Travel Portsmouth

Cycling and walking

Active travel, like walking or cycling, is one of the most efficient, affordable, and sustainable ways to get around, especially in a smaller city like Portsmouth. It has many benefits, from improving your physical and mental health, to enhancing the economy and making our air cleaner.

24% of all journeys to work are less than 1.2 miles, so there is significant potential for people to walk and cycle. If people walked and cycled more and drove less, there would be less traffic congestion, cleaner air for us to breathe and people would become fitter.

Cycling is an important part of our Local Transport Plan, and in line with the government’s Cycling and Walking Investment Strategy (CWIS), our safer travel team have created the Local Walking Cycling and Infrastructure Plan (LCWIP).

According to Transport for the South East, the number of people travelling actively is fairly low. This appears to be due to a lack of high-quality infrastructure and not enough promotion of active travel, so people don’t see it as a safe or realistic way to get around.

We want to make walking and cycling a priority, so we’re creating a network of attractive, inclusive, safe, and accessible routes which are joined up and continuous. Each route has been reviewed for its attractiveness, comfort, directness, and safety.

Read more about the current state of cycling in Portsmouth, as well as tips on safe cycling, or check out our information on cycle security.

Walking is a free and easy way to be active and stay healthy. Portsmouth is an ideal city for walking and has the highest walk to school rate in the country, with over 70% of children walking to school every day. Find out more about walking in Portsmouth, including information about led group walks and trail maps.

Schemes

Current schemes

Completed schemes