26. How can circular economy principles and modern methods of construction be embedded into transport infrastructure design and delivery to demonstrably reduce carbon, waste and lifecycle costs?
Background
DfT’s ARI identifies 40 broad research questions that reflect areas of strategic importance to the department, where further insight and collaboration could enhance our evidence base, challenge assumptions and strengthen future decision-making. The ARI is organised around four complementary themes, and this question sits within the Delivering Green and Healthy Transport theme.
Transport has a significant influence on environmental outcomes and public health, shaping greenhouse gas emissions, air quality, noise, physical activity and the resilience of communities to climate change. Decisions about how transport systems are planned, operated and used therefore play a critical role in tackling climate change, protecting the natural environment and supporting healthier lives.
This theme recognises that environmental sustainability and health outcomes are closely linked, and that transport interventions can deliver multiple benefits when these objectives are considered together. Cleaner vehicles and fuels, safer and more attractive streets, and shifts towards walking, wheeling, cycling and public transport can reduce environmental harm while improving physical and mental health, including through improved safety outcomes. At the same time, transport has negative effects on safety, air pollution, noise, inactivity and climate risks which we aim to reduce.
Transport’s environmental and health impacts are shaped by interactions with wider systems, including energy, the built environment, nature and public health. Understanding these interactions is essential to addressing long term challenges such as decarbonisation, climate adaptation, air pollution and health inequalities, and to ensuring that transport interventions deliver lasting benefits across different places and population groups.
Delivering green and healthy transport requires action across multiple timescales and levers, from technological change and infrastructure investment to behaviour, service design and spatial planning. The ARIs therefore seek research that deepens our understanding of how transport can reduce environmental harms and support better health outcomes.
Next steps
If you have research relevant to this topic, are planning work in this area, or would like to discuss potential collaboration, please get in touch. For our monitoring and evaluation purposes, we are also keen to hear if the ARI has informed or influenced your research.
To get in touch and report the use, please fill in the form https://submit.forms.service.gov.uk/form/264718/dft-areas-of-research-interest-ari/
Link to DfT ARI: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/dft-areas-of-research-interest/areas-of-research-interest-2026
Topics
Related UKRI funded projects
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Sustainable Transport Evidence and modelling Paradigms: Cohort Household Analysis to support New Goals in Engineering design (STEP-CHANGE)
There is an accepted need to promote step changes towards more sustainable urban environments, notably in transport and travel, which we will focus on. While many model-based desk-studies have aimed to simulate such envi...
Funded by: EPSRC
Lead research organisation: University of Birmingham
Why might this be relevant?
The project focuses on sustainable urban environments and transport interventions, aligning with the question's goal of reducing carbon, waste, and lifecycle costs in transport infrastructure.
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ICF: Healthy Low-Carbon Transport Hub (HLTH)
Accelerated transport decarbonisation is essential for the UK to meet CO2e emissions requirements. Measures adopted must maximise physical/mental health co-benefits, but this has not been the case historically. Replacing...
Funded by: MRC
Lead research organisation: University of Southampton
Why might this be relevant?
The project specifically addresses the integration of health co-benefits into transport decarbonisation, which is a key aspect of the question's focus on reducing carbon and improving health outcomes.
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JPI Urban Europe/NSFC Urban Public Administration and ServiceS innovation for Innovative Urban Mobility Management and Policy
Achieving a sustainable and reliable transport system is among the key challenges that contemporary cities face; in China, in Europe, and beyond. Defining effective strategies to improve the benefits of transport, while ...
Funded by: ESRC
Lead research organisation: University of Leeds
Why might this be relevant?
The project focuses on innovative service and policy innovations for sustainable urban transportation, which partially aligns with the question's goal of embedding circular economy principles and modern methods of construction into transport infrastructure.