ATE Business Plan 2025-26
Active Travel England (ATE) has published a Business Plan 2025-26.
It is just an interim plan, with a further 3-year plan expected to be adopted after the publication of the government’s third Cycling & Walking Investment Plan (CWIS).
The plan sets out ATE’s strategic priorities, which are:
- Support our partners to perform
- Build capability
- Enhance safety and accessibility
- Invest in impactful programmes and share what works
- Be an excellent agency
1) Support Our Partners to Perform
The partners in question are Mayors/combined authorities and local authorities. They are responsible for local transport strategies and highways.
Among ATE’s actions here is advising local leaders and supporting them to deliver local networks that build towards a coherent national network.
Other actions include supporting the DfT to develop a new Manual for Streets and the third CWIS, and delivering a walking network pilot programme in five towns or cities.
2) Building Capability
This is about improving the active travel capability of local authorities.
ATE has already delivered training via seminars, and now wants to transform that into a holistic training and development programme.
They will also work intensively with at least ten lower capability authorities.
To measure progress by councils, ATE will conduct the next Active Travel Capability Assessment, and develop a performance dashboard.
3) Enhance Safety and Accessibility
The plan says that higher design quality leads to a lower risk of collision, and means more people can use infrastructure.
ATE is already doing design assurance work for local authorities, but a new technical advisory group will create new products and services.
One new service will be pre-planning application advice for developers, to promote vision-led development.
ATE will also help combined authorities to set up design review panels and establish design standards.
ATE will continue to inspect completed schemes.
4) Invest in Impactful Programmes
ATE say they will continue to track the quality and speed of delivery of active travel schemes.
They will publish case studies, best practice guides, and evidence of what works.
Linked to a recent report on appraisal of active travel schemes, ATE will publish research on methods to better incorporate morbidity, journey quality and economic benefits into BCRs.
5) Be an Excellent Agency
Be an excellent agency is largely focused on ATE’s human resources practices.