185 projects funded to create a cycling friendly Scotland

More people in workplaces, colleges, communities, schools, and social housing across Scotland will now find it easier to cycle for everyday journeys.

Cycling Scotland has allocated grant funding of £3.4million to organisations across the country to install and improve facilities that will help more people get on their bikes.

From Dundee to Glasgow, the Highlands to Edinburgh, 185 projects have received Cycling Friendly funding to provide facilities such as secure cycle storage, cycle parking and bikes.

229,000 people are set to benefit, including 23,000 primary and secondary school pupils, 40,000 staff, 50,000 people supported through community projects and over 840 social rented households.

Half of the funding for communities and workplaces was allocated to projects in areas of high deprivation*.

The £3.4 million funding, which comes from the Scottish Government’s active travel budget, is supplemented by £2.5 million match funding, making the total value of the projects £5.9 million.

Kath Brough, Head of Behaviour Change, said:

It’s so positive that people across the country will benefit from improvements to their local area, helping make it easier for them to travel by bike for day-to-day journeys.

Bike storage at key destinations like home, work and school support more people to cycle, which is vital as we work to tackle the climate emergency, health crisis and rising cost-of-living.

Minister for Active Travel Patrick Harvie said:

I’m pleased that £3.4 million in Scottish Government funding, delivered through our partners at Cycling Scotland, has supported so many communities right across Scotland with improved cycling facilities.

An incredible breadth of projects have been funded, all making it that little bit easier for people to choose cycling instead of the car for everyday journeys.

This year we will continue to support local communities, schools and businesses to deliver more high impact projects. Coupled with investment in access to bikes and quality infrastructure projects – we can help build a more active nation that is healthier, happier and has less impact on our environment.

*50.7% of community funding and 50.6% of employer funding allocated to projects in quintiles 1 and 2, with quintile 1 being the 20% most-deprived in Scotland, as measured by SIMD (Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation)