1 About active travel
Active travel is using physically active means for your everyday journeys, such as walking or scooting to school, using a wheelchair or mobility scooter for shopping trips, or cycling to work. Advantages to active travel include increased fitness, cheaper journeys and environmental benefits.
In 2022 the government established Active Travel England to help achieve its vision for walking and cycling as set out in Gear Change. This includes an aspiration for half of all journeys in towns and cities to be walked or cycled by 2030.
Active Travel England manages 2 funding streams:
- the Active Travel Fund, which is a capital pot that highway authorities can submit bids to on a competitive basis
- the Capability Fund, which is revenue funding allocated to highways authorities using a formulaic approach
Improving active travel in West Sussex
Our active travel improvements aim to:
- make walking, wheeling and cycling to work, education and leisure activities more attractive
- improve health and wellbeing by offering eco-friendly travel choices
- broaden travel choices by offering safe, quick and easy walking and cycling options, particularly for short journeys
- support zero emission journeys and reduce reliance on car travel
In 2020 we were awarded £2.35 million from phase 2 of the Active Travel Fund (ATF2) to deliver a number of active travel priorities including:
- extension of the A24 Worthing to Findon Valley cycle route to Findon village (completed in 2023)
- new signalised crossings on A283 Steyning Road in Shoreham and A259 Chichester Road at Merston (completed in 2023)
- new contraflow cycling facilities in River Road, Littlehampton (completed in 2023) and Cross Street, Worthing (completed in 2024)
- pedestrian and cycling improvements in the vicinity of Downlands School, Hassocks (completed in 2024)
- a new parallel crossing on Upper Shoreham Road, Shoreham at the junction with Buckingham Road and new cycle bypasses in Middle Road (completed in May 2025)
2 Improving active travel in West Sussex
Our active travel improvements aim to:
- make walking, wheeling and cycling to work, education and leisure activities more attractive
- improve health and wellbeing by offering eco-friendly travel choices
- broaden travel choices by offering safe, quick and easy walking and cycling options, particularly for short journeys
- support zero emission journeys and reduce reliance on car travel
- support the objectives of the West Sussex Transport Plan 2022 to 2036 and the West Sussex Active Travel Strategy 2024 to 2036
Active Travel England funding has enabled us to deliver the following improvements.
Active Travel Fund 2 (£2.35m)
- Extension of the A24 Worthing to Findon Valley cycle route to Findon village (completed in 2023)
- New signalised crossings on A283 Steyning Road in Shoreham and A259 Chichester Road at Merston (completed in 2023)
- New contraflow cycling facilities in River Road, Littlehampton (completed in 2023) and Cross Street, Worthing (completed in 2024)
- Pedestrian and cycling improvements in the vicinity of Downlands School, Hassocks (completed in 2024)
- A new parallel crossing on Upper Shoreham Road, Shoreham at the junction with Buckingham Road and new cycle bypasses in Middle Road (completed in May 2025)
Active Travel Fund 4 Extension (£1.014m)
- A new segregated cycle track on Lancing Beach Green between the western entrance and the skatepark, which has alleviated pedestrian and cycle conflict that occurred on the old shared path in front of The Perch Café and kiosk (completed in May 2025)
- A new puffin crossing outside West Worthing station - construction is due to commence on 15 September 2025 with completion expected on 5 December 2025
- A new puffin crossing on A286 Midhurst Road, Lavant to support families walking and wheeling to Lavant CE Primary School and improve access to local bus stops (completed in July 2024)
- Upgrading the existing puffin crossing on B2259 Felpham Way, Bognor Regis to a toucan crossing to support walking, wheeling and cycling to Felpham Community College and Downview Primary School (completed in February 2025)
Active Travel Fund 5 (£528,746)
- Widening the footpath between Drygrounds Lane and Wroxham Way in Felpham to support walking, wheeling and cycling to Felpham Community College and Downview Primary School (completed in August 2025)
- Signing and lining improvements at selected school sites across the county (to be delivered in 2026 to 2027)
Consolidated Active Travel Fund 2025 (£1,797,149)
- A259 Shoreham active travel improvements (detailed design)
- Comptons Lane and Bennetts Road active travel to school improvements (detailed design)
- Northgate Avenue, Crawley active travel improvements (detailed design)
- North Parade and West Parade Horsham junction improvement and active travel facilities (construction expected in 2026 to 2027)
- A new zebra crossing in St Lawrence Avenue, Worthing to support walking and wheeling to Worthing High School (construction expected in 2026 to 2027)
- Swiss Gardens Primary School Active Travel to School Improvements (construction expected in 2026 to 2027)
- Arundel CofE Primary School Active Travel to School Improvements (construction expected in 2026 to 2027)
- Thomas A Becket Primary School, Worthing Active Travel to School Improvements (construction expected in 2026 to 2027)
- Local Cycling and Walking Infrastructure Plans (LCWIPs) and Local Transport Improvements Programme (LTIP) priority scheme concept design and development
- Active travel improvements in both Oaklands Way and Oving Road, Chichester (detailed design)
Further information about our Consolidated Active Travel Fund programme is contained within the Key Decision Report. Construction of schemes is subject to the outcome of public consultations. Construction dates are subject to booking road space to avoid clashes with other road works.
You can take part in upcoming consultations and find out more on the Highways, Transport and Planning Engagement Hub or you can read further information about our approach to consultation and engagement in our proposal plan.
3 Capability Fund programme
This revenue funding is primarily intended to help the council increase its active travel knowledge base and capability, develop priority schemes to the point where they can be included in future bids for detailed design and construction funding, and support public engagement and consultation.
In 2021 we secured £274,906 from Active Travel England’s Capability Fund and a further £118,834 was awarded in 2023. The funding has been used to:
- develop concept designs for active travel schemes in Chichester, Horsham and Crawley and undertake stakeholder and public engagement. These schemes are high scoring priorities that feature in Local Cycling and Walking Infrastructure Plans (LCWIPs). You can find out more on the Highways, Transport and Planning Engagement Hub
- develop a prioritised list of walking schemes based on the information contained with the district and borough council’s LCWIPs
- undertake route audits and value for money assessments on six cycle routes featured in the Mid Sussex LCWIP
- support our School Streets trial and develop scheme designs
In March 2024 we were awarded an additional £474,329 to allow us to develop more plans and increase our capability. The funding will support the development pipeline schemes and will provide training so that officers can apply Active Travel England’s suite of design and assessment tools.
4 Strategic Transport Investment Programme
The Strategic Transport Investment Programme is used to develop major improvements to the transport network.
Priorities are identified in the West Sussex Transport Plan and can include strategic active travel improvements. The strategic active travel improvements in development are:
- A259 Shoreham to Hove active travel scheme
- Lancing - Sompting active travel scheme
Schemes will be subject to design, consultation and business case development before being considered for funding opportunities as they arise.
Autumn 2025 update
Progress has continued in recent months, with work on the preliminary design now well underway. This stage is enabling us to explore options in greater detail and consider how best to address the constraints identified earlier in the process.
Further surveys are also being carried out to provide the technical evidence required to support the design work. The results will inform proposals to be shared with stakeholders and prepare the ground for the next stages, when applications for additional funding will be necessary to deliver the schemes.
View further information about the previous consultations undertaken on the A259 Shoreham to Brighton & Hove and Lancing and Sompting schemes.