Government warns the UK’s rural QR code signs can be hijacked
Key Points
- Active Travel England published a 253-page Rural Design Guide on 18 September
- QR codes are not allowed on signs placed on public highways
- Off-highway signs can carry QR codes linking to maps, bus times and heritage audio
- Councils must plan for poor rural signal and tampered or swapped QR codes
- Digital wayfinding must meet accessibility standards and have a maintenance plan
Active Travel England has told councils they cannot put QR codes on signs placed on public highways, in a 253-page Rural Design Guide published on 18 September.
The guidance, which covers walking, wheeling and cycling routes outside towns and cities, sets out where and how councils can use digital wayfinding on rural routes. Active Travel England said QR codes can go on off-highway signs and street furniture, such as posts along bridleways, greenways and public rights of way.
Those codes can link to online maps, route information, real-time local bus and train times, or video clips and audio descriptions of local heritage. Any digital information needs to meet accessibility standards and work with screen readers and similar technology, the agency said.
Councils also need to plan for poor mobile signal and slow broadband in rural areas before relying on digital wayfinding. Active Travel England said many people, particularly disabled people, prefer to review route information in advance so they can plan a journey and understand any challenges.
Every digital element must come with a plan for long-term review, maintenance and stewardship of the online information. The agency said this covers broken links, outdated information and the risk of people tampering with or replacing QR codes on signs.
It added that councils should consider publishing route details on digital mapping services, possibly with ground-level photographs of each route. Public rights of way appear automatically on Ordnance Survey mapping, but councils need to tell mapping services about permissive routes, which landowners allow but which are not legal rights of way.
The guidance also recommends councils install counters on new routes to track how many people walk and cycle on them, using the data to calculate benefit-cost ratios for future funding bids.
