Abstract

Introduction: Only one-third of the European population meets the minimum recommended levels of physical activity (PA). Physical inactivity is a major risk factor for non-communicable diseases. Walking and cycling for transport (active mobility, AM) are well suited to provide regular PA. The European research project Physical Activity through Sustainable Transport Approaches (PASTA) pursues the following aims: (1) to investigate correlates and interrelations of AM, PA, air pollution and crash risk; (2) to evaluate the effectiveness of selected interventions to promote AM; (3) to improve health impact assessment (HIA) of AM; (4) to foster the exchange between the disciplines of public health and transport planning, and between research and practice. Methods and analysis: PASTA pursues a mixed-method and multilevel approach that is consistently applied in seven case study cities. Determinants of AM and the evaluation of measures to increase AM are investigated through a large scale longitudinal survey, with overall 14 000 respondents participating in Antwerp, Barcelona, London, Örebro, Rome, Vienna and Zurich. Contextual factors are systematically gathered in each city. PASTA generates empirical findings to improve HIA for AM, for example, with estimates of crash risks, factors on AM-PA substitution and carbon emissions savings from mode shifts. Findings from PASTA will inform WHO's online Health Economic Assessment Tool on the health benefits from cycling and/or walking. The study's wide scope, the combination of qualitative and quantitative methods and health and transport methods, the innovative survey design, the general and city-specific analyses, and the transdisciplinary composition of the consortium and the wider network of partners promise highly relevant insights for research and practice. Ethics and dissemination: Ethics approval has been obtained by the local ethics committees in the countries where the work is being conducted, and sent to the European Commission before the start of the survey. The PASTA website (http://www.pastaproject.eu) is at the core of all communication and dissemination activities. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution IGO License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/igo/), which permits use, distribution, and reproduction for non-commercial purposes in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. In any reproduction of this article there should not be any suggestion that WHO or this article endorse any specific organisation or products. The use of the WHO logo is not permitted. This notice should be preserved along with the article's original URL. Document type: Article

Abstract

Background Active transport (i.e. walking and cycling for transport) can provide substantial health benefits by increasing levels of physical activity (PA) and help reduce transport-associated emissions. Our aim was to conduct a health impact assessment (HIA) of cycling networks expansions in seven diverse European cities (Antwerp, Barcelona, London, Orebro, Rome, Vienna, Zurich) that form part of the Physical Activity through Sustainable Transport Approaches (PASTA) project. We modeled the association between cycling network distance (km) and cycling mode share (%) and estimated health impacts of the expansion of cycling networks. Methods Cycling network distances were computed for 168 European cities using OpenStreetMap data for designated cycling ways. Cycling mode share was available through the European Platform on Mobility Management. We performed a non-linear least square regression to assess the relationship between cycling network and cycling mode share. We performed a quantitative HIA for five different scenarios (S) (10% (S1); 50% (S2); 100% (S3), Go-Orebro (S4) and All-streets (S5)) assessing how an expansion of the cycling network would lead to an increase in cycling mode share and estimated associated mortality impacts thereof. We quantified mortality impacts in terms of changes to PA levels, exposure to air pollution and traffic incidents for the cyclist. Results Our results suggest that the cycling network may contribute to a cycling mode share of up to 25% in European cities. A cycling network as that of Orebro (S4; 255 km/100,000 persons) produced greatest health benefits through increases in cycling for London with 646 (95% CI: 397;1012) annual deaths avoided, followed by Rome (224; 95% CI: 133;359), Barcelona (162; 95% CI: 103;248), Vienna (82; 95% CI: 47;133), Zurich (27; 95% CI: 16;42) and Antwerp (3; 95% CI: 2;6). If all 168 European cities achieved a cycling mode share of 25% over 16,000 deaths (95% CI: 9,861;25,763) could be avoided each year. The largest cost-benefit ratios were found for the 10% increase in cycling network (S1) suggesting it to be most cost-effective (Rome € 40:1; Barcelona € 20:1; Zurich € 16:1; Vienna € 11:1, London € 3:1). Conclusions Especially in cities with a currently low cycling mode share, expansion of cycling networks may promote increases in cycling mode share. Increases in cycling mode share were estimated to provide considerable health benefits in European cities.

Abstract

Background The number of trips of the average urban inhabitant per year has grown steadily in recent years – but we are actually moving (our bodies) less. Every day, millions of trips are made by car (where 50% of these are less than 5 km) or other motorised private vehicles as well as with public transport, while only a small percentage of trips are made by active modes, such as cycling and walking. This lack of physical activity causes major health problems for individuals and great economic costs for society as a whole. To reverse these negative impacts the World Health Organisation (WHO) recommends a minimum of 150 minutes of moderate physical activity per week (e.g. 30 minutes 5 times per week). Replacing short motorized trips can feasibly increase physical activity in everyday life. Methods PASTA “Physical Activity trough sustainable transport approaches” collected data in a longitudinal web-based survey with a cohort design to study the effects of active mobility on overall physical activity and health. The target population for the survey was the entire adult population in 7 European Cities. In total, more than 12.000 people participated in the survey with half of them filling in valid travel diaries on actual trips on a regular basis. Results Differences in sociodemographics and travel behaviour of cyclists in the seven cities will be shown in the paper. Preliminary results reveal that more than 2.000 participants from the total sample can be identified as regular cyclists (reported in their trip diaries) with an average age of 40 years. Most of them are highly educated and full time employed. In comparison to non-regular cyclists, the share of female is lower; however the share of people who have a driving licence and who have at least sometimes access to a car is higher within the group of cyclists. About 85% of regular cyclists reach at least 30 cycling-minutes per reported day. This indicates that a high share of regular cyclists can reach the WHO´s recommended level only by routine cycling trips. Further the threshold of reaching the minimum recommendation by cycling will be analysed between the cities. Conclusions In this study, we compare cyclists and their travel behaviour in seven European cities. Our first results indicate, that cycling as a mean of transport can help reach the WHO’s physical activity recommendations and including physical activity into daily life without much of extra effort. Document type: Article