Cycling by Design 2026: what it asks of new development in Scotland.

Status and scope

The foreword describes the guidance as directly applicable to all roads and locations, urban, suburban and rural, including trunk roads, and as intended to support context-sensitive decisions by roads authorities. It is commended to local authorities and others rather than expressed as mandatory, and is described as a living document. The 2026 revision responds to feedback and research, including an aim to reduce conflict between active modes within scheme design.

The introduction states that the guidance applies to schemes delivering cycling infrastructure, new and improved roads, new developments and other features of the built environment where cycling should be considered. Requirements are set out as numbered clauses with desirable and absolute minimums. Designers are expected to meet or exceed them, with reductions below the desirable minimum only where specific constraints apply. Designing Streets and the National Roads Development Guide are to be used alongside it.

Design review and level of service

A design review should be applied to all schemes from the inception of the design process, including new developments (clause 2.8.1). Where a requirement cannot be met, the review should record the requirement, the reasons, the effect on objectives, the users affected, safety and accessibility issues and recommended alternatives.

Designers should aim for a high level of service on any cycling or road improvement project (clause 2.4.1). The framework rates six principles: safety, coherence, directness, comfort, attractiveness and adaptability. For directness, for example, a high level of service means a cycle route at least as direct as the equivalent route for motor traffic. For network density, high means less than 200 metres between key primary and secondary routes. Internal streets in new developments should have traffic volumes and speeds low enough for cycling in mixed traffic, by reference to the thresholds in the guidance.

The design vehicle is 2.8 metres long with a dynamic width of 1.0 metre, increasing to 1.2 metres on bends. Turning radii are given for standard cycles, cargo cycles and tandems, and cargo cycles may be up to 0.85 metres wide.

Cycle parking

• Quantity: at least the minimum set by local planning policy; the guidance does not set its own ratios.
• Residential location: resident cycle parking should be located internally (clause 6.2.8). Where long-stay parking cannot be internal, the planning authority should consider a financial contribution, for example towards on-street cycle hangars (clause 6.2.9).
• Stand types: wheel-only grip stands should not be installed, and stands should allow the frame and a wheel to be locked (clauses 6.2.1 and 6.2.2).
• Non-standard cycles: space for adapted and cargo cycles at each facility, usually at the end of a row, and signed (clause 6.2.6).
• Dimensions: for example, 1,200 millimetres between parallel Sheffield stands, aisles of 2,500 millimetres in stores, and store doors at least 1,000 millimetres wide (clauses 6.2.12, 6.2.39 and 6.2.42).
• Security and access: lighting, overlooking and secure entrances for communal residential stores (clauses 6.2.7 and 6.2.8).

Points to note

The guidance is not statutory in the way a development plan policy is, but it is the national design reference for cycling infrastructure, and roads authorities can be expected to apply it in roads construction consent and planning consultation responses. The design review record is likely to be requested where a scheme falls below the desirable minimum.

The preference for internal resident cycle parking, and the suggested contribution route where that cannot be achieved, may have layout and viability implications for flatted schemes and terraced housing.

This edition was published slightly more than six months before this summary. We have reviewed the foreword, introduction and the chapters on planning for cycle users and trip end facilities; the chapters on cycle links, crossings and junctions contain further requirements, including the traffic thresholds for mixed traffic.

Practical points

• Start the design review at concept stage and keep it as a live record through to roads construction consent.
• Design internal streets for mixed traffic, checking volumes and speeds against the thresholds in the guidance.
• Plan internal resident cycle parking from the first layout, with space for non-standard cycles.
• Use the 2026 edition in place of the 2021 edition for new submissions.