Active Travel Prioritisation Delivery Plan

Perth and Kinross Council · 28 May 2025
Back to Economy and Infrastructure Committee — 28 May 2025 and its agenda

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Our vision is a Perth and Kinross where everyone can live life well,
free from poverty and inequality 
___________________________________________________________________  
Committee or Board: Economy & Infrastructure Committee 
Date of Meeting: 28 May 2025 
Report Title:   Active Travel Prioritisation Delivery Plan 
Report Number: 25/132 
Report Author: Blair Watt, Road Safety Project Officer 
Organisational Lead: Fraser Crofts, Strategic Lead – Environment and
Infrastructure
___________________________________________________________________ 
1. Purpose 
1.1 The purpose of this report is to update Committee on Active Travel in Perth
and Kinross. It provides an update on projects completed in 2024/25, details
the funding provided by Transport Scotland in 2025/26 and seeks Committee
approval of the Active Travel Prioritisation Delivery Plan. 
1.2 Sections 
1. Purpose
2. Recommendation(s)
3. Background/Context
4. Proposals
5. Conclusion
6. Impact Value Assessment
7. Appendices 
2. Recommendations 
It is recommended that the Committee: 
2.1 Notes the changes in Active Travel Infrastructure funding. 
2.2 Notes the projects implemented from Tier 1 and other external grant funding
for 2024/25 as detailed at Appendix 1. 
2.3 Approves the Prioritisation Delivery Plan as detailed in Appendix 2.

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2.4 Approves delegation of projects for delivery to the Strategic Lead Environment
& Infrastructure, within available funding, based on the prioritised list of
projects which have been subject to the criteria set out in the Prioritisation
Delivery Plan. 
3. Background/Context 
3.1  In 2024/25, Transport Scotland changed the funding arrangements for Active
Travel in Scotland. The previous Cycling, Walking and Safer Routes (CWSR)
programme was ended and the Active Travel Infrastructure Fund created. The
distribution of the funding has also changed. Tier 1 funding, awarded to all
local authorities, is now provided to the Council as part of its block grant
rather than as an individual CWSR grant. This provides greater flexibility than
with the previous CWSR. Tier 2 funding, designed for larger scale active
travel projects and is match funded, is allocated through an application
process.   
3.2 Tier 1 funding must be spent on Active Travel related initiatives or local
authorities risk losing or a reduction in funding. 
3.3 The methodology for awarding Active Travel funding to local authorities has
also changed. The methodology has been designed to ensure that allocations
are consistent with our shared policy priorities and are focused on inequality
and delivering modal shift – enabling more people to make the switch from
their cars to Active Travel, while ensuring that all areas of Scotland are
supported. It also introduces a minimum £200,000 allocation for each local
authority which has led to local authorities with smaller populations and less
areas of deprivation seeing a reduction in funding. 
3.4 In 2024/25 Perth and Kinross Council received a capital grant of £738,757 for
Active Travel Infrastructure. As the previous years funding was £982,182, this
is a reduction of £243,425 or 25% from the previous year’s CWSR funding.   
3.5 Transport Scotland’s long-term vision for active travel in Scotland 2030 is to
make walking or cycling the most popular choice for shorter everyday
journeys, by making it safer, easier and available to everyone. It is intended to
achieve many outcomes, including better health, having attractive, safe
communities and increased economic activity.   
Tier 1 Active Travel Infrastructure Fund (ATIF) 2024/25 
3.6 At its meeting on 29 May 2024 (Report No 24/162 refers), the Economy and
Infrastructure Committee approved a list of works to be funded from the
anticipated 2024/25 Scottish Government grants of £982,000 for CWSR
projects. However, the actual grant received was significantly lower
(£738,757). This was due to the changes detailed above. 
3.7 The Traffic and Network team were successful in applications for externally
sourced grant funding. This led to a collaborative approach to a number of
projects.

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3.8 In total, £549,716 of actual works was funded in 2024/25 from Tier 1 and
other external funding grants. In addition, £420,025 was received in external
grant funding. £170,257 was received through working with Cycling Scotland
to install cycle parking through Perth and Kinross. £80,000 was received from
Paths for All for Construction of the shared-use path at Jeanfield Swifts
stadium. £120,403 was provided in Transport Scotland's Local Authority
Direct Award grant. £49,365 was secured from Sustrans NCN development
fund for a feasibility study on Tay Street and construction of shared-use path
from the Fife Council boundary to Benarty Road. This coincided with work
carried out by Fife Council linking Kelty to Cowdenbeath. 
3.9  Staff costs of £86,049 were claimed against Tier 1 funding. This is a reduction
from previous years due to staff redeployment to national and local priorities
such as the introduction of national pavement parking ban, CTLR mitigation
measures and national 20mph speed limit strategy. 
3.10 Several projects initiated during 2024/25 did not progress as planned for
various reasons such a building warrants, available budget or land issues.
Additionally, some projects that commenced construction in 2024/25 were not
completed until early 2025/26. Consequently, this resulted in an underspend
of £182,992. The funding was carried forward into 2025/26 to ensure the
completion and delivery of these previously agreed projects. 
3.11 Due to changes in funding introduced by Transport Scotland, Tactran
confirmed that they were not provided with any infrastructure funding for
2024/25 so no applications were submitted by them. 
3.12 The projects delivered during 2024/25 have provided improvements for the
most vulnerable road users in our communities. The measures include
improvements to dropped kerbs, signalized junction to assist pedestrians,
provision of missing link footways and shared use link to assist and
encourage pedestrians and cyclists in local communities to use active travel
for everyday journeys. A contribution was also made to feasibility and design
work on making Dunkeld train station more accessible for walkers, wheelers
and cyclists. A breakdown of each project and its costs can be found in
appendix 1. 
3.13 Walking and cycling benefits the individual with not just physical health
benefits but also provides benefits for mental health, the environment and
keeping people’s transport costs down. Perth and Kinross is committed to
making it easier for everyone to incorporate Active Travel choices into their
daily routines. 
Tier 2 Active Travel Infrastructure Fund (ATIF) 2024/25 
3.14 PKC did not have any projects that were “construction ready” so no
applications were submitted for Tier 2 funding in 2024/25.

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4. Proposal – Active Travel Prioritisation Delivery Plan  
4.1 Perth and Kinross Council commissioned Arup to develop an Active Travel
Prioritisation Delivery Plan for Active Travel routes identified in master plans
and strategies across the PKC area, as well as other route proposals
developed by internal PKC teams and local community groups. 
4.2 A number of Active Travel Masterplans (ATMs) have been developed for the
PKC region. These include: 
• Perth Cycle Network Masterplan (2018) which aims to create a coherent
cycle network in Perth. 
• Kinross-shire Active Travel Masterplan (2024) which identifies and
prioritises active travel interventions to encourage short everyday
journeys.
• Tactran Regional Active Travel Network (2023) which establishes a
framework for developing regional active travel routes, with the aim of
providing connections between settlements, neighbourhoods and major
trip destinations. 
4.3 The purpose of this commissioned work was to develop a robust and
evidence-led Multi-Criteria Assessment (MCA) to prioritise routes in the ATMs
and additional routes identified by PKC teams and local community groups. 
4.4 The methodology used to develop the prioritisation is informed by and aligns
with key policies and objectives outlined in the Perth and Kinross Mobility
Strategy. This strategy sets out future direction and policy focus for transport
in the Perth and Kinross Council area. 
4.5 The delivery plan scores projects against a set criteria that aligns with the
Mobility Strategy and national guidance/best practice on Active Travel
Infrastructure. The Criteria includes: 
• Deliverability – How deliverable is a route? Within adopted road? Cost/
Additional permissions? 
• Social Deprivation – Will the route serve areas with high levels of
deprivation? 
• Potential users – How many people will be able to access the route? 
• Public Transport – Does the route connect to the wide public transport
network?
• Safety – Will the route serve areas with high levels of deprivation? 
• Connectivity – does it link into key trips generators? Health Services?
Employment? Leisure Facilities? Education? Etc 
• Air Quality Management – Will the route reduce traffic in area with poor air
quality? 
• Rurality – Does the route provide connections to rural areas?

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4.6 Each criteria was given a score of high/medium/low (5/3/1) depending on how
the proposed route serviced the different criteria. For example, a route that
serviced no school was given a score of one, a route that serviced one or two
schools was given a score of three and a route that serviced more than two
schools was given five.   
4.7 So that the MCA can be tailored to suit different planning objectives, a
variable weighting approach was tested. This allows different criteria to be
given a higher or lower weighting in the final score.   
4.8 A range of different approaches were tested including weighting all criteria
equally, prioritising deliverability over other criteria and weighting each criteria
according to how well they aligned with the Mobility Strategy transport
planning objectives. 
4.9 The Prioritisation Delivery Plan will be used to identify projects for delivery for
future years. 
4.10 Funding for the delivery plan will come from Tier 1 Active Travel Infrastructure
Fund and applications will be submitted to Transport Scotland for Tier 2 active
travel funding. Depending on the scale of some projects Capital budget may
need to be identified to provide match funding. 
4.11 New projects will be added to the Prioritised Delivery Plan as and when they
are identified. These projects may be identified by internal PKC teams or local
community groups. The list will be managed by the Active Travel Co-Ordinator
within the Traffic and Network team which will ensure there is a consistent
approach to scoring of each project. 
4.12 This report seeks approval of the Prioritisation Delivery Plan so that it can be
used to identified and progress Active Travel infrastructure in Perth and
Kinross. 
4.13 The full report on the Perth and Kinross Active Travel Prioritisation Delivery
Plan including the prioritised list of projects can be found in appendix 2.   
Tier 1 Active Travel Infrastructure Fund (ATIF) 2025/26 
4.14 In 2025/26 Perth and Kinross Council (PKC) has been awarded £796,000
from Transport Scotland for Tier 1. This funding will be used to deliver Active
Travel projects where we have given a previous commitment to and projects
identified as part of the Prioritised Delivery Plan as detailed above.     
4.15 Depending on the success of our Tier 2 applications, Tier 1 may be utilised for
construction of unsuccessful Tier 2 projects or to procure additional resources
to carry out feasibility and design for projects identified in the delivery plan.

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Tier 2 Active Travel Infrastructure Fund (ATIF) 2025/26 
4.16 Transport Scotland opened funding for Tier 2 active travel infrastructure
2025/26 on 16 January 2025, with applications required to be submitted by
14 February 2025. 
4.17 Transport Scotland confirmed that only local authorities, Regional Transport
Partners (TACTRAN for PKC) or National Park could apply for Tier 2. They
also provided an update on Sustrans Place for Everyone fund (PfE). 
4.18 Transport Scotland confirmed that from 2025/26 PfE will cease to exist and
projects would transition to the new Tier 2 application process administered
by Transport Scotland. This has resulted in significant changes to Sustrans
operations and has removed the ability for local community groups to engage
with Sustrans to pursue local priorities. 
4.19 Projects must be designed and constructed in accordance with guidelines
provided in Cycling by Design 2021. 
4.20  Tier 2 caters to two types of applications. Projects that are at a construction
ready stage can apply for match funding of construction costs, which will likely
be 70% but may vary depending on the type of project. Transport Scotland
will not cover the cost of higher amenity materials than they deem necessary.
This is to ensure best value for ATIF. Alternatively, projects that require
design work will be funded at 100% and divided into two stages: Stage 0-2
(feasibility, business case, and concept design) and Stage 3-4 (detailed
design and works package ready for construction) 
4.21 The Traffic and Network team have submitted six bids to the Tier 2 Active
Travel Infrastructure Fund 2025/26. These include two bids for construction
ready projects and four bids for design. In total, £1,190,000 was applied for
Tier 2 funding. The bids are as follow: 
• Scone to Scone Airport Active Travel route - £490,000 construction bid 
• Dunkeld train station accessibility improvements - £150,000 construction
bid submitted on behalf of Network Rial. 
• Errol to Grange Corridor - £100,000 Stage 3-4 design bid
• Glasgow Road Corridor - £300,000 Stage 0-2 design bid 
• Marshall Place Corridor - £100,000 Stage 0-2 design bid
• Kinross Park and Ride to High Street corridor - £50,000 Stage 0-2 design
bid. 
4.22 At the time of writing 28 April 2025 we are still awaiting confirmation of the
status of our bids. 
5. Conclusion 
5.1 Implementation of the Active Travel Prioritisation Delivery Plan will create a
prioritised list of projects for introduction through Active Travel budgets.
Projects will be added and progressed to the prioritised list as and when they
are requested with delivery subject to available funding.

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5.2 The list, which will be a live document and available at any time for Elected
Members to view, will create a project pipeline for Perth and Kinross so that
applications can be made to external funders. 
5.3 Progression of projects will be delegated to the Strategic Lead Environment &
Infrastructure from the prioritised list within the available funding. The
additional flexibility provided by Tier 1 funding being awarded as block grant
will help to support the delivery of projects between financial years without the
restrictions of needing to spend by the end of any one financial year. 
6. Impact and Value Assessment 
Active_Travel_Prioritisation_Delivery_Plan.pdf 
7. Appendices 
7.1 Appendix 1 - 2024/25 Completed Projects list 
7.2 Appendix 2 - Active Travel Prioritised Delivery Plan