Increasing walking and cycling

A briefing for Local Authority Elected Members

Key messages:

• More walking and cycling reduces congestion • More walking and cycling is good for

business• Walking and cycling achieve transport,

health, and environmental objectives • Walking and cycling are safe• Walking and cycling measures are popular

More walking and cycling reduces congestion

• Congestion is a major transport problem – 87% of people think congestion is a ‘serious problem for the country’

(ONS, 2007)

– Congestion costs £10bn per year in urban areas (Sustrans 2013)

• Many short car journeys could be made by bike or walking – 64% of all trips are made by car (DfT 2010a)

– 20% of trips under one mile are made by car (DfT 2010)

• There is untapped demand:– 50% of children want to walk to school – Over 75% of children own a bike (DfT 2010c)

• Fewer cars on the roads also mean fewer parking problems and fewer cars circulating, hunting for spaces

More walking and cycling is good for business

• Pedestrians and Cyclists revitalize town centres – A high proportion of retail expenditure comes from local residents and

workers – Space for bike parking can produce higher retail spend than car parking – Car shoppers are often ‘drive-through’ – Walkable designs enhance the quality of town centres (Tolley 2011)

• Regular walkers and cyclists are fitter and less likely to be absent from work

• Investing in walking environments can support local economies by increasing footfall, improving accessibility and attracting new business and events (Living Streets 2012)

• Investment in the walking environment is likely to be of equal or better value for money than other transport projects (Living Streets 2012)

• Cycling and walking bring significant tourism income especially to rural areas (Manton & Clifford, 2011)

Walking and cycling achieve transport, environmental and health objectives

• Reduces congestion • Improves local air quality • Reduces CO2 emissions• Improves road safety • Improves public health• Increases social interaction • Improves the public realm • Improves quality of life

Benefits across the authority: ‘one council’ approach

Walking and cycling are safe• Safety is improving

– In 2006, the fatality rate for pedestrians was 54% lower than the 1980 level

– for pedal cyclists it was 46% lower (DfT 2008)

• The real risks are low – Perceived risks may be high but the real risks are low: on

average one death per 33 million km cycled (CE 2007)

• More cycling and walking increases safety – Evidence of ‘safety in numbers’ (Jacobsen 2003, Robinson 2005)

• Potential conflicts can be reduced– Eg car/cyclist conflicts addressed through infrastructure

design; cyclist/pedestrian conflicts addressed through bylaws

• The benefits outweigh the risks– Multiple studies show physical activity benefits outweigh

the risks by at least 10 to one (see next slide)

Ideas for action • Become the champion for walking and cycling; lead

by example • Encourage car drivers to walk or bike for short

journeys • Increase the focus on active travel in your local

transport plan • Help link the public health and transport agendas • Apply planning policy on new developments to

encourage sustainable transport • Encourage staff to use the WHO HEAT tool. WHO

provide free online training

Example• Darlington, Peterborough and Worcester were designated

‘Sustainable Travel Towns’ from 2004 to 2009, aiming to reduce car use

• Car driver trips by residents fell by 9% per person, and car driver distance by 5%-7% (compared to a fall of about 1% in medium-sized urban areas over the same period)

• Walking and cycling increased in all three towns • The value of the reduced congestion alone (using Dept for

Transport’s measures) outweighed the costs by 4.5:1 • More comprehensive evaluation (including health and

social benefits) would produce even higher benefit:cost ratios

Example:

• Across a town of 150,000 people, if everyone walked an extra 10 minutes a day, the HEAT model estimates:– 31 lives saved – Current value of

£30m per year

References• Cycling Embassy of Great Britain. 2012. Dutch Cycle Infrastructure. http://www.cycling-embassy.org.uk/wiki/dutch-cycle-infrastructure • Cycling England 2007. Cycling and Health: what’s the evidence? http://www.ecf.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/Cycling-and-health-Whats-the-evidence.pdf • De Hartog et al. 2011. Travel-time air pollution exposure, energy expenditure and health outcomes: use of new technologies. Epidemiology. 22:1 ppS76-S77• Department for Transport. Road Casualties in Great Britain - Main Results 2007. London: Transport Statistics, 2008. • DfT 2007. Manual for Streets. London. Dept for Transport https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/manual-for-streets • DfT 2010 (b). Cycling Demonstration Towns. Development of Cost benefit ratios. • DfT 2010 (c). National Travel Survey. https://www.gov.uk/government/statistical-data-sets/nts06-age-gender-and-modal-breakdown • DfT 2010a. How People Travel. National Travel Survey 2010. https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/8934/nts2010-03.pdf• Hansard 2007. Daily Hansard Written Answers. 29 March 2007. Column 169tW.

http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm200607/cmhansrd/cm070329/text/70329w0010.htm • Jacobsen, P. (2003). Safety in numbers: more walkers and bicyclists, safer walking and bicycling, Injury Prevention, 9, pp.205-209• Living Streets. Making the Case for investment in the walking environment. 2012• Manton R, Clifford E. (2011) Cycling Ireland to work .

http://www.etcproceedings.org/paper/cycling-ireland-to-work-sustainable-job-creation-in-the-tourism-sector-through • NICE 2008 Physical activity and the environment. http://publications.nice.org.uk/physical-activity-and-the-environment-ph8 • NICE 2012 Walking and cycling local government briefing - http://publications.nice.org.uk/walking-and-cycling-phb8 and the walking and cycling pathway

http://pathways.nice.org.uk/pathways/walking-and-cycling• NICE 2012. Walking and cycling guidance.

http://publications.nice.org.uk/walking-and-cycling-local-measures-to-promote-walking-and-cycling-as-forms-of-travel-or-recreation-ph41 • NICE 2012. walking and cycling pathway http://pathways.nice.org.uk/pathways/walking-and-cycling• Ogilvie D, Foster CE, Rothnie H, Cavill N, Hamilton V, Fitzsimons CF, et al. Interventions to promote walking: systematic review. BMJ 2007;334(7605):1204 • ONS 2007. ONS Omnibus Survey (Oct/Nov 2007) cited in DfT (2008) Public Attitudes To Congestion and Road Pricing. London. Dept for Transport• Rabl A, de Nazelle A. Benefits of shift from car to active transport. Transport Policy. 19 (2012) 121-131. • Robinson DL. 2005. Safety in Numbers in Australia. Health Promot J Austr. 2005 Apr;16(1):47-51. • Rojas-Rueda D, de Nazelle A, Tainio M, Nieuwenhuijsen MJ. The health risks and benefits of cycling in urban environments compared with car use: health impact

assessment study. BMJ. 2011 Aug 4;343:d4521. • Sustrans 2013. http://www.sustrans.org.uk/resources/in-the-news/investment-in-smarter-travel-means-better-health-for-all • Sustrans 2013. http://www.sustrans.org.uk/resources/in-the-news/sweet-16-but-sustrans-has-no-intention-of-leaving-school • Tolley 2011. Good for business. The benefits of making streets more walking and cycling friendly. Heart Foundation. 2011.• WHO 2010. World Health Organization Regional Office for Europe. The Health Economic Assessment Tool (HEAT) for walking and cycling. www.heatwalkingcycling.org• Woodcock J, Banister D, Edwards P, Prentice AM, Roberts I. Energy and Health 3; Energy and Transport. The Lancet. 2007 Sep 22; 370(9592): 1078-88• Yang L, Sahlqvist S, McMinn A, Griffin SJ, Ogilvie D. Interventions to promote cycling: systematic review. BMJ 2010;341:c5293.

Further Reading • Cycling and Health. What’s the evidence? Cycling England 2007. http://www.ecf.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/Cycling-and-health-Whats-the-evidence.pdf • CfIT Sustainable Transport Choices and the Retail Sector (2006)

http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20110304132839/http://cfit.independent.gov.uk/pubs/2006/stc/technical/pdf/stc-technical01.pdf • Take Action on Active Travel. Why a shift from car-dominated policy would benefit public health. Sustrans. 2010• Living Streets. Making the Case for investment in the walking environment. 2012• Other excellent information and help is available from organisations such as British Cycling, CTC, Living Streets, Ramblers, Sustrans, and others.

Acknowledgements

• The slide sets were researched and written by Dr Nick Cavill, an independent public health consultant• Drafting was overseen by an ‘Active Travel and Health group’, which was a sub-group of the Cycling Forum. Members were:

– Beelin Baxter, Department of Health – Tony Armstrong, Living Streets– Simon Barnett, Living Streets– Jackie Brennan, British Cycling – Hugo Crombie, National Institute for Health and Care Excellence– Phillp Darnton, Bicycle Association – Adrian Davis, Independent consultant – Des de Moor, Ramblers– Stephanie Dunkley, Leicester City NHS – Julia Ellis, Association of Directors of Public Health – Roger Geffen, CTC– Alison Hill, South East Public Health Observatory – Phillipa Hunt, Living Streets – Philip Insall, Sustrans – Patrick Lavery, Department for Transport – Carlton Reid, BikeBiz – Lynn Sloman, Transport for Quality of Life – Paul Stonebrook, Department of Health – Shane Snow, Department for Transport

• This presentation is part of a set of three, aimed at different target audiences in local authorities: – Directors of Public Health – Directors of Transport – Elected members

• Two alternate versions of the presentation are available

– Without logos, for you to customise– Without photos, on plain backgrounds– Contact nick@cavill.net for details.

Draft 01 May 2013