Active travel strategy

The North Somerset active travel strategy sets out plans to develop more opportunities over the next ten years to ‘make walking and cycling the natural choice for a cleaner, healthier and more active North Somerset’.

The strategy aims to achieve a number of benefits locally including:

• safe and often active travel to improve public health 
• reduce carbon emissions and improve air quality 
• support the local economy  
• help grow more ‘liveable neighbourhoods’ with our communities

The strategy’s key target is to increase walking and cycling trips by 300% by 2030. More information can be found in our strategy document.

The place and movement framework sets out a structure to help improve the character of our places and the movement on our travel network. It provides the basis for the development of a series of action plans to help achieve our active travel strategy commitments. The framework:

• sets out the purpose of our transport network by categorising every road, street and lane within North Somerset
• provides an audit process to evaluate road space and how residents use the travel routes
• includes design guidance to improve our existing transport network and to shape all new developments

Along with our active travel action plans, the framework aims to:

• develop safe and direct routes of active travel journeys for people of all ages and abilities
• encourage the shift from private cars to active travel and public transport
• improve movement on our network, especially for the most vulnerable residents
• enhance the vibrancy, accessibility and safety of our important local places

We consulted on the place and movement framework from Monday 9 January to Monday 20 February 2023. You can view a summary of the responses received through the consultation in the consultation report. The framework and network classifications will be reviewed annually and updated as appropriate.

The North Somerset Street Design Guide (2025) supports our Active Travel Strategy; Actions Plans and Place and Movement Framework by promoting a consistent user-focused approach to street and highway design.

The guide provides practical direction to ensure every road, street and lane across the district balances the needs of people and place, creating environments safe, inclusive, attractive and sustainable for everyone. 

It brings together best practice in design and placemaking to help make walking, wheeling and cycling the natural and convenient choice for everyday journeys.

The design guide:

• defines design standards for different types of streets and places
• promotes layouts that prioritise people over vehicles
• supports safe and sustainable transport choices
• encourages greener, more liveable neighbourhoods
• ensures consistency in street design across all developments and improvement projects

Each street type in the guide is presented with:

• place and movement classification: categorises roads and streets by their primary function, shaping design priorities
• concept design: illustrates the core design vision, showing typical features and layouts for new and existing highway space
• design checklist: summarises key considerations across all elements of street design, including carriageways, footways, cycling and public transport facilities, accessibility, placemaking and environmental features
• easy wins: highlights lower cost, high-impact measures that can be delivered through routine maintenance or small-scale projects

The guide has been cross-checked against national guidance to ensure alignment with current best practice. It will be reviewed regularly to reflect updates in national policy and local priorities.

Active travel action plans (ATAPs)

After adopting the active travel strategy, we committed to creating plans to set out more specific actions for the council and our partners to help make the aims of the active travel strategy a reality. Having our active travel action plans approved and ready for implementation strengthens our position to win funding for our scheme proposals and interventions.

We want North Somerset to be a place where everyone has access to active travel choices. We will set out the active travel network that we want to achieve, including improvements across the seven action plan themes:

20mph

Creating 20mph zones in urban hubs and urban streets where they are most needed and wanted. Lower speeds reduce road collisions and injury making our environment safer for all users.

Active travel network

Improving the network of travel routes between our towns and villages. Barriers and obstacles are identified and removed to provide direct, safe, attractive and comfortable travel locally and district-wide.

First and last mile

Connecting the different modes of transport that you may use to make a longer trip by bus or rail. These help you to get to and from your bus or rail service and could include walking or wheeling, cycling and in the near future micro-mobility options.

Liveable neighbourhoods

Reducing through-traffic to provide quieter, cleaner and greener streets for people to live, work and play on. This is through encouraging people to make active choices such as walking, wheeling or cycling when making shorter trips.

Rural lanes

A network of safer, more attractive rural lanes with reduced traffic speeds to help us protect our rural lanes’ character. This supports safer journeys by active travel and those who need to drive for access to their homes and businesses. Where dedicated active travel options are impractical, links are improved between urban and rural areas. 

Transport behaviour change

Increasing active travel uptake by working with communities, businesses and schools to provide training and opportunities.

We consulted on the active travel action plans from Monday 9 January to Monday 20 February 2023. You can view a summary of the responses received through the consultation in the consultation report. The plans will be reviewed annually and updated as appropriate.

Delivery of transport infrastructure and the supporting education, training and publicity will be subject to funding being available. We need to be ready and in the best possible position for when funding is secured. The place and movement framework and seven active travel action plans help show that we are ready for further investment in improving our places and transport network.