Tag Archives: active travel

Transport’s journey to sustainability

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Over the past year, our ability to travel within the UK and further afield has been heavily restricted as a result of the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic. As a result of ongoing restrictions, there has been a reduction in the amount of carbon dioxide emitted by the UK. According to figures published by the Department for Business, Energy, and Industrial Strategy (BEIS), over the past year, the UK has recorded a 10% reduction in carbon emissions. The reason for this large fall has been attributed to the substantial drop in road traffic as a result of several national lockdowns.

Analysis by BEIS found that in 2020 there was a 19.6% reduction in the amount of carbon dioxide emitted by the transport sector. Previous research found that the transport sector was the biggest polluting sector in the UK, therefore, the reduction of the number of cars on our roads naturally had a considerable impact on our overall carbon emissions.

As this year’s host of the UN COP26 climate conference, and signatories of the Paris Agreement, the UK is committed to and has a large role to play in the journey to reach carbon neutrality by 2050. Therefore, as we see restrictions ease, the way we use transport cannot simply return to business as usual.

Sustainable choices

Naturally, as we return to something closer to normality, people’s need to travel and move around will increase. Whether it’s returning to the office or going on holiday, transport levels will be quick to return to normal levels, with statistics published by Transport Scotland highlighting that in the past week car journeys were only down 10% compared with the pre-pandemic baseline.

It’s unrealistic to ask people to reduce their transport to the levels seen during national lockdowns. However, we all can make more sustainable choices when it comes to our everyday journeys.

There are several options available when it comes to making sustainable choices around our method of transport. All of these options tend to focus on reducing our dependency on petrol/diesel cars, particularly, when it comes to short journeys which can be made using active or public transport.

Research conducted by the University of Oxford’s Transport Studies Unit found that switching from the car to active transport for one day a week could result in an individual’s carbon footprint being reduced by a quarter. Additionally, regularly walking or cycling has been found to improve our physical health, reduce anxiety, and improve levels of self-esteem. However, our ability to switch to alternative means of transport is heavily reliant on the provision of sustainable transport infrastructure.

Supporting sustainable infrastructure

For people to make more sustainable choices surrounding their method of transportation, infrastructure that supports active and public transport will have to be as reliable and safe as using a car. Across the UK, there is often a disparity in the choices that are available to people, this is particularly acute for people who live in less densely populated areas.

Expanding and improving active transport infrastructure is a relatively cost-effective way in which local authorities and governments can reduce the carbon emitted by the transport sector.

On top of the previously mentioned personal health benefits, research commissioned by the European Commission has found that there are many economic benefits to the deployment of sustainable transport infrastructure. There was found to be strong evidence that the following interventions had both environmental and economic benefits:

  • enhancements to public transport systems
  • cycling infrastructure
  • personalised travel plans (PTP)

The development of PTPs has been flagged as a particularly cost-effective way to help people  make more sustainable transport choices. Evidence from across the world has found PTPs are successful in reducing the number of car journeys made. Information about the state of a local transport network (for example, how many rental bikes are at a station or when the next bus will arrive), can help individuals make more sustainable choices. 

Smarter transport

For PTP to be successful, the transport network has to get smarter and provide real-time information about the state of the network. This includes information on the availability of rental bikes, the time of the next arriving bus, and if there are points of congestion that should be avoided. All of this can be used to enable individuals to make more sustainable choices that are responsive to changes in the transport network.

At Idox, we are at the forefront of designing solutions that can support the deployment of smarter transport networks. From urban traffic management and control to real-time passenger information, these interventions can help support the development of sustainable transport networks and allow individuals to make better choices.

Final thoughts

We’ve all had to make changes to our day-to-day lives over the past year to protect our communities from Covid-19. The threat posed by climate change poses a similar threat to our day-to-day lives. If we are to reach carbon neutrality, we all have to make changes to reduce our carbon footprint.

Making more sustainable transport choices is a simple action that we can all take to reduce the carbon emitted by the UK’s most polluting sector. By making these choices we won’t only be protecting our environment and local communities, we will also be improving both our physical and mental health.

However, to make these choices, the development of smart sustainable transport infrastructure will need to be a focus. Here at Idox, we stand ready to help and have solutions that can make the transport sector smarter and more sustainable.

Idox’s transport solutions support traffic management and the delivery of real-time passenger information across all modes of transport. Innovative services and solutions enable complete management across all forms of transport, supporting the safe and efficient movement of people and vehicles – whatever the end goal. To find out more, visit our website.

If you enjoyed this TKE blog, you may also like to read:

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Public transport: lessons from our Nordic neighbours

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Public health in Scotland … problems and solutions

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scotpho logoBy Stacey Dingwall

On Friday 11 September 2015 I attended the annual seminar of the Public Health Information Network for Scotland (PHINS) at Glasgow Royal Concert Hall. Now in its 16th year, the event provides an opportunity to keep up to date with the latest developments in public health related issues and research at both the local and national level.

This year’s sessions were focused around two themes: health inequalities in Scotland, and active travel.

Health inequalities in Scotland: causes and interventions

The first speaker of the day was David Walsh of the Glasgow Centre for Population Health (GCPH). David outlined the findings of research he’s been involved in, looking at explanations for excess mortality in Scotland compared to the rest of the UK and Europe, and in Glasgow particularly. Currently, there are still 5,000 ‘extra’ deaths in Scotland than in England each year, i.e. excess mortality.

The session particularly focused on the findings of the 2013 study, Exploring potential reasons for Glasgow’s ‘excess’ mortality: results of a three-city survey of Glasgow, Liverpool and Manchester. These three cities are home to the highest levels of deprivation in the UK and consequently, the lowest life expectancies, with Glasgow being the worst of the three. David explained that over 40 potential causes for this were synthesised as part of the research, with the following identified as among the most plausible explanations:

  • The scale of urban change post World War 2 had a larger impact on Glasgow, in the form of slum clearances, the construction of poorer housing and large amounts of high rise flats, and limited investment in maintenance of this housing.
  • The ‘socially selective’ new towns programme created social divisions, with only the wealthier and higher-skilled able to move there.
  • Different responses at the local political level – Manchester and especially Liverpool vehemently resisted the Conservative policies of the time, however this was not the case in Glasgow.

The morning also saw a presentation from Jim McCormick from the Joseph Rowntree Foundation (JRF) on rising poverty levels in Scotland and the UK since the recession. Jim suggested that the increasing casual nature of work now seen in the UK is what is driving the rise of poverty. He highlighted the hourglass shaped economy we now have, due to the disappearance of mid-level semi-skilled jobs alongside a rise in higher- and lower-skilled jobs.

An analysis of whether a National Living Wage would bring different groups up to the JRF’s annual Minimum Income Standard by 2020 was also presented; according to their findings, the only group that will be close to it is single people without children.

Physical activity and active travel in Scotland and the UK

The first session after the break saw another presentation from GCPH – this time from Bruce Whyte on trends and challenges in active travel in Scotland (i.e. walking and cycling).

It was highlighted that travelling by car remains the most popular mode for people to travel to work, despite the fact that most of the journeys undertaken are short (i.e. less than two miles long). Bruce highlighted successful initiatives in this area in Glasgow, however, including the cycle hire scheme and the development of the Kelvingrove-Anderston cycling and walking route, on which GCPH published a report earlier this year. His presentation included comment from those who use the route on its health and safety benefits, and it was suggested that its success has led to impetus for similar projects in the city.

The following presentation came from Niamh Shortt of the Centre for Research on Environment, Society and Health (CRESH) at the University of Edinburgh. She looked at the findings from research into whether the physical environment has an impact on inequalities in physical activity and active travel. Tying in with the first theme of the day, this session noted the impact of health and income inequalities on physical activity rates and travel mode choices.

The morning was rounded off by Stuart Hay of Living Streets Scotland, a charity working to promote the benefits of walking and ensure that the country’s streets are fit to do so. Stuart praised the work of the Scottish Government in this area, highlighting the development of a separate walking strategy for the country. He concluded that we have the policy infrastructure in place, and it’s now time to ensure it is implemented.

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The Idox Information Service can give you access to a wealth of further information on health inequalities and active travel, to find out more on how to become a member, contact us.

Planning healthy cities … integration is key

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Image from Flickr user Sebastian Niedlich, licensed for reuse under a Creative Commons License

Image from Flickr user Sebastian Niedlich, licensed for reuse under a Creative Commons License

By Dorothy Laing

“The environment in which we live, work and spend leisure time – both the physical nature of places and the social environment of communities – has an enormous impact on our health and wellbeing. Health problems such as obesity, chronic heart disease, stress and mental health issues are intricately linked to the environments in which people live and work”. (RTPI, 2014)

Earlier this month the RTPI published Promoting healthy cities: Why planning is critical to a healthy urban future, the third in a series of Planning Horizons papers launched to mark the RTPI’s centenary. The report looks at how planning can help to create healthy cities – one of its main arguments being that health and wellbeing need to be at the core of city design and development.

With a growing number of people living in urban areas, and health problems such obesity and diabetes on the rise, planning for healthy cities is vital. And interest in the links between planning and urban health is nothing new.

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