Walking, cycling and other forms of Active Travel play important roles in the Reading Transport Strategy.

Active Travel is where the way you travel involves a level of activity.

Active Travel can mean trips made by:

• walking and cycling
• wheelchair
• mobility scooters
• adapted cycles, e-cycles and scooters
• even roller blades

Creating an attractive environment where people feel safe to walk and cycle has the potential to improve their health. Replacing vehicle journeys will reduce congestion and emissions and meet Reading’s Climate Emergency Action Targets. We can achieve this through creating an improved infrastructure, and prioritising pedestrians and cyclists.

A large proportion of people in Reading already walk to and from work or to study, to shops and for leisure purposes. However, there is scope to increase the number of walking and cycling trips. Our Local Cycling and Walking Infrastructure Plan (LCWIP) sets out how we will increase the number of walking and cycling trips into the town centre. Additionally, our Rights of Way Improvement Plan (ROWIP) sets out how we will maintain and improve our rights of way network.

We have shown through our first Active Travel programme in 2020 that more journeys have been made through Active Travel and its promotion. We want to build on this and encourage more residents to make long-term sustainable travel choices with less reliance on the private car. This will provide advantages for the environment such as more pleasant walking space, alongside health benefits of cleaner air.