Transport, Physical Activity and Health: Present knowledge and the way ahead

Levels of physical activity are decreasing in Britain, as in many other countries, and this is likely to lead to serious health problems because fewer than half the population of Britain achieve the recommended levels of physical activity.

Walking and cycling have decreased over the years which may have contributed to the decline in physical activity.

All forms of transport influence physical activity either directly or indirectly and so offer the potential for increasing levels of physical activity. The objective of this report is to consider the available evidence on the role of transport in increasing levels of physical activity, and so contribute to addressing the nation’s health problems caused by low levels of physical activity.

Because so many households have adopted lifestyles that revolve around the use of the car, it is important to recognise that any policies to reduce car use must provide as much, or close to as much, accessibility as the car does. One way to do this is to shift the method of accessing cars from individual household ownership to a more flexible system of hiring or sharing cars. There would need to be a variety of supporting policy actions affecting transport and land use.

It would be very useful to have a wide debate about transport modelling to ensure that the models represent travel and locational behaviour effectively, including factors that represent physical activity. The discussion should include the cost effectiveness of making changes to the existing modelling system.

The implementation of the approach presented in the report could lead to significant improvements in the health of the nation and cost savings to the National Health Service.