Active Travel England Scheme Inspections

Active Travel England (ATE) have published an outline of their scheme inspection procedure.

ATE can inspect local authority active travel schemes once they are completed, in order to check on design quality and see if potential safety issues have been resolved.

More specifically, inspections are carried out in order to:

• ensure schemes align with national design guidance and
• ensure quality, safety and accessibility are designed into the infrastructure

Not all schemes will be inspected, but ATE will usually inspect complex and expensive schemes.

Inspections can be desktop or on-site, and on-site inspections can be accompanied (by council representatives) or unaccompanied. ATE staff use the organisation’s Scheme Review Tools.

During an inspection, ATE log whether the scheme complies with design guidance and policy, and whether there are any critical safety issues.

The outcome of the inspection will be that the scheme is either:

• compliant or
• non-compliant

Non-compliant schemes can impact a local authority or combined authority’s active travel capability rating.

School Streets

Separately, ATE has published a guide to School Streets, and how to set up and manage a scheme.

School Streets have restrictions on motor vehicles at the start and end of the school day, in order to reduce road danger and pollution, and to enable more children to walk, wheel or cycle to school.

The new ATE guidance sets out how to select suitable schools, for example avoiding those on major roads or with no alternative route for through traffic. Schools which show a clear commitment to active travel are preferred.

Exemptions to the motor vehicle restrictions are typically given to residents of the affected street, emergency services, Blue Badge holders, school transport and others.

A Traffic Regulation Order (TRO) is used to set up the School Street. Enforcement is by the police, or by the council if it has taken the relevant powers under Part 6 of the Traffic Management Act 2004.

Fixed CCTV or mobile cameras can be used for enforcement. Stewards and barriers are unlikely to be appropriate for a permanent scheme.

ATE suggest a Memorandum of Understanding between the school and the council, setting out who is responsible for what.

There should be monitoring and evaluation of schemes to measure, for example, levels of walking, wheeling and cycling to school.

Finally, ATE has a ‘myth-busting’ section. For example, the response to the myth that School Streets delay emergency services is that emergency vehicles are exempt from School Street restrictions on motorised traffic.