Do people who switch to active travel see benefits in broader health and wellbeing? Can longitudinal research establish or disprove a connection between outcomes?

Background

The reducing environmental impacts strategic priority is in recognition that there is an environmental aspect to all transport, and therefore almost all the work of DfT. Transport is the largest emitting sector of greenhouse gases in the UK, contributing 27% of domestic emissions in 2019. Our transport system must change to deliver the government’s Net Zero ambition and DfT will drive forwards that change through our longer-term green transport agenda. On decarbonisation specifically, we published our Transport decarbonisation plan (TDP) in July 2021, which sets out the steps we will take to deliver the necessary carbon reductions across every form of transport. Sustainability will be at the heart of levelling-up. People everywhere will feel the benefits – villages, towns, cities, and countryside will be cleaner, greener, healthier and more prosperous and pleasant environments in which to live and work

Next steps

Get in touch with bridgetoresearch@dft.gov.uk

Source

This question was published as part of the set of ARIs in this document:

DFT-Areas of research interest 2023 GOV UK

Topics

Related UKRI funded projects

  • MEthods and Tools for Assessing the Health Impacts of Transport: modelling study (METAHIT)

    Globally and locally how people and goods move around is important for public health. Transport causes ill-health through road traffic injuries, noise, and air pollution, but is an opportunity for benefiting health throu...

    Funded by: MRC

    Lead research organisation: University of Cambridge

    Why might this be relevant?

    The project specifically focuses on the health impacts of active travel and provides evidence on the benefits of replacing car trips with cycling.

  • Towards an Integrated Global Transport and Health Assessment Tool (TIGTHAT)

    Globally, how people and goods move is important for urban health. Transport causes ill-health through road traffic injuries, noise, and air pollution, but is an opportunity for benefiting health through active travel. A...

    Funded by: MRC

    Lead research organisation: University of Cambridge

    Why might this be relevant?

    The project aims to create a model that can estimate the health impacts of active travel in different cities, including LMICs.

  • Life Transitions and Travel Behaviour

    The aim of the project is to assess how life transitions influence travel behaviour and to identify opportunities from this for policy interventions to achieve desirable transport outcomes. Life transitions (major change...

    Funded by: ESRC

    Lead research organisation: University of the West of England

  • Commuting and Wellbeing

    The proposed study will generate novel understanding of the process by which commuting behaviours influence personal wellbeing over time. There is growing recognition that traditional measures of economic growth (like GD...

    Funded by: ESRC

    Lead research organisation: University of the West of England

  • Modelling population health and behaviour change in the transition to a low carbon society

    Many policy decisions rely on the results of computer models. Computer models are needed because there are many things we cannot directly observe. Better models should support better decision making. I will develop model...

    Funded by: MRC

    Lead research organisation: University of Cambridge

  • Understanding walking and cycling

    It is widely recognised that an increase in walking and cycling for short journeys in urban areas could significantly reduce traffic congestion, improve the quality of the urban environment, promote improved personal hea...

    Funded by: EPSRC

    Lead research organisation: Lancaster University

  • Measuring and Evaluating the Travel, Physical Activity and Carbon Impacts of Connect2

    Connect2 is a 138 million investment programme in walking and cycling infrastructure at 79 sites across the UK that provides a unique opportunity to determine the impact of infrastructure provision on walking and cycling...

    Funded by: EPSRC

    Lead research organisation: University of Southampton

  • BRAZIL-UK Healthy Urban Mobility (HUM)

    Since the initiation of World Health Organization (WHO) Healthy Cities movement over thirty years ago there have been increased efforts to understand how the urban environment affects health outcomes and can produce more...

    Funded by: ESRC

    Lead research organisation: Oxford Brookes University

  • Sandpit: Transport Behaviours Network.

    This Network extends the December 2010, UK Research Councils Ideas Factory "Transport Grand Challenge: Travel behaviour, habits and practice". The Ideas Factory drew attention to the significant contribution th...

    Funded by: EPSRC

    Lead research organisation: University of Edinburgh

  • JIBE Joining Impact models of transport to spatial measures of the Built Enviornment

    The kinds of cities we live in affects our health through influencing the choices we make and environments we make them in. For example, having a choice of local destinations within walking distance makes it more likely...

    Funded by: MRC

    Lead research organisation: University of Cambridge

Similar ARIs from other organisations

Climate and biodiversity How will public attitudes be affected? Are individuals, cities or communities motivated by the drop in emission levels resulting from reduced travel? Are they more or less fearful of ambitious decision making to protect the climate? What opportunities does this present the UK Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office, 2020
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Global prosperity, development and climate change (guiding research) How can the pathways to decarbonisation of transport be evaluated against the UK’s international climate ambitions? Department for International Trade, 2020
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