Exeter Community Route Mapping: Request for Proposals
Help us create a network of Good Ways across Exeter
Good Ways has up to £8,000 to commission Exeter-based groups and organisations to help create a network of recommended walking, wheeling and cycling routes across Exeter.
We are an Exeter-based Community Interest Company working to make it easier for people to find and enjoy good active routes.
With funding from Active Travel England, we are piloting our app in Exeter and creating an interactive map of routes that local people recommend.
You know your community and the places people need and want to go. We want to put that local knowledge to work.
What could you do?
There are two ways you could help.
A. Help build Exeter’s core network
Help identify and create priority walking, wheeling and cycling routes across Exeter, connecting neighbourhoods with useful destinations such as stations, schools, shops, workplaces, healthcare, parks and community facilities.
B. Create a network for your community
Create routes that work particularly well for the interests, needs or abilities of a community you know and work with.
That might mean routes for wheelchair or mobility scooter users, families, women and girls, people who are less active, new residents, or another community with particular needs or interests.
You can focus on A, B, or combine the two.
Routes can be for walking, wheeling, cycling or a mixture. By wheeling, we mean routes suitable for wheelchairs, mobility scooters and pushchairs.
We are especially keen to hear from organisations that can identify good routes for wheelchair and mobility scooter users.
The pilot covers the whole Exeter city region and we welcome applications for projects from anywhere within 25km of Exeter Central Station. We have a target corridor running roughly 1 mile either side of the railway from St David’s Station to Pinhoe and towards Cranbrook and welcome efforts in this area.
What are we trying to discover?
We want to discover how local groups can help build useful networks of good routes, drawing on their own knowledge and the knowledge of their members and communities.
We are interested in the routes you create, but also how you find and create them.
How might you:
- involve your members?
- run a route-mapping project, sprint, event or campaign?
- create routes for everyday and new journeys?
- take responsibility for a neighbourhood or set of destinations?
- focus on what works particularly well for a certain group?
We want to try different approaches and learn what works so we can repeat successful approaches elsewhere.
We think the right groups and organisations will have a lot of fun doing this.
What matters most?
There is no fixed route quota. We care more about:
Coverage, connectivity and usefulness — what do your routes connect, what useful coverage do they create, and who do they help?
Routes you recommend — they should be routes you want your community to know about, use and enjoy.
A method someone else could copy — tell us what you did, what worked and what did not.
This is a network-building exercise, rather than a commission for one or two showcase routes.
Who can apply?
We welcome proposals from Exeter-based community groups, charities, nonprofits, voluntary organisations and other organisations with good local connections.
You do not need to be a walking or cycling organisation or have previous route-mapping experience. We are particularly interested in groups with strong local knowledge or trusted relationships with communities whose needs are not always well served by existing maps and route planners.
Funding and timetable
Most commissions will be £1,000 inclusive of VAT, usually paid 50% upfront and 50% on completion. We may offer more for an exceptional proposal.
Applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis from 7 September 2026, with decisions normally made each week.
All commissioned work must be completed by 31 October 2026.
Successful groups will use the Good Ways website to create and publish routes, involve their community where relevant, and complete a short survey about what worked and what they learned.
Good Ways will support you with the platform. Groups remain responsible for their own risk assessments and safeguarding arrangements.
We plan to have a public launch of everything created towards the end of autumn.
Send us a proposal
You do not need to write a polished funding application.
Tell us simply what you would do, who it would help, how you would approach it, and what you think you could realistically achieve for £1,000.
Your proposal can be written, video or audio.
Got questions? Email us at [email protected].
Part of Good Ways Exeter
Good Ways Exeter is bringing local people together to create an app and giant interactive map of good routes that people recommend.
The project is being developed here in Exeter and is funded by Active Travel England.
Find out more about Good Ways Exeter and join the pilot.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do we need experience of Good Ways or route-mapping software?
No. No previous experience of Good Ways or route-mapping software is required. We’ll support successful groups to get set up and use the Good Ways tools.
What do you mean by walking, wheeling and cycling routes?
Routes can be for walking, wheeling, cycling or a mixture. By wheeling, we mean routes suitable for wheelchairs, mobility scooters and pushchairs.
Focusing on just one way of travelling is fine. We are especially keen to hear from organisations that can help identify good routes for wheelchair and mobility scooter users.
What will successful groups actually do?
At its simplest, you’ll use the Good Ways website to share good routes for people to follow.
We’ll agree the details with each group, but we’ll expect you to create lots of good walking, wheeling and/or cycling routes, involve your members or community where that is part of your approach, and complete a short survey at the end about what worked, what didn’t and what you learned.
What support and Good Ways access will we get?
Your organisation will get a Good Ways profile, a free organisation account and memberships for the people helping to create routes.
You’ll also get support from the Good Ways team to get set up and use the tools.
What happens to the routes we create?
The public routes you create will always be free for everyone to find, follow and use.
Your routes will be useful to the people you know and serve, while also contributing to a shared network of good ways across Exeter.
All routes will be shared under an open data license, so that anyone can make use of them.
Any published routes will remain on Good Ways, even if you end your membership.
Is this a grant?
No. This is paid commissioned work, not a grant or donation.
Successful applicants will agree a simple brief with us setting out what they will do.
How and when will we be paid?
We expect most commissions to be a one-off fee of £1,000, inclusive of VAT. We may offer more for an exceptional proposal, and have up to £8,000 in total available for this work.
We’ll normally pay 50% upfront and 50% on completion, unless otherwise agreed.
How will you choose which proposals to commission?
Taken together, we want the commissions to create a strong mix of useful connections, places, communities, journeys and ways of travelling across Exeter.
We are also keen to support groups and organisations that would be interested in sharing good routes on Good Ways, even if this commission was not available.
We’ll look at whether a proposal:
- contributes useful coverage or connections to Exeter’s core network and/or creates a useful network for a particular community
- produces routes that will benefit your community and/or Exeter as a whole
- draws on useful local, lived or expert experience
- tests an interesting or repeatable approach
- adds something different to the other proposals we commission
- offers good value for money.
We’re also interested in organisations that can see ongoing value in sharing good routes with their communities beyond this particular commission.
Do you want route stories, history or local information too?
Route histories, local geography, stories and interpretation can all add value, but this commission is mainly about finding good ways to make journeys that people recommend.
What are we responsible for when involving our community?
Your group or organisation is responsible for any appropriate risk assessments and safeguarding arrangements for activities you organise as part of the commission, including activities involving staff, volunteers, members or other participants.
We can support you with using Good Ways, but you are responsible for safely organising your own community activities and for the content you share.
Got more questions? Visit our main FAQs page.
We are very grateful to Active Travel England for funding our Good Ways Exeter pilot.
