Scotland’s budget and cycling: how far have we come, and what happens next?

What the budget means

Scotland’s pre-election budget, announced on 13 January 2026, sets the direction for government spending in the first year of a new parliament, ensuring that cycling will have funding in the year ahead.

Ministers are under pressure from the cost-of-living crisis and the strain on the NHS – but that is exactly why cycling matters. Cycling is good value for money for governments and local authorities, it saves individuals and families money, stimulates the local economy, eases congestion and improves physical and mental health.

Government has recognised this, with a near 20% rise in allocated spending in the 2026-27 budget. This is excellent news for communities across Scotland.

Scotland now allocates £40 per person to active and sustainable travel, creeping ever closer to the £50 per head mark which the IPPR recommends.

It is worth noting that with in-year adjustments and inflation, the actual spend on active travel has stalled over recent years. We’re hopeful that this year’s allocation will materialise in full to fund life-changing projects and improvements throughout Scotland.

And while there is a near £40 million increase in the active and sustainable transport budget, the transport budget has also increased overall, meaning we’re still not near the 10% figure which we’ve called for since the last parliament.

What we asked for in 2021 – and what we got

There have been real wins during this parliament and conditions for cyclists in Scotland have improved, especially where infrastructure or community-based projects are on the ground.

When this session of the Scottish Parliament began in 2021, Scotland was emerging from Covid and cycling was booming. Since then, active travel has moved from the margins into the mainstream, thanks to dedicated funding and campaigning across Scotland.

Ahead of the last Scottish election, you helped call for a step up in how Scotland funded cycling, walking and wheeling.

Our manifesto led the calls to:

• Invest at least 10% of the transport budget to active travel
• Create spaces for cycling, walking and wheeling
• Enable rural communities to cycle
• Make cycling available to those who need it most
• Make neighbourhoods more attractive for cycling and people
• Make roads safer for everyone
• Introduce a sustainable transport bill

What’s been achieved?

In 2021, the majority of parties agreed to dedicate 10% of the transport budget in their election pledges. Then, the Bute House Agreement between the SNP and Greens led to government including the 10% target ambition in its Programme for Government.

Since that agreement, active travel budgets have risen significantly. Funding allocations grew from around £80 million before the 2021 election to a record £226 million now. There’s been a near 97% increase in the money being spent on active travel during this parliament.

That extra funding has resulted in new high-quality walking and cycling routes across Scottish towns and cities, benefitting communities from Shetland to the Scottish Borders. While that’s obviously real progress, the promise of 10% of the transport budget has not yet been met and we’ll keep campaigning for it in from the next Scottish Government.

Scottish streets are safer and more attractive for those who want to walk or cycle thanks to many of the policies you helped campaign for. 

We’ve seen the introduction of DESC by Police Scotland: a ‘journeycam’ facility which allows road users to submit evidence of dangerous driving, something we campaigned on for years. And while road casualties have plateaued in Scotland in recent years, we hope to see improvements now that 20mph limits are widespread across Scotland’s villages and larger urban areas.

What comes next?

Looking ahead to the next Scottish Parliament, Cycling UK’s new manifesto will continue the call for the next government make cycling the easy choice, building on the momentum of last parliament.

We still need at least 10% of the transport budget to be dedicated to active travel to create transformative routes and projects in Scotland. The next government must ensure that councils and communities are able to plan active travel projects properly, they must move to long-term, multi-year funding settlements.

The bike bus movement has shown that children across Scotland deserve equal opportunity to cycle safely to school. The next Scottish Government must deliver guidance on school streets to all local authorities to continue their roll-out, they must also ensure that Bikeability is offered to every child across Scotland.

Added to this, the next Scottish Government should produce a delivery plan which shows clearly how it plans to reduce congestion and create real transport choice. They should also show how they plan to properly integrate public transport with other modes, especially walking and cycling, with a Scotland-wide network map.

Finally, the next Scottish Government should provide funding to maintain rights of way and core paths, ensuring Scotland’s network of paths and its world-renowned green spaces remain accessible to all.

Cycling in Scotland has come a long way since 2021, and much of this is thanks to our members and supporters who have helped us campaign for funding and better policies over the past five years. But if we want cycling to be an everyday choice for more people, the next Scottish Government must do even more to make cycling the easy choice.