Decision details

(i)       to note that officers would provide information to Members outwith the meeting on when the updated Aberdeen Cycle Map would be available;

(ii)       to note that work to identify an aspirational Regional Active Travel Network had recently been completed and would be reported to Nestrans Board in February 2025, noting that this was a multi-decade project; 

(iii)      to instruct the Chief Officer – Strategic Place Planning to ensure safe routes to school were taken into account when developing proposals for active travel network prioritisation within Aberdeen City;

(iv)      to note that parents and Parent Councils across the city were concerned about the safety of children and young people travelling to school, in particular on the streets close to the school. This concern was reflected in national traffic data which showed that 28% of children killed or injured on Scotland’s roads happened in two time periods 8 am – 9 am and 3 pm – 4 pm (Transport Scotland);

(v)      to instruct the Chief Officer – Strategic Place Planning, following consultation with the Chief Officer - Education and Lifelong Learning and Chief Officer – Operations, to write to chairs of Parent Councils and Head Teachers across the city offering support with the development of a School Travel Plan, with priority given to those schools who had recorded road safety incidents and near misses on nearby roads in the last two years;

(vi)      to note the range of work that was currently ongoing to support and enable active travel to school in Aberdeen;

(vii)     to instruct the Chief Officer – Strategic Place Planning to ensure that any travel behaviour change programme for 2025/26 continued to support healthy, active and safe travel amongst children and young people and report back to this Committee within six months on what steps could be taken to increase uptake of under-utilised interventions such as walking buses or bike trains; and

(viii)    to instruct the Chief Officer - Strategic Place Planning, following consultation with the Chief Officer – Education and Lifelong Learning and the Chief Officer - Operations, to write to chairs of Parent Councils and Head Teachers to invite applications from suitable schools including secondary schools for a School Streets pilot, and to report back to this Committee within twelve months with the level of interest received, and any proposed next step.