A report responding to the recommendations of the Active Travel Task and Finish Group and providing an overview of recent and planned active travel schemes, outcomes achieved, and partnership working.

Further to Minute 14 of the meeting held on 19 November 2025, the Committee considered a report on the recommendations of the Active Travel Task and Finish Group. The report provided an officer evaluation of the Task and Finish Group’s recommendations and provided an update on the delivery and outcomes of recent active travel schemes in the Borough, as well as providing detail on the Council’s partnership working and setting out future plans in respect of active travel. A summary table containing an officer assessment of the recommendations of the Task and Finish Group and their current implementation status was attached to the report at Appendix A. A copy of the Active Travel Task and Finish Group findings and recommendations report was attached at Appendix B.

The report stated that the Council had adopted the Reading Transport Strategy 2040 (the Local Transport Plan (LPT)) in October 2024. The LTP aimed to promote healthier, greener, and more equal communities through sustainable travel and reduced reliance on private cars. Active travel was a central feature of the strategy which was supported by several sub-strategies, these included the Local Cycling and Walking Infrastructure Plan (LCWIP) and Public Rights of Way Improvement Plan (PROWIP). The councillor-led, cross party, Task and Finish Group had been set up by the Committee specifically to scrutinise the implementation of the Council’s active travel strategy.

The report highlighted that the Council had secured substantial external investment and had delivered an ambitious programme of active travel infrastructure improvements in recent years. Key achievements included pedestrianising areas around Reading Station and Station Hill, enhancing the Reading Station pedestrian subway, creating new pedestrian and cycle routes such as the Napier Road underpass and Christchurch Bridge and the delivery of east-west cycle infrastructure as part of National Cycle Network (NCN) Route?422. Additional projects included new shared use paths (such as London Road and the A33), cycle lanes on major roads (e.g. Oxford Road and Shinfield Road), enhanced pedestrian facilities throughout the town, expanded cycle parking (with cycle hubs in the town centre and at Reading Station) and the ongoing programme of road and pavement improvements across the Borough.

The Council had delivered these infrastructure improvements alongside a comprehensive programme of initiatives aimed at encouraging greater uptake of active travel. These included the introduction of various School Streets, Bikeability training in schools, Learn to Ride sessions for younger and/or less confident cyclists, road safety education in primary schools, adult cycle training, and cycle repair and maintenance events. Other examples included Walk to School Week, the Beat the Street walking and cycling challenge, a dedicated School Active Travel Officer (through Sustrans), Wellbeing Walks, the promotion of active travel schemes at various community events, and the ongoing programme of maintenance works for cycling and walking routes in the town.

The report stated that the Council had worked closely with a wide range of partners and stakeholders to deliver active travel schemes. This had included collaboration with neighbouring local authorities on cross boundary routes, with schools on initiatives such as School Streets, with Government and Active Travel England to secure grant funding and scheme approvals, and with private developers to enhance active travel infrastructure through the planning processes. The Council had also engaged extensively with local interest groups and stakeholders, including Councillor working groups for specific schemes, the Cleaner Air and Safer Transport (CAST) Forum, the Cycle Forum, the Access and Disabilities Working Group, and others to gather input during scheme development and improve future projects. These efforts, alongside the successful delivery of active travel infrastructure and the incentive initiatives set out in the report, had contributed to Reading achieving one of the highest levels of sustainable travel use in the UK outside London.

The report stated that the Task and Finish Group’s recommendations, as set out in Appendix B, would help the Council to build on the considerable progress that had already been made in relation to active travel. It explained that several workstreams were underway that aligned with the Task and Finish Group’s recommendations, for example the work that had been done to reprioritise the Council’s Waiting Restrictions Review Programme, and the work underway in relation to the Requests for Traffic Management Measures List. Further opportunities to implement the Group’s recommendations would also arise through the delivery of planned schemes, such as the design and implementation of the Bath Road/Castle Hill active travel scheme, which was being progressed with input from councillors and local stakeholder groups. Several of the Group’s recommendations were also relevant and would be considered alongside input from key stakeholders as part of the planned refresh of the Council’s Local Cycling and Walking Infrastructure Plan (LWCIP).

The report noted that the Task and Finish Group’s longer-term recommendations, such as reviewing potential approaches to address pavement parking and the potential use of demand management measures, would require additional work to assess funding and resource implications and that any decisions made in relation to the progression of such schemes would need to follow the Council’s formal decision making processes. The report also noted that the Council continued to seek to learn from examples of best practice and to improve outcomes, and noted the joint research project that had been carried out in partnership with the University of Reading and the Reading Cycle Campaign, which sought to identify the lessons learned from delivering previous active travel schemes and how they could be applied the delivery of schemes in the future.

The report set out the proposed next steps for the Council’s active travel programme which it noted were included in the overall Local Transport Delivery Plan report due to be considered by the Committee later in the meeting (see Minute 22 below). It noted that the Government had announced a new approach to how funding would be allocated and that, whilst funding levels were lower than had previously been the case with the competitive allocations system, they did now offer greater long-term certainty and flexibility for planning.

The report highlighted several planned future active travel related projects that included improvements to Bath Road/Castle Hill, Sidmouth Street, and the planned partnership work with Wokingham on the Woodley-Reading active travel route. The report noted that the Council intended to continue to deliver a wide programme of initiatives, training, and incentives to increase active travel uptake. It also noted that the wider Delivery Plan set out ambitious sustainable travel enhancements for public transport which meant that careful priorisation of financial and staff resources would be required. The report stated that the Council would continue to collaborate with partners and stakeholders to build on past successes and to ensure the effective development active travel options. The Council would also continue to learn from examples of best practice and, through sharing its own experiences, would seek to improve future schemes for residents and visitors. 

Resolved –  That the latest position as to the recommendations of the Active Travel Task and Finish Group as set out in the report and in Appendix A be noted.