Cambridge is playing host to the UK's national active travel event – Active County Cambridgeshire 2026 – today and tomorrow (13 -14 July), with the city welcoming up to 800 industry professionals to explore innovative ways of creating active, vibrant and healthy places.
Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Combined Authority Mayor Paul Bristow and Councillor Alex Beckett, Chair, Cambridgeshire County Council’s Highways and Transport Committee, are speaking alongside representatives of other local partners responsible for helping to deliver active travel across the region, including the Greater Cambridge Partnership.
The locals have been joined by experts from Heidelberg, Germany (Cambridge’s twin city), leading cycling city Utrecht in the Netherlands, and senior representatives from the Department for Transport, the Welsh Government, Transport Scotland and Active Travel England. They are using their time at Active County Cambridgeshire 2026 to announce new guidance and next steps for active travel policy and funding in the coming months and years.
The conference, hosted by Cambridgeshire County Council, is taking place at the Ray Dolby Centre at West Hub and across the city – with a wide range of walks, site visits and cycling tours on offer – some open to the public as well as to conference delegates.
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Mass cycle ride: 13 July, 18.00 – 18.30: Today, the first day of the event is ending with a celebratory mass cycle ride into the city centre, leaving West Hub at 18.00 and reaching Jesus College at 18.30.
2026 Active Travel Awards: Tomorrow, the second day of the event will end with the awarding of the 2026 Active Travel Awards, starting at 16.30 on 14 July. The awards will recognise and celebrate the leading designers, engineers, policy makers, practitioners and change makers working to make active travel the obvious choice for everyday journeys across the UK.
Guided tours: see the City’s innovative active travel infrastructure
The many site visits organised as part of the event include guided walks and cycle rides designed to showcase Cambridgeshire’s developing active travel infrastructure, including England’s first cycle street at Adams Road and the award-winning Milton Road scheme.
Milton Road features five kilometres of new sustainable transport infrastructure including Copenhagen crossings, continuous cycleways, bus stop bypasses, rain gardens, 200 new trees, and cycle-priority junctions including Cambridge’s second CYCLOPS junction. The route also passes through the city’s first CYCLOPS junction at Histon Road and takes in modal filters and off-road paths.
Other tours visit the city centre’s public spaces and pedestrian-friendly spaces, its school streets and Eddington, Cambridge’s visionary district that has been designed to prioritise walking and cycling from the outset.
Councillor Alex Beckett, Chair of the Highways and Transport Committee at Cambridgeshire County Council, said: "I am delighted that our county is hosting Active County Cambridgeshire 2026. This event provides a wonderful platform to showcase our growing portfolio of active travel projects – from the First Cycle Street and A10 Active Travel Bridge to the expanding Greenways network, which connects communities directly into Cambridge.
“These schemes highlight our commitment to creating safer, healthier, and more sustainable ways for people to move around our county. Alongside the infrastructure, our behaviour-change programmes are helping residents, schools, and businesses embrace walking, wheeling, cycling, and shared travel as part of everyday life.
“Hosting this conference gives us the opportunity to share learning, strengthen partnerships, and inspire the next phase of active travel delivery.
"It’s brilliant to welcome the delegates to experience first-hand the innovation and ambition driving Cambridgeshire’s cleaner, greener transport future."
Councillor Brian Milnes, Chair, Greater Cambridge Partnership Executive Board, says: “You’ll see the Greater Cambridge Partnership throughout the conference as we showcase our pioneering work; from how Cambridge is setting a national example for our use of transport data technology, to opening England’s first ever Cycle Street on Adams Road or our award-winning Milton Road project. As ever, Cambridge is at the forefront of innovation and leads the way on the latest thinking in active travel.”
Find out more about the conference.
