New Tactran Chair looks forward to exciting travel future

This month we are pleased to introduce our new Chairperson, Councillor Richard McCready. Councillor McCready has joined Tactran to help us take forward our exciting new plans and we thought this would be an ideal opportunity to reflect on Tactran’s recent achievements and look ahead to developments in 2020.

This short video gives an overview of these highlights. For more detail as well as useful information and links, read our blog below. To stay up to date with our latest developments, follow us on Twitter and visit our News blog.

Meet our new chairperson

In June 2019 Councillor Richard McCready [pictured, on left] became the new Chair of the Tactran Board. Richard is a councillor for Dundee West End and is passionate about the environment and developing sustainable transport options.

Richard explains why he’s so enthusiastic about the role and about our upcoming projects and developments.

“I’m interested in transport and the environment, and I want to do what I can to improve connectivity across Tayside and Central Scotland. I also want to help to improve the environment and Tactran has a role to play in both of those things.”

“As the Chair I want to improve the connectivity of the Tactran region, covering Angus, Dundee, Perth & Kinross and Stirling. It’s important that we make transport connections as easy as possible, that we promote public transport, active travel – walking and cycling – and improve the environment for everyone.”

 

Delivering Sustainable transport initiatives

Tom Flanagan, Partnership Director at Tactran, is pleased to welcome Richard on board. “Richard has a real vision for making Tactran one of the most progressive, dynamic, influential transport bodies in the country. Over the last year we were extremely successful in drawing in external funding to the tune of £500,000 and that’s helped us to deliver our priorities as part of the Regional Transport Strategy. Richard’s leadership will be key to supporting that and getting involved in some of the big initiatives, particularly the Tay Cities Deal: Richard’s on the Tay Cities Deal Joint Committee.”

“We’re involved in the Stirling / Clackmannanshire City Deal, too. There are a lot of exciting projects coming through, such as Park & Ride for Rail, real initiatives around active travel, and also our work with the two NHS Trusts – NHS Tayside and NHS Forth Valley. We’re very keen to be able to offer both staff and patients to NHS campuses real sustainable transport choices which they can use to access services.”

Tactran funding gives choice to workplaces and communities

Graeme Brown, Strategy Officer for Sustainable and Active Travel at Tactran, agrees that in 2018/19, Tactran has helped many regional stakeholders and partners take forward various activities around sustainable and active travel. “We’re particularly pleased to be working with the national charities such as Sustrans and Cycling Scotland, accessing different funding to take forward these initiatives. We’ll continue to do that over the coming years.

“Tactran offers two main pots of funding around sustainable and active travel. One is the Active Travel Grant and the other is the Regional Active Travel Development Fund. These funds are there to enable communities, workplaces, large employment sites and members of the community to make more sustainable and active travel journeys as part of their everyday life.”

What is Tactran’s Active Travel Grant?

Active Travel is an important element of our Regional Transport Strategy Delivery Plan. The Active Travel Grant provides capital funding to create infrastructure (e.g. paths and other safe routes) that enables more people to cycle and walk for everyday utility journeys throughout the region.

If you’d like to apply for the Active Travel Grant, your application should address the aims and objectives of the Tactran Road Transport Strategy 2015-2036 Refresh, with particular focus on strategy 5.3 – Active Travel. This strategy has four key strands:

  1. Strategic Integration
  2. High-Quality Infrastructure
  3. Making Better Use of the Transport System
  4. Influencing Travel Behaviour.

If you have a project that you think would be suitable for the 2019/20 Active Travel Grant please contact Tactran on 01738 475773. We will be happy to advise you and, where possible, help you to get an application off the ground.

Find out more about Tactran’s Active Travel Grant 

Regional Active Travel Development Fund

Tactran’s Regional Active Travel Development Fund aims to enable and promote active travel as a realistic choice of travel to and within our settlements. Our main focus is on taking forward the Regional Cycling and Walking Network, as described in our Regional Transport Strategy, and developing our Active Travel Audits to the design stage. 

Through our delivery of the Regional Walking and Cycling network we will support the National Walking and Cycling Network (NWCN). You can view the National Walking and Cycling Network – Scotland map of existing paths, trails and canals and proposed routes.

Healthier travel choices for NHS Tayside 

Graeme Brown adds that Tactran has been particularly pleased to be working with NHS Tayside over the past year, taking forward their Transforming Tayside programme, particularly the active and sustainable travel elements. “This is about making the site more accessible for people trying to get to the hospital site by more sustainable means. We’ve been helping access travel funding to improve cycle parking and the infrastructure around the campus.”

Supporting cycling programmes for all

Our work enabling access to cycling at Ninewells is part of our wide-ranging programme of cycling support throughout the Tactran region. Marianne Scott, Regional Cycle Training and Development Officer for Cycling Scotland & Tactran, works on a wide range of initiatives to encourage people of all ages to enjoy and engage with cycling, from the very youngest nursery children to older people with health issues.

“Cycling Scotland funds a wealth of cycling projects across the region,” explains Marianne, “including: 

“We started the Adult Cycling Project at the Institute of Sport and Exercise at Dundee University,” says Marianne. “We got the Adult Cycling group members out in the community cycling and it’s given them a great sense of freedom. Our schools projects include Bikeability, Play on Pedals and the Cycling Friendly Secondary Schools and Primary Schools Award and Cycling Friendly Secondary Schools Development Grant Funding.”

Find out more about the successful projects Marianne supports in schools in our Cycling Blog from October 2019 – The Two-Wheeled Revolution in the Tactran Region.

Stay ahead with news from the Tactran region

In 2020, Tactran will continue to progress innovative travel projects, both large and small, and support active and sustainable options for business, public sector and individuals.

If you’d like to find out more about any aspects of our work, or would like to discuss an active or sustainable travel project you think we could support, please contact us on [email protected] or 01738 475775. You can also follow us on Twitter for all of our latest news.

Links and Contacts 

Here are links to organisations mentioned in this month’s blog:

Next Month

In January we’ll be talking about travel planning, featuring Travelknowhow, the unique online resource which offers organisations and employees across Scotland easy access to a wide variety of travel planning solutions. Visit the Tactran blog and follow us on Twitter for up-to-the-minute news.

About Tactran

Tactran is one of seven statutory Regional Transport Partnerships (RTPs) covering Scotland. The Tactran region forms an important hub at the heart of Scotland's transport network and includes the local authority areas of Angus, Dundee City, Perth & Kinross and Stirling. Together these make up just under 10% of Scotland’s land mass and nearly 12% of the nation’s population.

Our primary purpose is to develop a Regional Transport Strategy setting out a vision for the medium- to long-term future of transport in the area and to oversee its implementation.

Contact us with your queries, suggestions and comments

tactran.gov.uk

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