Cymru Women’s Sport Response to the Updated Active Travel Act Guidance
February 2026
Cymru Women’s Sport is a not-for-profit, charitable organisation dedicated to ensuring women and girls across Wales have equitable opportunities in sport. Women and girls still face persistent inequality when it comes to participation, leadership and investment, and this needs to change.
Our organisation aims to change the game for women and girls in sport in Wales under three pillars: advocate, connect and celebrate.
We advocate for gender equity in participation, policy, governance, strategy and investment. We connect with others to ensure there are opportunities to come together and make progress. And we celebrate the positive actions taken by others and the successes of women and girls in sport, helping to raise the profile of women and girls in sport and physical activity in Wales.
Updated Active Travel Act Guidance
Women and girls deserve to feel safe and confident when exercising or travelling outdoors, whenever it suits them. But we know that the majority of women in the UK change their outdoor activity routines during winter.
Research by Sport England’s This Girl Can campaign found that almost three-quarters (72%) of women in the UK change their outdoor activity routines during winter.[1]
Sport Wales’ data from their Activity Tracker in February of last year found that Female respondents are significantly more likely than male to say they felt unsafe (28% vs 8%).[2]
The data also highlights some of the precautions that women take to stay safe when getting active outdoors after the clocks have gone back. One in four (24%) said they prioritise well-lit routes, almost a quarter (23%) avoid certain areas altogether, and one in five (20%) glance behind them to ensure they’re not being followed.
Another survey in 2025 by Our Streets Now found that 93% of the women who responded had experienced public sexual harassment whilst running. [1]
These are worrying statistics, and fears over personal safety can be a substantial barrier to women who wish to walk, run, wheel or cycle. So, if the Welsh Government wishes to honour its commitment to encouraging more people to use walking, wheeling, and cycling for everyday trips then this needs to be at the forefront of guidance to local authorities when creating new active travel spaces. Adequate lighting isn’t something that is nice to have, it is essential. The current guidance states that it is “important that lighting is considered at an early stage in the design process” and that “active travel routes should normally be lit to provide an adequate level of safety”. But since 2024, a number of local authorities have been trialling reducing lighting to save money, in some cases citing the lack of a legal requirement to provide public lighting in the Highways Act (1980)[2]. While Newport council has been forced to roll back on their measures after shift workers said they felt unsafe at night.[3]
We therefore believe that the active travel guidance should be updated to include the requirement for local authorities to ensure that streetlights are essential for every active route, and that they are properly maintained and switched on during key times after dark.
Shared use paths can also be problematic for women and girls, because they can cause anxiety if busy and used by a lot of cyclists. Giving adequate space for runners, walkers and wheelers should be a priority, giving extra consideration for wheelchair users and people who are traveling with a pram. Equally, most women and girls would feel safer on a cycling path that is separated from any traffic, especially if they are cycling with children.
This consultation intends to use more people-focused language and we would advocate the use of using ‘all women and those identifying as women’ in the guidance. The aim to emphasise evidence-based practice in the guidance, we would also suggest that statistics and evidence such as the ones we have quoted above should be essential to local authorities’ work to deliver the Active Travel Act.
Finally, part of the Act is Local Authorities’ duty to promote walking, cycling and wheeling for everyday journeys. We would like to see all women targeted in the promotion of routes with a focus on the safety of those active routes. Physical activity is part of ensuring healthier lives and without safe provision for women being active in Wales, the Government’s hopes of equality will not be met.
The Active Travel Act is over a decade old in Wales and we call upon the government to require enhanced provision and better planning and design of routes that enable everyone to be safe and active.
Sources:
[1]This Girl Can calls for action on women's freedom to be active after dark, available at https://www.sportengland.org/news-and-inspiration/this-girl-can-calls-action-womens-freedom-be-active-after-dark, accessed 8 February 2026
[2] Sport Wales Activity Tracker, February 2026, available at https://www.sport.wales/research-and-insight/comres-research/wales-activity-tracker-feb-25/, accessed 8 February 2026
[3] Our Streets Now, Experiences of Public Sexual Harassment in exercise and sport, available at https://static1.squarespace.com/static/6659a22c016ad42d2c557d53/t/66927d14f5f2053200a036f1/1720876312405/OSN+Sports+Survey-+Executive+Summary+Report.pdf, accessed 8 February 2026
[4] Vale of Glamorgan website, ‘part-night lighting in the Vale’, https://www.valeofglamorgan.gov.uk/en/living/Street-Lighting/Part-Night-Lighting.aspx, FAQ: Can the Council legally turn off the lights?
Yes, the is no statutory requirement for councils to provide public lighting. The law states that:
- The Highways Act empowers local authorities to light roads but does not place a duty on them to do so.
- Local authorities have a duty of care to road users and have an obligation in some circumstances to illuminate some types of street furniture or traffic calming measures, such as speed bumps.
Accessed 8 February 2026
[5] City's street lights switched back on for safety, 17 April 2025, https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c209e4qxqz1o, accessed 8 February 2026