Active travel

We have ambitious plans to improve residents’ access to active travel as outlined in our county-wide Local Transport and Connectivity Plan (LTCP). By supporting and encouraging active travel – walking, wheeling, and cycling – we can help improve people’s health and wellbeing, reduce traffic congestion and help address the climate crisis. Find out more about how to travel around Oxfordshire sustainably on our Better Travel website.

• Walking to school is now easier with local initiatives designed to make it safer and more enjoyable. Getting to school without a car
• Initiatives that support travelling for work or leisure by foot, bike or on public transport are better for the environment and your health. Different ways to travel for work or leisure
• Initiatives that make it easier and safer to travel help us make different decisions. Safer and healthier travel

Our Active Travel Policy

Our Local Transport and Connectivity Plan (LTCP), adopted by full council in July 2022, is supported by our Active Travel Strategy (ATS) (pdf format, 455Kb).

The strategy includes 79 actions for active travel, organised into 13 areas. The areas include council transformation, collaboration and engagement, data, design guidance, network development and accessibility.   

It also sets a county-wide target to increase the number of cycle trips to 1 million per week by 2031, from our current level of 600,000 cycle trips per week.

Walking and cycling design standards

In 2017, we adopted the following design standards:

• Cycling Design Standards (pdf format, 1.2Mb)
• Walking Design Standards (pdf format, 2.6Mb)

We are currently working on an update of these county-specific standards, following the publication of relevant national guidance such as LTN 1/20 and Inclusive Mobility. In the meantime, information on how to use our design standards in the development process can be found on our section on Transport Development Control (TDC).

Local Walking and Cycling Infrastructure Plans (LCWIPs)

In 2017 the Government published its Cycling and Walking Investment Strategy. It sets out the Government’s ambition to make walking and cycling the natural choices for shorter journeys or as part of a longer journey.

The strategy indicates that local authorities should create Local Cycling and Walking Infrastructure Plans (LCWIPs). An LCWIP is a strategic plan that identifies cycling and walking networks at the local level, and identifies a pipeline of improvements needed to deliver the network. They form a vital part of the Government’s strategy to increase the number of trips made on foot or by cycle.

LCWIPs::

• set out an analysis of the current network and opportunities for improvements
• contain a network plan for walking and cycling which identifies preferred routes and core routes for further development
• contain a prioritised programme of infrastructure improvements for future investment.

LCWIPs assist local authorities to:

• identify cycling and walking infrastructure improvements for future investment in the short, medium and long term to be delivered over a ten-year period
• ensure that consideration is given to cycling and walking within local planning and transport policies and strategies
• make a case for future funding for walking and cycling infrastructure.

Approved LCWIPs

We have developed and approved LCWIPs for the following locations:

Oxford – approved by Cabinet on 17 March 2020

• Oxford Local Cycling and Walking Infrastructure Plan (docx format, 3.6Mb)
• Oxford LCWIP cycle and walking network map (pdf format, 4.6 Mb)

Bicester – approved by Cabinet on 15 September 2020

• Bicester LCWIP Town (update 2023) (pdf format, 846Kb)
• Bicester LCWIP Town and Villages map (Update 2023) (pdf format, 1.5Mb)
• Bicester Local Cycling and Walking Infrastructure Plan (pdf format, 3.5Mb)
• Bicester LCWIP town map (pdf format, 2.8Mb)
• Bicester LCWIP town and villages map (pdf format, 3Mb)

Kidlington – approved by Cabinet on 18 January 2022

• Kidlington Local Cycling and Walking Infrastructure Plan (pdf format, 4.4Mb)

Abingdon – approved by Cabinet Member for Highway Management on 23 February 2023

• Abingdon Local Cycling and Walking Infrastructure Plan (pdf format, 4.9Mb)
• Abingdon LCWIP key maps (pdf format, 2.3Mb)

Witney – approved by Cabinet Member for Highway Management on 23 March 2023

• Witney Local Cycling and Walking Infrastructure Plan (pdf format, 2.9Mb)
• Witney LCWIP network maps (pdf format, 3.2Mb)

Banbury - approved by Cabinet Member for Highway Management on 20 July 2023

• Banbury Local Cycling and Walking Infrastructure Plan (pdf format, 12 MB)

Didcot- approved by cabinet member for highway management on 14 December 2023

• Didcot Local Cycling and Walking Infrastructure Plan 

Chipping Norton- approved by cabinet member for highway management on 24 April 2025

• Chipping Norton Local Cycling and Walking Infrastructure Plan (pdf format, 2.5 MB)

Woodstock- approved by cabinet member for highway management on 24 April 2025

• Woodstock Local Cycling and Walking Infrastructure Plan (pdf format, 2.4 MB)

Thame- approved by cabinet member for highway management on the 9 October 2025

• Thame LCWIP Final Report (pdf format, 8MB)
• Thame LCWIP Appendix A (pdf format, 140KB)

Carterton- approved by cabinet member for highway management on the 9 October 2025

• Carterton LCWIP (pdf format, 9MB)

Wantage and Grove - approved by cabinet member for highway management on the 11 December 2025

• Wantage and Grove LCWIP (Appendix A) (pdf format, 237 KB)
• Wantage and Grove LCWIP Report (pdf format, 14MB)

Eynsham - approved by cabinet member for highway management on the 22 January 2026

• Eynsham LCWIP (pdf format, 5 MB)

We are currently working on the development of the following LCWIPs:

• Charlbury
• Faringdon
• Henley on Thames

Going forward, LCWIPs will also be considered for other towns within Oxfordshire as funding or opportunities arise.

Strategic Active Travel Network (SATN)

The Strategic Active Travel Network (SATN) is a proposal for a countywide Active Travel network of walking and cycling routes. Where LCWIPs identify networks for walking and cycling within a town or settlement, the SATN identifies connecting routes that link up key trip generators countywide, and will enable more sustainable long-distance trips. 

SATN connections will link up to LCWIP networks as they continue to be developed. Some of these connecting routes already exist, and others are proposed and will be developed in the future. The development of the SATN comprises two main stages. 

Stage 1- Now concluded

• Focused on the development of a prioritised straight desire line map highlighting high-demand routes between towns and existing LCWIPs.
• These routes were chosen by following a detailed methodology involving data analyses, formal and informal consultations, and a systematic prioritisation exercise, which resulted in a straight desire line network.

Stage 2- currently in progress

• Focuses on transferring the straight desire line routes into on-the-ground alignments, finding the most effective route
• The detailed design of routes, the identification of improvements needed for each, as well as implementation and construction.

The SATN project report (pdf format 8MB) was consulted between 21 July 2021 and 14 August 2023.

The active travel fund

The Department for Transport's active travel fund supports plans to reallocate road space to cyclists and pedestrians and create an environment that is safer for walking and cycling. Since 2020 we’ve secured over £3 million of funding, including additional funds from OxLEP to deliver:

• improved and new cycle routes in Bicester and Witney
• six low traffic neighbourhoods – read more about the Cowley low traffic neighbourhoods, the East Oxford low traffic neighbourhoods
• Quietways through the LTNs
• five Quickways – read more about the Oxford City Quickways
• 20mph routes in the City along Cowley Road/Oxford Road, Iffley Road/Henley Avenue/Rose Hill, St Clement's Street, Donnington Bridge Road/Weirs Lane, Marston Road, Morrell Avenue, Between Towns Road/Church Cowley Road, and Abingdon Road