Active Travel England has recently published its new Rural Design Guide, setting out best practice for the planning and design of walking, wheeling and cycling routes outside urban areas.

Among the many topics covered, the guide explores how lighting should be approached in rural environments, recognising that while not every route requires lighting, carefully considered solutions can improve confidence after dark while protecting sensitive landscapes and wildlife.

The guide highlights St Peter’s Greenway in Aylesbury as an example of this balanced approach. We’re delighted that the 1.7km shared use route features our Solareye80 solar ground lights, providing discreet wayfinding through an environmentally sensitive landscape without the need for traditional street lighting.

Explore Active Travel England’s full Rural Design Guide and supporting case studies here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/designing-accessible-rural-active-travel

Improving confidence after dark

One of the strongest themes within the guidance is that people need to feel safe if they’re going to choose walking or cycling instead of driving.

The guide recognises that perceptions of personal safety can be a significant barrier to active travel, particularly after dark. While lighting won’t be appropriate on every rural route, carefully considered lighting can improve confidence, helping more people use paths throughout the year.

This is especially important for routes connecting communities, schools and public transport, where year-round accessibility can encourage more sustainable journeys.

Want to explore this in more detail? Read our article, Does Outdoor Lighting at Night Improve Public Safety?, where we look at how lighting influences both perceived and actual safety.

Solar lighting offers a practical solution for rural routes

Unlike urban environments, many rural active travel routes are located far from existing electrical infrastructure.

Installing mains powered lighting can be costly, disruptive and, in some locations, simply impractical. Solar powered ground lighting offers an alternative approach, providing effective wayfinding without the need for extensive infrastructure or connection to the electrical grid.

Much like reflective cats’ eyes used on motorways, solar ground lights don’t aim to illuminate the entire path. Instead, they create a series of clearly visible reference points that help users follow the route ahead. This provides reassurance and improves confidence after dark while avoiding the need for extensive lighting infrastructure.

This approach has been demonstrated at St Peter’s Greenway in Aylesbury, where Solareye80 solar ground lights provide subtle wayfinding along the route. Rather than installing traditional street lighting, the scheme uses discreet points of light to help users navigate the route after dark while maintaining the character of the surrounding landscape.

To see Solareye80 ground lights in action, check out our gallery >

Supporting biodiversity through low impact lighting

Another recurring theme throughout the guidance is that active travel infrastructure should work with the natural environment, not against it.

Many rural walking and cycling routes pass through environmentally sensitive landscapes where excessive artificial lighting could affect wildlife or contribute to light pollution.

By using discreet wayfinding lights instead of lighting the whole route, designers can improve navigation after dark while keeping artificial light to a minimum.

This approach aligns closely with the principles of responsible lighting, where the objective is to design lighting schemes sensitively, with human health, the night sky, and nearby ecosystems in mind.

Find out more in our blog, Responsible Outdoor Lighting – What is Responsible Lighting?, which explores how thoughtful lighting design can help minimise impacts on wildlife.

Importantly, the guide doesn’t advocate lighting every rural route. Instead, it encourages designers to carefully assess whether lighting is needed at all, taking into account factors such as expected usage, environmental sensitivity and the character of the surrounding landscape. Where lighting is justified, schemes should seek to minimise unnecessary illumination while integrating sympathetically with their surroundings.

The next step in low impact lighting design

The St Peter’s Greenway project demonstrates how solar ground lights can provide effective wayfinding without the need to illuminate an entire route. This low impact approach helps improve user confidence after dark while minimising unnecessary illumination of the surrounding environment.

For projects where ecological sensitivity is a key consideration, the Solareye80 Bat Hat ground light offers an additional layer of protection for nocturnal wildlife. Its integrated shield reduces upward light spill by 98%, helping to preserve dark skies and reduce the disruption artificial light can cause to bats and other light sensitive species.

Learn more about the impact of outdoor lighting on bats in our article Bat Hibernation & The Impact of Outdoor Lighting on Bats >

Solareye80 Bat Hat ground lights have been specified on active travel routes, footpaths and greenways across the UK where improving wayfinding must be balanced with protecting sensitive habitats.

See how Calderdale Council utilised Solareye80 Bat Hat ground lights to improve safety, usability and wayfinding after dark on a key active travel route through a sensitive green corridor.

Both Solareye80 and Solareye80 Bat Hat are available with warm white (2700K) LEDs for projects where ecology is a key consideration. Warm white light contains less short-wavelength blue light than cool white alternatives, making it a popular choice for schemes seeking to minimise the impact of artificial lighting on nocturnal wildlife while still providing effective route guidance.

Learn more with our blog Colour Temperature – Warm White Versus Cool White Outdoor Lighting >

A positive step forward for rural active travel

Active Travel England’s new guidance recognises that lighting isn’t a one-size-fits-all solution. Instead, every scheme should carefully consider user safety, accessibility, cost and environmental impact.

For rural routes where mains powered lighting isn’t practical – or where protecting biodiversity is a priority – solar powered ground lights offer an effective way to improve wayfinding without introducing unnecessary infrastructure or excessive light pollution.

It’s encouraging to see the St Peter’s Greenway case study included within the guide, demonstrating how discreet solar ground lighting can support wayfinding while respecting the surrounding environment. We’re proud that Solareye80 ground lights formed part of a project recognised by Active Travel England as an example of good rural design.