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Active Travel Legibility and Cycling Infrastructure in Central Dundee

Summary

This report presents a short independent field observation examining how active travel infrastructure is communicated and experienced within central Dundee.

The observations focus on route legibility, infrastructure continuity, and the visibility of cycling within the urban environment. Findings suggest that while policy ambition is clearly established at national and local levels, this is not consistently reflected in the street level experience.

Relevant to

Transport planning, active travel delivery, urban design, public realm development, and infrastructure implementation at municipal and national level.

Application in practice

This report may be relevant in contexts involving the delivery and evaluation of active travel infrastructure, particularly where there is a need to understand how policy ambition translates into everyday user experience.

The observations can support work related to:

assessment of cycling network continuity
evaluation of route legibility and wayfinding
integration of cycling infrastructure within existing urban environments
consideration of how infrastructure visibility influences modal choice4

It may also be useful in project environments where implementation outcomes are being reviewed against policy objectives, including transport decarbonisation and modal shift targets.

What this work clarified

This work highlights the importance of legibility and continuity as practical conditions for active travel uptake, beyond the presence of individual infrastructure investments.

It also clarifies how gaps between policy ambition and street level experience can persist where networks are incomplete, difficult to interpret, or not clearly prioritised within the public realm.

Further observation and reflection on this work can be found in the associated: