Whether a journey feels safe shapes whether it happens at all. Women and girls make these calculations every day: which route to take, whether the underpass is lit, how long the wait at the stop will be after dark. That’s why we’re delighted to champion Active Travel England’s new Women and Girls' Safety Hub.
What's in the hub
The new hub is part of Active Travel England's Women and Girls' Safety Programme, which began in March 2026. It brings together practical material for anyone planning, designing or managing streets and places:
Introductory guidance on viewing active travel through the lens of gender, developed by Active Travel England (ATE) with research from In Her Place.
Community consultation and engagement guidance showing how authorities can involve local people throughout the development of a scheme.
Webinars on considerations for women and girls in design and guidance, and a spotlight on women's safety.
Case studies on topics like gender mainstreaming, auditing safety to inform design, and the Right to the Streets campaign.
A curated reading list covering safety audit tools, handbooks, equality duties and gender budgeting.
Why we're championing it
ATE's National Active Travel Commissioner, Chris Boardman, says that if a route doesn't feel safe, accessible or practical, people won't use it. Safer, better-designed places benefit everyone, and they open up walking, wheeling and cycling to people who currently feel they can't.
The hub also links the programme to ATE's delivery plan, Worth Every Step, and to the government's ambition to halve violence against women and girls (VAWG) within a decade. Safety in public space is being treated as a core design requirement, which gives local authorities and delivery partners a clear mandate to act.
The evidence says the sector is ready for this
On 28th September, we published the findings of our Women's Safety Baseline Survey, delivered in partnership with WSP. With 737 responses from transport professionals across every mode and the wider built environment, it is one of the largest UK surveys of practitioners on violence against women and girls.
The headline is a gap between concern and capability. Some 61% of respondents are extremely or very aware of the safety challenges women and girls face, yet only 8% feel very confident identifying ways to improve them. Almost three-quarters (74%) have received no training or guidance of any kind. Meanwhile, none of the eight established design and policy resources we tested was known to more than 22% of respondents.
The ATE hub speaks directly to that gap. When we asked practitioners what format would help them most, they named online webinars (70%), case studies and best-practice examples (69%) and online toolkits (66%). ATE has put all three in one place, free to access and designed to grow. We are also pleased to see Women in Transport listed among the hub's further resources.
You can read the full findings in our Sector Findings Review, and find out more about the work of our Women's Safety Working Group, whose volunteer Chair Jade Neville and Vice Chair Susan Leadbetter have driven this programme of work.
What comes next
ATE describes the hub as a starting point. More resources, technical design guidance and a support offer for embedding women and girls' safety across planning, design, delivery, maintenance and evaluation are due in the coming months. The agency is also asking for examples, feedback and questions from across the sector.
Our own work continues too. The Baseline Survey is Phase 1 of a two-phase research programme, and it underpins our forthcoming whitepaper, which will set out practical steps for transport organisations, sector case studies and recommendations for government and industry. Phase 2 will follow with sector roundtables and focus groups.
What you can do
Respond to the Transport Committee's inquiry into safer journeys for women and girls before it closes on 9th October. Our Women's Safety Working Group has set out what the committee is asking and why your evidence counts.
Read ATE's introductory guidance and share it with your team.
Watch the webinars and review the case studies for ideas you can adapt.
Read our Sector Findings Review and ask where your organisation stands on training and data.
Send your own examples and feedback to ATE at contact@activetravelengland.gov.uk.
Join Women in Transport and help us bring lived experience and professional expertise to this work.
You can explore the hub on the Active Travel England website.