Across Scotland, 29% of households don’t have access to a car.
In our major cities, this figure rises to 46% of households in Glasgow and Dundee, and 41% in Edinburgh.
So what can we do to give everyone in Scotland fairer choices in how they get around? And how are we supporting communities in moving towards lower carbon, healthier and happier journeys?
Increasing and improving the opportunities to walk, wheel and cycle for short, everyday journeys has a huge role to play.
But good, reliable public transport is vital for longer journeys to work, education, everyday amenities, and friends.
And most of these longer journeys already start and end with a walk, wheel or cycle to a stop or station.
With Scotland aiming to reduce car kilometres travelled by 20 per cent by 2030, we take a look at some of the ways we’re better connecting walking, wheeling and cycling with public transport across Scotland and making it easier to leave the car at home.
Stirling train station transformation
The regeneration of Stirling train station is a primary example of how access to train stations can be dramatically improved for walking, wheeling, and cycling.
With funding provided through Places for Everyone and working closely with ScotRail, the ambitious £5m Stirling Station Gateway project delivered a complete re-design of the station forecourt.
Completed in June 2023, major changes include widened footways, comfortable seating areas, landscaping works, as well as improved signage and wayfinding points.
Another key feature is the increased provision of secure covered cycle storage, offering more than 140 additional cycle parking spaces and increasing the total number of cycle spaces at the station to more than 200.
A large portion of the space required for these improvements was been created via changes to the carriageway and the reallocation of the taxi rank to an adjacent street.
Importantly, access for blue badge holders has been entirely retained at the station, with additional spaces even being provided.
Perhaps one of the biggest successes of the project, however, is how well it interconnects with the wider Walk Cycle Live Stirling project via segregated cycleways along Gooscroft Road.
Delivered in partnership with Stirling Council via Places for Everyone, Walk Cycle Live Stirling aims to deliver a £9.5m city-wide active travel network.
Taken together, all this has helped transform the area from an unappealing vehicle-dominated environment to one which creates space for safer, and more accessible active travel options.
Bike spaces on Borders buses
The work which Sustrans delivered with Borders Buses highlights how public transport can assist cyclists in making longer journeys without having to leave the bike behind.
With the novel creation of bike storage spaces on board, the X62 service, which serves Tweed Valley and the Scottish Borders, was able to become a fully bike-friendly route.
This involved retrofitting bike storage onto buses so that every bus operating on the X62 route would have space for a minimum of two bikes.
It also involved a change in livery, marketing and promotional materials with the aim to increase the catchment area of the bus service.
The money Sustrans provided resulted in a fully bike-friendly bus service that runs from Edinburgh to the Scottish Borders. By making buses bike-friendly, they become accessible to more people.