94% agreed Spaces for People measures made walking or cycling easier

Temporary Spaces for People schemes, introduced to Scotland during the 2020 Covid lockdown, delivered some impressive outcomes. Taking a broad overview of the measures:

Scale

The Spaces for People programme, funded by the Scottish Government, managed by Sustrans Scotland, oversaw installation of 178 interventions within the first two months of the programme, with 316 installed by the end of the first six months.

Walking and Cycling impact

Sustrans has revealed 94% of survey respondents in Aberdeen City agreed that the Spaces for People measures have made it easier to walk or cycle. Also reported, a 25% increase in pedestrian use where Spaces for People measures (such as pavement widening) were introduced, when compared with control sites.

As was previously reported in Cycling Industry News, The Department for Transport data, detailing the change in transport use over the lockdown period, showed cycling levels rose by up to 300% on some days. The report also found that pedal cycles travelled 5.0 billion miles on roads in 2020, 45.7% further than in the previous year.

Traffic calming measures

50% of local people supported the 20mph limits introduced in Perth & Kinross, Dundee, Stirling and Angus, whilst a further 27% feel neutrally about them.

Launched in May 2020, Spaces for People provided emergency funding to local authorities, transport partnerships and health boards. The funding was made available to create spaces for people to physically distance during the pandemic and to improve road safety for people walking, wheeling and cycling. Some 2 million people live within ten minutes’ walk of Spaces for People measures.

Karen McGregor, Director of Capital Programmes for Sustrans Scotland, said: “Spaces for People was created to help people stay safe and active in their local area during the pandemic.

“We are pleased to see that measures created by councils and health boards across Scotland helped to encourage people to make use of their space, complete their local journeys and socialise safely.”

Full details for the study can be found here.

As shown (right), bike shops in the UK perceive cycling infrastructure improvements as the single greatest factor influencing future bike sales and ridership prospects. This data is from CyclingIndustry.News 2021 annual retailer study. Bike shops are still able to pitch into our 2022 effort here.