Cycling Scotland

Start of election hustings article... Spokes/CUK Election Hustings #Holyrood2026 Spokes and Cycling UK are holding a joint election hustings, on Monday 16 March, for the 2026 Scottish Parliament election, to hear from Holyrood candidates on cycling and related policies. Rather than the usual hustings approach, which can be rather boring, our meeting will comprise several sections, with speakers undertaking Initiation, Interrogation, Combination, Clarification and Education, as in the agenda below.

#Hustings #Holyrood2026
#SpokesMtg ✔️🚲🚲

March 16 --> www.spokes.org.uk/2026/02/spok...

@edi.bike @edfoc.bsky.social @kate-c.bsky.social @chasbooth.bsky.social @ianmurraymp.bsky.social @edcriticalmass.bsky.social @sw20.info @keithirving.bsky.social @edinreporter.bsky.social @jennycooper.bsky.social

Video description: many people travelling by bike during morning rush hour at 8.30am, towards Glasgow city centre, on the South City Way protected cycle route, captured February 2026.

🚲📈 Explore the data and see how new, safe, dedicated cycling infrastructure is helping more people to travel by bike in Scotland 👉 buff.ly/rIm5wDM

People cycling home on a sunny early evening on the South City Way cycle route in Glasgow, at Gorbals Cross.

🚲 "It’s made a colossal difference having protected routes. Being well separated from traffic means I’m able to travel in safety. I’d go so far as to say I wouldn’t be cycling as much for my daily commute or at all without the protected cycle lanes now in place." – Katy in Glasgow

buff.ly/rIm5wDM

89-year-old Edinburgh resident Michael Owen, pictured parking his bike at his local supermarket.

Michael Owen, an 89-year-old Edinburgh resident, shared: "I'm very supportive of improvements for cycling. I'm approaching 90, and I use my bike to get local shopping most days. I've always used my bike to keep fit - it's my main way of looking after myself. It keeps me more mobile than otherwise."

People cycling on Edinburgh's City Centre West to East Link (CCWEL) protected cycle route, as it runs along West Coates, a main road connecting Roseburn to the city centre.

Screenshot of a map showing locations of 48-hour traffic surveys conducted in Edinburgh over 24th and 25th September 2025, with each location marked by a pink dot. Dots are scaled to represent the level of cycling modal share recorded at each location, with larger dots denoting larger cycling modal share. As an example, large dots representing Melville Street in the centre of the image, and nearby Leith Walk, denote relatively high cycling modal share of 9.5% and 9.7% respectively.

Line graph, titled "More bikes than cars at all rush hour travel peaks on Glasgow's South City Way". The graph shows counts of cars (pink line) and bikes (blue line) on Glasgow's South City Way route on Victoria Road, over the 48-hour traffic survey period. For the first time, more bikes than cars were recorded on Victoria Road at all peak travel hours (8-9am and 5-6pm). Data captured over 24th and 25th September, 2025.

Two adults and a young child smile as they cycle together on a new protected cycle lane on Goosecroft Road in the centre of Stirling.

Among the findings:

➡️ For the first time, more journeys were cycled than driven during all surveyed morning & evening rush hours (8-9am and 5-6pm) on Glasgow's Victoria Road
➡️ Nearly 10% of journeys on Edinburgh's Leith Walk and CCWEL are by bike
➡️ Cycling growth in Stirling

buff.ly/rIm5wDM

People travelling by bike on a new protected cycle lane on Garscube Road in the north of Glasgow - including a mother cycling with young children.

📰🧵 NEWS: Latest traffic survey data and cycle counter analysis shows thousands of people cycling at locations across Scotland, where new protected routes are being provided.

Explore the data, showing how safe infrastructure is helping more people to travel by bike: buff.ly/rIm5wDM

Close passes are dangerous, have consequences and aren't worth the risk.

Our #GiveCycleSpace campaign runs on radio, buses and digital in Tayside and Central Scotland for the next four weeks, funded by Tactran: reminding people of the need for at least 1.5m space when overtaking someone on a bike.

A young girl concentrates as she rides her bike on a residential street, as part of a Bikeability Scotland Level 2 on-road cycle training session.

"You can do everything on a bike. It’s good to just get out and have fresh air and you are getting some exercise too. It's just like… freedom." - Jessica, P6 pupil in Barrhead

Hear more from children across Scotland on the impact of #BikeabilityScotland cycle training 🚲✨ buff.ly/KOrPZNa

Two young girls smile at each other as they get ready to take part in Bikeability Scotland cycle training.

🚲 Want to find out more about #BikeabilityScotland? Hear about the impact of the national training through the stories of children, instructors and schools, and find out if the training is being delivered near you with our handy school checker: cycling.scot/cycle-traini...

🚲 Great to see Highland school pupils benefit from Level 2 #BikeabilityScotland training, introducing them to cycling on road.

Across Scotland, this training is giving more and more young people the all-important skills and confidence get around by bike, and to live happier, healthier lives.

Image of a man in a blue rain jacket cycling alongside the River Tay in Perth. Overlaid white text reads: "Cycling Scotland Conference, 16th September 2026".

Save the date for the 2026 #CyclingScotlandConf!

⏰ 16 Sept 2026
📍 Perth
🚴‍♀️ Join us and others from across Scotland supporting more people to cycle for everyday journeys

Find out more and sign up to our mailing list to be the first to know when registration opens: cycling.scot/about/confer...

Front page of 'A Joint Active Travel Manifesto for 2026', featuring the logos of 68 signatory organisations. The cover features images of people walking and cycling, with the subtitle: "Thriving places, healthier communities, and saving lives". A full list of signatory organisations and more information about the manifesto can be found via the associated link in this post.

Page two of the Joint Active Travel Manifesto for 2026. A full text version is available via the link. This page includes several paragraphs of text introducing the manifesto's aims, followed by a list calling on all parties in the next Holyrood election to support these five commitments: 1. Investment: Provide long-term investment to transform our local high streets and communities, committing at least 10% of the transport budget to active travel funding. 2. Long term commitment: Multi-year budgets will accelerate delivery of national strategies on walking/wheeling and cycling, offer better value-for-money and give more people access regardless of income and background. 3. Infrastructure: Transform our communities, enabling anyone, especially younger people to travel safely on foot or by bike, including through well maintained, accessible networks of walking or cycling routes and reorganised street space, creating better, greener local spaces. 4. Link active and public transport: Integrate walking and cycling infrastructure with public transport in rural areas especially, to provide alternatives to the car, reduce congestion for all, and effortlessly link longer journeys together. 5. Safety: Reduce road danger by reducing traffic speeds in our communities, taking dangerous drivers off the road and by creating more accessible streets for all, implementing the pavement parking ban, reinforcing the new highway code and making welcoming spaces everyone can use and enjoy. A full text version of the manifes to document can be found via the link in the post.

We’re one of more than 60 organisations supporting the Joint Active Travel Manifesto for 2026.

It calls on all political parties to support key commitments, on long-term investment, infrastructure, linking active and public transport, and creating safer streets:
drive.google.com/drive/folder...

Hi there. Yes, this is an important part of the scheme. If any donated bikes aren't in a condition to be fully repaired, they're stripped down with all useable parts used on other bikes.

Michael at Polmadie Household Waste and Recycling Centre in Glasgow, holds one of the bikes donated to the centre, in front of a large yellow skip and van belonging to community charity St Paul's Youth Forum.

A new pilot project is giving hundreds of old bikes a new lease of life, by redirecting unwanted, damaged bikes from @glasgowcc.bsky.social recycling centres to be repaired and redistributed to local communities. 🚲

Find out more: cycling.scot/news/pilot-p...

'They love it' - More than 200 nursery kids gain cycling skills through new scheme Hundreds of East Renfrewshire nursery children gain cycling skills through Play on Pedals, a Cycling Scotland and Enjoy East Ren.

Great to hear the impact of early-years Play on Pedals sessions in East Renfrewshire!

In 2024-25, more than 10,000 nursery-age children took part in these sessions across Scotland, built around fun play on balance and pedal bikes. Starting, for many, the beginning of their cycling journey. 🚲🙂

Scottish Budget 2026 to 2027 The Scottish Budget sets out the Scottish Government's proposed spending and tax plans for 2026-27, as presented to the Scottish Parliament

The 2026/27 budget and spending review shows a 4-year commitment to investing in active travel infrastructure, creating thriving places, healthier communities & saving lives. The pledge to Bikeability is also welcome, helping children build the skills and confidence to cycle on our roads.

A young girl smiles as she rides a bike on a residential street as part of a Bikeability Scotland cycle training session.

People cycling together on a new physically separated on-street cycle path.

A group of teenage girls smile as they cycle together through a park in winter.

A woman puts a helmet on a young boy who smiles at the camera as he holds his bike. In the background, someone can be seen retrieving a bike from an on-street cycle storage unit, in a residential area.

Our office has re-opened for the New Year, and we're looking forward to continuing our work with others across Scotland to get more people cycling, more safely and easily in 2026.

Photo of a man dressed for winter in a heavy red jacket and woolly hat, riding a cargo bike carrying a Christmas tree over snow covered ground.

🎄 Our office is now closed for the year and will re-open on 5th January. Everyone at Cycling Scotland wishes you a Merry Christmas and happy festive period, and we look forward to riding into a new year together.

The Westminster All Party Parliamentary Group for Cycling & Walking (APPGCW) has outlined recommendations to tackle the rise of illegally modified e-bikes, to protect the future for legal, safe e-bike use that benefits so many.

Read their recommendations in full: appgcw.org/resources/in... 2/2

Cover of the Westminster All Party Parliamentary Group for Cycling and Walking report published in June 2025, titled "Unregulated and Unsafe: The Threat of Illegal E-Bikes". The cover image features several pedal cycles which have been modified into e-bikes using conversion kits, including potentially excessively large and unregulated battery packs.

E-bikes help more people travel in a healthy and sustainable way. However, illegally modified e-bikes and unlicensed e-motorbikes pose serious safety risks due to the dangerous speed they can travel at, and risk of fire from unregulated batteries. 1/2

🎄 Tis the season! Have you collected your #TreeByBike this year? Share a photo if you've been making the most of the benefits of pedal powered pick-ups at this time of year.

🚲 fresh air, exercise & skipping congestion
🌍 no pollution
✨ guaranteed joy

When you're driving, slow down around people on bikes. Don't take any risks. Leave space for a life. #GiveCycleSpace

New data shows that since @mayoroflondon.bsky.social
launched the Direct Vision Standard lorry safety scheme in London we've seen:
📉a 50% fall in people killed & seriously injured by HGVs
❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️six fewer fatalities every year

tinyurl.com/j3475ua3

School pupils check their bikes in the playground ahead of a Bikeability Scotland cycle training session.

Pupils of Springholm Primary School in Dumfries and Galloway take to local roads on their bikes as part of a Level 2 on-road Bikeability Scotland cycle training session. School children can be seen smiling as they cycle towards the camera, on a rural road.

"I'm really glad we had this chance. I used to be the only one of my friends who couldn’t ride a bike, but now I can."

Dumfries and Galloway celebrates #BikeabilityScotland success, as one of latest Scottish local authorities to deliver on-road cycle training at all primary schools: buff.ly/8TiUBFo

Bikeability Scotland Awards 2025 The Bikeability Scotland Awards have been presented, recognising outstanding achievement in the delivery of Bikeability Scotland, the national cycle training programme for school children, managed by ...

Practical workshops and discussions around training practices, including communicating risk, were followed by presentation of the #BikeabilityScotland Awards – celebrating trainers, co-ordinators and schools who are going the extra mile in delivering on-road cycle training up and down the country. 🚲

A group of cycling instructors take part in an outdoor training session at The Barracks in Stirling. The group can be seen standing outside a stone building with their bikes as they are spoken to by a trainer.

Cycling instructor training event takes place inside The Barracks in Stirling. Several dozen people can be seen sitting in groups as they listen to speakers at the front of the room.

Cycling instructors from across Scotland take part in a workshop to share learning and discuss aspects of their work.

As educators, cycling instructors are making a big difference. Last week offered a chance for instructors from across Scotland to gather in Stirling for a day of learning, celebration and reflection on the impact of their work. Thanks to everyone who was able to take part!

In 2024, 1,671 people were killed on UK roads and 28,804 were seriously injured. Do you think this is acceptable? This week is #RoadSafetyWeek and we’re calling on the Government to take action to prevent road death and injury.

Read the full news story here:
www.brake.org.uk/how-we-help/...

When you're driving, slow down around people on bikes. Don't take any risks. Leave space for a life. #GiveCycleSpace

8am on a frosty morning. The morning light not yet showing the sunrise. A small child wearing a pink puffy coat & matching helmet with a Hey Dougie backpack rides a small 16” wheeled bike with streamers on the handlebars. She’s on a newly built bike lane about to cross a bridge. For context, her mother runs alongside on the pavement just out of frame. There is a road marker showing a bike indicating this segregated cycle lane is for two wheels only. And this little girl is alone on the path riding towards the future.

This.

This right here is why proper cycling infrastructure is an investment in our communities and our future.

It is only the beginning. This route isn’t even fully finished.

When we stop imagining and start doing, change happens.

@edinburghcouncil.bsky.social
@edi.bike
@chasbooth.bsky.social