Almost £200,000 will be spent encouraging people to get out of four wheels and onto to two wheels in West Lothian
The council’s executive agreed to a new funding package to maintain their Smarter Choices Smarter Places programme.
The programme, administered by Paths for All, has been running since 2015/16 and supports local authorities in Scotland to encourage more active and sustainable travel choices.
The funding is awarded to local authorities to encourage less car use and more journeys by foot, bicycle, public transport and car share.
It is supported by Transport Scotland and allocated on a population basis to local authorities. For the new financial year West Lothian Council will receive £163,000.
The bulk of that cash- £61,000 - will cover the cost of providing an I-Bike officer through Sustrans Scotland.
The continuation of this appointment will provide a further 12 months of direct engagement to encourage, promote and develop active travel initiatives within a number of our primary and secondary schools.
The I-Bike officer works with Education and Community Health Development’s Put Your West Foot Forward scheme to support and seek to increase walking, cycling and scooting activity, and promote active travel journeys to schools.
Other elements funded include Love to Ride, an online platform aimed at encouraging more people to cycle.
The platform makes it easy and fun for existing riders to encourage their friends, co-workers and community, to ride, and it supports and encourages new riders to overcome their barriers and start enjoying the benefits of riding.
The grant funding will be used to continue to provide a local project management resource to deliver a programme of cycling behaviour changes through business and community engagement.
The Love to Ride West Lothian programme will link existing initiatives, events and local services to boost their reach, engagement and effectiveness.
The existing www.lovetoride.net/westlothian web platform now has 908 participants, 234 new riders and 46 organisations registered.
Other projects funded by the scheme included one to improve sign-age in Livingston and the Parksmart scheme which works to educate parents about sensible parking around schools.
