MORE FUNDING FOR ACTIVE TRAVEL PROJECTS
- Grants available from two funds in Highlands and Islands
- Webinar to help applicants prepare funding bids
New funding is being made available to help employers, organisations and communities make it easier to walk, cycle, or wheel for work and local journeys, building on the success of the programme started last year.
The Workplace Active Travel Infrastructure Grant and Community Cycle Parking Grant both launch today (16 February 2026), supporting innovative local projects across the Highlands and Islands.
Delivered by HITRANS (the Highlands and Islands Transport Partnership), the grant schemes are open to businesses, charities, public sector bodies and not-for-profit organisations across Highland, Moray, Orkney, Western Isles and most of Argyll and Bute.
Applications are welcome from individual workplace sites, departments within larger organisations, or community venues.
Across both grant schemes, HITRANS has allocated almost £350,000 during the current funding period (2025/26) to support workplace and community-based active travel infrastructure in the region.
Celebrating this year’s workplace projects
This year, 14 workplace projects received grant awards across the HITRANS area, with around £92,000 allocated to support delivery across small and medium businesses, charities and public sector organisations such as local authorities and NHS Boards.
Projects include:
- Installing new cycling infrastructure and improving existing facilities
- Adding bike repair stands
- Providing workplace e-bikes and storage for staff use
- Upgrading changing facilities and showering areas
- Hosting Dr Bike sessions with local bike mechanics
These diverse interventions make cycling to work easier, safer and more enjoyable, while giving staff peace of mind that there is protected bike storage at their workplace.
The projects also contribute to healthier, more active lifestyles, helping staff stay active as part of their daily routines.
Several projects are still being delivered and HITRANS looks forward to sharing more successes as the year progresses.
Celebrating community cycle parking projects
This year, 12 projects were funded through the Community Cycle Parking Grant, including two multi-project applications from Highland Council and Moray Council.
A total of £257,000 was allocated to support the provision of new cycle parking facilities.
Funded projects included:
- Cycle parking at five schools across the region
- Bespoke covered cycle shelters at six leisure centres in the Highlands
- Cycle parking at a children’s residential facility in Kirkwall
- Cycle parking and repair stands installed across Moray
- An e-bike storage hub in Nairn
The projects are improving access to safe and secure cycle parking in community locations, making it easier for people to choose cycling for everyday journeys.
While some projects are already complete, others are still being delivered and will continue to strengthen local active travel provision.
New this year, applicants will complete submissions via HITRANS’ online application portal, which will be available from 16 February 2026.
The portal allows users to save applications, total project costs automatically and receive and provide updates on progress, making it easy to take part in these projects.
Further guidance about each fund is available on the HITRANS website. Applicants will find step-by-step instructions on the portal to support their application process.
Applicant webinar
To support applicants, HITRANS will host an online information webinar on 4 March 2026, covering both grant funds.
The webinar will showcase examples from last year’s successful projects and provide an opportunity for prospective applicants to ask questions specific to their own organisations.
Booking details will be available via Eventbrite
Looking ahead
HITRANS expects to award a similar level of funding across the two grant schemes in the next year, subject to final funding agreements, supporting deliverable, innovative and locally relevant interventions that encourage active travel across the Highlands and Islands.
Sheila Wickens, HITRANS’ Smart Travel Choices Officer, said: “This is a fantastic opportunity for workplaces and communities to respond to local needs and create healthier, more sustainable environments.
“These projects are already helping staff and residents choose walking, wheeling, and cycling more often, with clear benefits for health, wellbeing, and workplace culture.
“We look forward to seeing even more successes as the projects continue to be delivered.”
Application deadlines
Applications should be submitted via the online portal by:
- Community Cycle Parking Grant: 30 April 2026
- Workplace Active Travel Infrastructure Grant: 15 May 2026
For full guidance, FAQs, to register for the webinar and link to application portal, visit:
https://hitrans.org.uk/travel/funding-for-active-travel-infrastructure-projects-in-the-community-and-workplace/
HITRANS is offering the grants with funding from Transport Scotland’s People and Place Programme.
The scheme aims to increase the number of people choosing to walk, wheel, or cycle for local journeys and use sustainable transport for longer journeys, aligning with HITRANS’ regional priorities for active travel across Argyll and Bute, Western Isles, Orkney, Highland, Moray, and the Cairngorms National Park.
CASE STUDY
Speyside Centre
The Speyside Centre, near Grantown on Spey, has been working with local volunteers in planning, constructing and opening a safe route through Curr Woods in the Cairngorms for cyclists and walkers.
This, along with promoting the cycle to work scheme, has seen an increasing volume of staff and visitors using bikes to visit the family-run, multi-purpose destination.
This highlighted the need for a safe, secure and protected area for bicycles.
The centre also wanted to provide a sheltered spot where cyclists could repair or check their bikes, or charge up electric cycles while working or visiting the area.
It successfully applied to HITRANS and the People and Place Programme for a grant aimed at installing cycling infrastructure or improving facilities for active travel within workplaces.
It is planned to install an environmentally-friendly structure with a roof using sedum plants- hardy, drought-resistant succulents – to support plant growth while providing insulation and reducing stormwater runoff.
It will also have insect habitat panels and wooden cladding to tie in with the centre’s nature-friendly ethos.
The structure will be able to shelter up to eight bicycles and will have a tool station and electric chargers.
The preparation of the base is imminent and delivery and installation of the structure will be towards the end of February.
Once opened, the structure will provide a secure shelter where cyclists can safely leave their increasingly-valuable bicycles, encouraging both staff and visitors to enjoy the multiple benefits of cycling using a growing number of pathways and tracks in the area.
The centre also teams up with Aviemore Bikes to promote safe riding and to make more people from the local area aware of just how many safe routes there are on their own doorstep.
The success of the project will be monitored through questionnaires and charger usage throughout the season.
For further information contact:
Workplace Active Travel Infrastructure Grant
Sheila Wickens
Phone: 07423 714789
Email: Sheila.Wickens@hitrans.org.uk
Community Cycle Parking Grant
Rebecca Purvis
Phone: 07557138617
Email: rebecca.purvis@hitrans.org.uk