cycling and leads to a roads network that’s fairer for everyone. We know that many people only feel comfortable choosing the bike for everyday journeys where they have confidence that they can make use of safe, segregated cycle infrastructure for most or all of their route.

“With the recent completion of the final phase of the South City Way to Candleriggs in the city centre and ongoing work to extend the active travel network with the Connecting Battlefield project, the success of this key corridor is a great blueprint for Glasgow as we work to deliver our plans for a comprehensive City Network of segregated cycle infrastructure to connect communities across the city.”

Councillor Stephen Jenkinson, Transport and Environment Convener at City of Edinburgh Council, said: “Here in Edinburgh, it’s really encouraging to see these new figures which reflect the increased popularity and patronage of the CCWEL since its opening last year. Equally, the increase in cycle journeys at the junction of Picardy Place and Leith Walk is very welcome news. Providing quality active travel infrastructure across our city remains a key priority and I’m determined that this will continue.

“It’s clear that by providing these amenities which allow active travel in a safe, simple and integrated way we’ll see an uptake in use. In order to fulfil our climate objectives and goals for mobility in the city, we have a responsibility to our residents and visitors to maintain, improve and expand this infrastructure. Indeed, just a few months ago we saw the opening of the Roseburn to Union Canal route and with ongoing projects like Leith Connections and Meadows to George Street I’m really optimistic looking forward.”

Keith Irving, Chief Executive of Cycling Scotland, said: “This is yet more evidence that when Scotland builds high quality cycling infrastructure, it gets more people cycling. Given that cycling journeys typically account for around 2% of traffic on urban streets, the fact we are now seeing four to seven times that number of journeys being cycled on these routes – together with the huge growth in cycling numbers – shows just what can be achieved when Scotland invests in safe cycling routes.”

“Road safety is the single biggest barrier to more people cycling, and the strong success of these landmark routes demonstrates clearly that investing in well-connected, dedicated cycling lanes is having an impact: helping more people to travel safely and affordably, benefiting our health, reducing harmful pollution and our impact on the climate. We need more safe cycling routes just like these, to bring the benefits to more people across Scotland.”

Further data on cycle rates in Scotland can be found on the Cycling Open Data Portal.

A full breakdown of the data, with supporting data visualisations, can be found on the Cycling Scotland website.

Source: Cycling Scotland press release 6 March 2025

The day was hosted by reporter Catriona Stewart and packed with three keynote speakers and a breakout session.

Professor and Chair of public health at the University of Edinburgh, Devi Sridhar, presented health risks and resolutions from across the world. By pulling parallels, for example, between deaths connected to air pollution in Delhi and London she emphasised that active travel and safer streets are part of a global agenda. In exemplar countries such as the Netherlands and Sweden, she argues there is opportunity to learn but equally an obligation to act now.   

MSP Patrick Harvie, co-leader of Scottish Greens and Minister for Zero Carbon Buildings, Active Travel and Tenant’s Rights focused more on the momentum of progress. Alongside listing infrastructure developments such as the new route being built between Dundee to Broughty Ferry, Patrick Harvie also shared an appreciation towards community-led projects such as new paths developed by Lanark Community Development Trust. In high spirits, however, he urged for a continued consideration to accessibility to ensure everyone feels the freedom of active mobility. He stands determined to maintain political commitment through sustained funding to support change.   

Sally Thomas, Chief Executive at the Scottish Federation of Housing Associations (SFHA), emphasised the importance of partnerships. It’s “not only about getting people to travel but giving people a place to travel to”. Sally Thomas highlighted the affordability of cycling which can enable access to education, jobs, markets, and community activities. Safe bike storage and maintenance projects as well as developing calm and safe spaces outdoors with benches and community gardens are all ways people are encouraged to go outside. 

In breakout sessions, representatives from City councils, organisations and educational institutions further discussed ‘Road Safety, including infrastructure’, ‘Access to bikes and storage’ and ‘Training’. Discussions reiterated the importance of integrating cycling into everyday life. 

It was exciting and inspiring to end the conference with videos from individuals and organisations awarded with Cycling Champion of the Year. 

There is momentum towards a ‘healthier, fairer, safer and greener Scotland’. I look forward to the opportunity within my Master of Research at the University of Strathclyde to better understand road users through a mix of research material, policy, and practice. As Professor Devi Sridhar highlighted, the number of people cycling in the Netherlands used to be the same as in the UK but a parental movement in the 1960s, focussed on road safety, largely inspired the Dutch cycling culture it has today. Similar to the movement in the Netherlands, the Active Mobility Hub in Strathclyde University are working closely alongside Shawlands Bike Bus. There are indications which signpost increasing active mobility in Scotland. If you have thoughts or views on any of this, please comment on this blog.  

More information about the conference can be found here.
#CyclingScotlandConf