Essex County Council
Essex Highways

Safer, Greener, Healthier

Welcome to the Safer Greener Healthier web pages. Our aim is to make it as easy, safe and fun as possible for people in Essex to travel more sustainably - walking, cycling, e-scooting or taking the bus or train – especially for shorter journeys.

Our vision is to deliver safer, greener and healthier travel for current and future users of the transport network in Essex.

Safer Greener Healthier twitter

Did you know…..?

Up to 43% of car trips in Essex are under three miles, a journey which could, for many people be made on foot (which would take around 30 minutes) or on a bike (a 15-minute ride). 

Our ambition is to:

Create a road environment that is SAFER, encouraging more residents to cycle or walk, especially for shorter journeys.

Work up sustainable transport solutions to ensure that Essex reduces carbon emissions and delivers long-term GREENER benefits.

Deliver long-term public health benefits so that our residents become HEALTHIER.

How are we doing this?

By introducing, supporting and funding various projects across Essex which will encourage and make it easier for people to walk, cycle or scoot more, especially for shorter journeys. These include the introduction of new walking and cycle routes as part of the Active Travel Fund and trialling e-scooters.

Join us to make Essex one of the safest, greenest and healthiest places to live.

What we've achieved so far......

In 2022
Made local roads safer by introducing 20mph zones in Colchester and Braintree
Completed a new two-way cycle track, footway and shared use area within the Vineyard Street car park in Colchester
Have delivered over 5,300 Bikebility training sessions at schools across the county
Have given away 500 bikes a part of the Clacton-Jaywick Pedal Power project
Delivered an interactive air quality education programme for Year 5 pupils to 98 primary schools
Won the Outstanding Contribution to Community Rail Certificate of Excellence (The Essex and South Suffolk Community Rail Partnership)
Installed pencil bollards, street art and 20's Plenty signage in 3 healthy school street zones in Braintree, Brentwood and Colchester
Awarded approx £100k to cycling groups and charities to support cycling in Essex
Won the best Community Engagement Programme award at ModeShift 2022 for our work with Essex Pedal Power
Continued to trial e-scooters with our commercial partner Tier - with around 800k rides taken in the last 12 months
Launched the first walking challenge with the GoJaunty app. 100k steps were taken during the 6-week challenge.

Want to get involved?

Follow us on Twitter for latest news and updates.

Active Travel Fund

New cycling and walking routes are being delivered across five towns throughout 2022/23.

Businesses

Find out about the Smarter Travel for Essex Network (STEN) and how it can help businesses and their employees travel more sustainably.

Cycling

As part of the Safer Greener Healthier ambitiion, we are working on various projects to encourage people to get on their bikes.

E-scooters

Our e-scooter trial across Essex is going from strength to strength.

Walking

We want to increase walking across the county, particularly for shorter journeys.