UK guidance to design safer streets for women in 2026

New YouGov polling published on 25 March 2026 finds 88% of women have felt unsafe walking at night and 71% have changed routes in darker months; one in three young women are deterred from local walks. In response, Active Travel England will issue guidance this year and begin council training in spring to help design streets that work better for women and girls. (gov.uk)

Respondents pointed to poor lighting, neglected paths, personal safety fears and anti-social behaviour as reasons to avoid walking after dark. On 24 March, Local Transport Minister Lilian Greenwood walked Liverpool streets with women and girls to gather first-hand feedback, a reminder that design choices decide how safe a route feels. (gov.uk)

The forthcoming guidance asks councils to apply a gender lens to active travel: brighter, well-placed lighting; clear sightlines; routes along busier, overlooked streets; and CCTV where appropriate. It also encourages replacing subways with surface crossings so people remain visible in public view. (gov.uk)

Ministers say the burden should not sit on women to plan around danger; it sits with those who shape streets and with behaviours that create risk. That framing matters for students travelling home, shift workers finishing late and anyone who has ever quickened their pace at dusk.

So what does a safer street look like when you’re the one walking? You should be able to see and be seen; follow a direct, step-free line to your destination; move where there are people around; and find help quickly if you need it. If your route to school, campus or work fails that test, today’s announcement gives you a clear checklist to raise with your council.

Some places are already acting. In Worksop, a Safer Streets scheme delivered 27 new CCTV cameras in hotspots flagged by women and upgraded up to 200 streetlights, alongside wider safety work. (worksopguardian.co.uk)

In Milton Keynes, ‘bystander champion’ training has been rolled out for male staff in the night-time economy, and a clearly marked safe route now guides people to the rail station with better visibility after dark. These are small design and culture shifts that change how a walk feels. (milton-keynes.moderngov.co.uk)

Liverpool has introduced highly visible Halo Points across the city centre, linking directly to emergency services and City Watch CCTV so help is one button away if you feel unsafe. (merseyside.police.uk)

The North East has committed £7.1 million to refresh hundreds of bus stops and shelters with improved lighting, seating and clearer information-practical upgrades that make waiting less isolating. (northeast-ca.gov.uk)

Councils are also rethinking old infrastructure. Leicester filled in the Strasbourg Drive underpass and put crossings at street level. In Manchester, 2020 works around the Mancunian Way replaced hostile underpasses with simpler, safer surface links for people on foot and on bikes. (leicester.gov.uk)

Useful ideas travel. Amsterdam is testing new tunnel lighting and reviewing how spaces feel at dusk and in darkness. In Vigo, Spain, women travelling alone at night can ask bus drivers to stop anywhere along the route, shrinking the last lonely walk home. (nltimes.nl)

Where does the money come from and what else is planned? Local authorities can use their share of Active Travel England’s £626 million fund to tackle problems like lighting, crossings and safety tech. The Department for Transport’s wider plan includes better CCTV connectivity at stations, mandatory training for bus drivers on recognising and responding to VAWG and anti-social behaviour, and a new roads policing package focused on VAWG-related offences-all part of a mission to halve VAWG within a decade. (gov.uk)

As you read headlines about surveys, practise your media literacy. ‘Feeling unsafe’ isn’t the same as crime rates, but it shapes daily choices: routes, jobs, studies and social life. When polls are cited, look for the date, sample size and methodology. Today’s YouGov findings were published on 25 March 2026; local evidence-gathering should now follow on your streets.

Here’s how you can help turn this into change: map your regular route and note where you speed up, cross early or avoid; ask your council for an after‑dark audit of that corridor; report broken or dim lighting with precise locations; and when consultations open, press for street‑level crossings, clear sightlines and public help points on the ground, not just in plans.

We’ll be watching for delivery. Guidance lands in 2026, training starts this spring, and the mission is clear: more of us feeling confident to walk, wheel and cycle home after dark without planning around fear. That’s the measure that matters.