MS, Cabinet Secretary for Transport and North Wales:
Today I am publishing our updated Active Travel Act Guidance for
public consultation.
We are revising this guidance to improve the quality of walking,
wheeling and cycling schemes, ensure that they are accessible and
designed with inclusion at their core.
Our approach in updating the guidance aligns with my ambitions
set out in “Travel for All”, aiming to make it easier for more
people to use our transport network.
The draft revised guidance reflects feedback that we gathered
from users of the current guidance, new evidence, as well as
policy and regulatory changes since its original
publication.
The proposed revisions are intended to:
- Improve document information design, with refinements to
clarity, formatting, inclusivity and accessibility
- Use people-focused language better aligned with the Equality
Act 2010
- Refresh the policy context
- Clarify design standards
- Streamline chapters, and strengthen engagement guidance to
better motivate inclusive participation
- Support better integration between public transport and
walking, wheeling and cycling
- Emphasise evidence-based practice and use consistent
terminology to support local authorities in delivering
high-quality, inclusive active travel networks across Wales
Throughout the 12 week consultation period we will engage widely
beyond the online consultation to ensure that the new guidance
reflects best practice. We will seek the views of professional
users of the guidance - namely those who plan and design for
walking, wheeling and cycling, and with those who are directly
affected by it – users of walking wheeling and cycling routes. In
particular, we will seek the views of disabled people, women and
young people.
The consultation will conclude on 13 February 2026. The
consultation documents and online questions can be found
here: https://www.gov.wales/active-travel-act-guidance-atag
