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We do not currently record data across our behaviour change programme in a way that would allow us to establish how many different schools or what proportion of schools have participated in projects.

This is possible, however, on an individual project basis. For example, in the academic year 2022-23, Bikeability Scotland training was delivered in 66.7% of schools covering over 60,000 pupils across 30/32 local authorities. Living Streets’ Walk to School / WOW programme has run for over 25 years and was introduced in Scotland in 2014. A total of 463 primary schools, 23% of the total number of primary schools in Scotland, have had active participation in WOW at some point between 2012 and 2022. 160 schools participated in WOW in 2022-23.

A new model for delivery of active travel behaviour change interventions has been introduced for 2024-25. The People and Place programme will be delivered by Scotland’s seven Regional Transport Partnerships (RTPs). To support this new model we are developing a monitoring and evaluation framework which will improve our understanding of the performance of the projects that we fund and enable us to make better informed funding decisions across the active travel behaviour change programme.

The increased scale and pace of Transport Scotland’s ambition in active travel is bringing wholesale reform of the delivery model for both active travel infrastructure - through the Active Travel Infrastructure Fund (ATIF) - and for behaviour change - through the creation of the Regional Transport Partnership (RTP) led Active Travel People and Place Programme (ATPP). With public funds facing unprecedented levels of pressure, it is vitally important that active travel investment is targeted where it can make most impact.

Support for grass-roots community groups and charity-led projects is also being decentralised, with acknowledgement from everyone involved in active travel that decisions about how to support grass roots behaviour change work needed to be taken closer to communities, and in a way that’s more joined up with local and regional transport strategies. As part of this process, it was decided we would not be continuing with direct support for a number of programmes, including the ebike loan fund.

The Scottish Government still intends to publish its Aviation Statement shortly and we will confirm details as soon as possible.

a) The length of carriageway or lane reserved for the use of buses (and other vehicles as identified) delivered through the Bus Partnership Fund is 12.16km. This includes bus gates in Aberdeen City Centre, which the North East Bus Alliance has reported to have reduced journey times for passengers by up to 25%, and a bus gate at Raigmore Hospital in Inverness, opened in March 2024, providing improved public transport access to this important facility as well as improving connectivity with the city centre. A section of bus lane has also been delivered on the M8 eastbound between Claylands (Junction 2 of the M8) and Hermiston Gait (Junction 1 of the M8) in the form of an actively managed hard shoulder for buses. This also includes 2.58km of BPF funded bus lanes in Edinburgh that are currently in operation and the Council are seeking to make permanent.

b) In addition to bus lanes, other bus priority and supporting measures have been delivered through the Bus Partnership Fund. This includes bus priority at 66 signalised junctions across Scotland, including Glasgow, Edinburgh, Inverness, Ayrshire, Oban, Dundee and Perth, helping buses to get through them more quickly. Seven supporting projects have also been completed, including measures such as bus lane enforcement cameras. When the Bus Partnership Fund was launched and STPR2 was published, there were not many bus priority measures identified that could be built straight away. Therefore the Bus Partnership Fund also provided funding which has seen 32 studies completed to identify, develop and design further pipeline bus priority measures.

According to the Scottish Government’s classification of school locations, 31% of the students attending publicly funded schools went to a school in a large urban area, and 42% attend schools in smaller urban areas. The remaining 27% attend schools in accessible small towns (9%), remote small towns (5%), accessible rural areas (8%) and remote rural areas (4%) ( Scottish Government, 2021 ).

According to the latest Hands Up Scotland Survey (HUSS) data, published in August 2023, the percentage of children travelling actively to school is 49.4%. Walking remains the most common mode of school travel at 42.6%. It is not currently possible to determine a change in this metric since the adoption of STPR2 as the latest HUSS data is from 2022. Data from the 2023 survey will be available later this year.

The latest HUSS data can be found here: Hands Up Scotland Survey - Sustrans.org.uk

The North East Bus Alliance has spent £9.94 million from the Bus Partnership Fund. This includes funding for the business case for Aberdeen Rapid Transit (ART) and bus priority on its associated corridors. This also includes £0.33 million for the development and delivery of bus gates in Aberdeen City Centre, which opened in August 2023, and supporting works of £7.98 million on South College Street, which enabled the bus gates. The North East Bus Alliance have reported that bus gates in Aberdeen City Centre have reduced journey times for passengers by up to 25%, benefitting over 600,000 passengers each month.

Future work on ART, led by Nestrans and its partners Aberdeen City Council, Aberdeenshire Council and the North East Bus Alliance, will be funded through the Aberdeen City Region Deal.

A new model for delivery of active travel behaviour change interventions has been introduced for 2024-25. The People and Place programme will be delivered by Scotland’s seven Regional Transport Partnerships (RTPs). Grant offer letters have been issued to all of the RTPs which contain the information required for drawing down funding from their allocation once the grant offer is accepted. This funding will be available to the RTPs, working with their delivery partners, to spend on behaviour change interventions during the 2024-25 financial year.

STPR2 is a national appraisal and identifies recommendations to be delivered over the long term. The delivery of the recommendations is subject to the funding allocations agreed by Parliament each year through the annual budget process.

In the case of Recommendation 3, which focuses on village-town active travel connections, investment will likely be phased over numerous years. Currently, projects are identified by local authorities and regional partners who then apply for funding through the Sustrans Places for Everyone programme, the new Active Travel Infrastructure fund, and directly through the Cycling Walking Safer Routes (CWSR) grant.

In the case of the Active Travel Infrastructure Fund, we accept proposals for funding the construction of various types of active travel interventions, which can include village-town active travel connections.

The assessment and prioritisation of projects considers a multi- criteria approach and includes two main factors: the impact they achieve and the deliverability of the project. Some of the factors considered in the prioritisation of projects are: potential for mode shift; the quality of proposed infrastructure; safety and security; integration with existing active travel infrastructure and/or public transport; impact on the most deprived 20% of communities; impact on community severance; access to schools; access to employment; access to other locations and value for money.

STPR2 follows the Scottish Transport Appraisal Guidance (STAG). STAG is based on HM Treasury’s Green Book “5 Case Model” for business cases, developed for use in Scotland. A transport appraisal using STAG generally considers the strategic and socio-economic cases to assess whether potential options for programmes/projects are likely to meet intended objectives and deliver intended benefits, such as environmental, economic, social impacts relative to anticipated cost.

The evidence from STPR2 demonstrates the Strategic Business Case for the recommendations. Improving health and wellbeing, taking climate action and supporting sustainable economic development are three of the five STPR2 objectives against which all recommendations are appraised. The outcome of these can be found in the appraisal summary tables for each recommendation Final technical report - December 2022 - STPR2 | Transport Scotland .

STPR2 is a national level appraisal and the benefits were identified through a mix of qualitative assessment and quantitative results from transport modelling, suitable for the strategic case of investment decision making. The cost estimates are also in line with the strategic nature of the appraisal. More detailed appraisal and cost benefit analysis for each transport intervention will be undertaken as part of Outline and Final Business Case work.

As part of the policy development for the Active Travel People and Place programme 2024-25, evidence was considered from a range of sources, including the recommendations from the Strategic Transport Projects Review (STPR2).

The policy is underpinned by a behaviour change approach that seeks to ensure that interventions tackle the individual, social, and material (ISM) factors that influence people’s travel choices. We developed four evidence-based themes that sit across the programme that address long-term social trends, target our largest trip generators, help secure a Just Transition, and systemically strengthen delivery, as well as providing structure for our overarching monitoring and evaluation framework.

Following engagement with delivery partners, RTPs, and representatives from Local Authorities, key deliverables (e.g. cycle training in schools; support for disadvantaged/vulnerable communities) were identified as priorities for continue support. Taking these into account, criteria were developed by Transport Scotland policy officials and discussed with the Minister for Zero Carbon Buildings, Active Travel and Tenants' Rights in December 2023 and January 2024. These themes are: Schools and Young People, Workplaces, Accessibility and Inclusion, and Capacity and Capability Building.

‘Schools and Young People’ covers interventions in and around schools that deliver holistic solutions for creating an environment where active travel choices are not only an option, but the most desirable way to travel for young people and families. The theme is key both in terms of ‘place’, with schools collectively being one of the largest trip generators in Scotland (there were over 705,000 children attending school in Scotland in 2023 with about 50% of their journeys being made actively), and also ‘people’, with strong evidence showing that social norms play a crucial role in behaviour change, and that helping children establish healthy travel behaviours should be a core activity of programmes seeking sustainable travel behaviours.

‘Workplaces’ covers interventions that focus on places of work (including further and higher education), that make active travel choices a realistic solution for commuting. This theme is key as places of work are significant trip generators, with the latest statistics showing ‘Commuting’ as the second most frequent reason for personal travel, at 21%.

‘Accessibility and Inclusion’ covers interventions that create opportunities for everyone to make the choice to travel actively. Evidence shows that there is a large number of underrepresented groups in Scotland who do not participate in active travel. Barriers include cost, social perception, culture, health, ability, and geographical location. Though this theme we will ensure people with different abilities, or people without the knowledge or skills, are not left out of our drive to promote walking, wheeling and cycling for everyday journeys.

‘Capacity and Capability Building’ covers interventions that build the delivery capacity and capability of the sector. Transport was part of Scotland’s Climate Emergency Skills Action Plan (CESAP), which highlighted that the transition to net zero will require behaviour change by both employers and individuals. The CESAP stressed the need for skills investment planning in this area and to support stakeholders to take action to drive behaviour change and develop the leadership and management skills that will be required for a net zero future.

We are keeping these themes under review, and our ongoing monitoring and evaluation framework will draw on data included the Walking and Cycling Index and the Scottish Household Survey (SHS) which has data on the purpose of short journeys.