http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ CityCyclingEdinburgh Forum » Topic: “ScotGov draft budget 26/27: Active Travel obfuscation” - Spokes en Fri, 05 Jun 2026 10:47:19 +0000 http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=21954#post-384592 Thu, 04 Jun 2026 20:12:13 +0000 chdot 384592@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ <p>“led directly to the PoP26 manifesto“</p> <p>When the facts change so should policies/manifestos!</p> <p>Spokes is like a think tank, full of smart people doing research and coming up with good ideas</p> <p>PoP is more an annual visualisation of the same desires</p> <p>Both rely on volunteers of course </p> <p>As do many local and life/policy changing orgs! </p> http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=21954#post-384591 Thu, 04 Jun 2026 18:53:51 +0000 bakky 384591@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ <p>...led directly to the PoP26 manifesto update:</p> <p><blockquote>Pedal on Parliament are calling for <strong>a transparent commitment to increase active travel spending</strong> to 6% of the overall transport budget in 2026-27, rising to 10% by the end of the parliamentary term.</p> <p>The Scottish government places walking and wheeling, followed by cycling, at the top of its sustainable transport hierarchy (1); but has yet to appropriately back this prioritisation with adequate funding. In 2021, the Scottish Government committed to active travel receiving 10% of the overall transport budget by 2024/25, or a minimum of £320m. <strong>In spite of this promise</strong>, the budgeted amount never passed the 6% mark (2), and the real spend was even lower.</p> <p>Investment in walking and cycling offers real and measurable public health benefit, stimulates local economic activity (as seen in case studies across the country and beyond), and offers an unmatched equality of access to movement, including greater transport autonomy for children. <strong>The rewards for investment in active travel are significant and well-documented</strong> (3), but this needs a financial commitment to delivery for Scotland’s citizens that goes well beyond making promises.</p> <p>Scottish Government figures for active travel have been hidden away with bus infrastructure spending lumped into a new ‘sustainable and active travel’ budget — <strong>hiding a real-terms cut to active travel spending</strong> which is now only 3.9% of the transport budget (2).</p> <p>We are calling for <strong>transparency and accountability on active travel spend</strong> – sustainable public transport is vital, but it is a different concern and must be budgeted honestly and separately from walking, wheeling and cycling. Additionally, local authorities in Scotland are struggling to deliver larger active travel schemes with the cuts in multi-year funding, and this must be reinstated to enable councils to deliver their transport strategy for residents.</blockquote> </p> http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=21954#post-384590 Thu, 04 Jun 2026 17:53:47 +0000 chdot 384590@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ <p><a href="https://www.spokes.org.uk/2026/01/scotgov-draft-budget-26-27-active-travel-obfuscation/" rel="nofollow">https://www.spokes.org.uk/2026/01/scotgov-draft-budget-26-27-active-travel-obfuscation/</a> </p>