Transport planners estimate money spent on high-quality cycling infrastructure yields benefits between ten and 25 times the costs.
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Articles on active transport
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We’re lagging behind on the shift to electric vehicles and clean transport. Here’s what we need to do.
Debating whether school uniforms are good or bad sidesteps a bigger issue: students – especially girls – need better designed garments that support their learning and well-being.
Most people continue using their car because it’s convenient, but few consider the full cost of depreciation and maintenance. Carbon dioxide emissions rarely factor in people’s choice of transport.
Electric cars are hailed as the best way to cut transport emissions, but it’s an illusion to think we can reduce our environmental impact without changing the way we design and move about in cities.
When it comes to ring roads, Birmingham has a poor track record. Can the city’s new transport plan buck that trend and benefit both its inhabitants and the environment?
While the road toll has come down over the decades, it’s largely a result of fewer car occupants dying. Pedestrian deaths have barely changed for a decade, but they remain a road safety blind spot.
Cities around the world are reducing traffic speeds and improving access to local services and activities by public transport, cycling and walking. They are now reaping the many ‘slow city’ benefits.
Active travel can help tackle the climate crisis earlier than electric vehicles – even if you swap the car for a bike for just one trip a day.
The need for social distancing sparked a cycling boom, cutting air pollution and boosting city dwellers’ mental and physical health. But when the pandemic ends, will it be back to life as usual?
Emissions from road transport in New Zealand have doubled since 1990, and the Climate Change Commission recommends sweeping changes to switch to electric transport options.
If we’re to get more people walking and cycling in our cities, then we need to make it easier for people, and we can learn from others overseas.
Investing more in cycling and walking would boost both physical and economic health, with a typical return of $5 for every $1 spent on cycling infrastructure.
The drop in traffic during COVID-19 lockdowns reduced global emissions. If we keep encouraging cycling and working from home beyond the pandemic, our climate goals may become more achievable.
Some new habits we’ve seen emerging during the pandemic could help us solve tricky problems like traffic congestion, which have challenged our cities for a long time.
Temporary and tactical urbanism offers simple, low-cost solutions to make streets and other public spaces both safe and sociable during this time of physical distancing.
COVID-19 has upturned uses of public spaces that we took for granted. Will shifts in the regulation of these spaces lead to a change in thinking about who “owns” the city?
We’ve all seen the increases in people walking and cycling on shared paths so crowded it’s almost impossible to maintain physical distancing. This must be fixed, and quickly.
We are all finding out about neighbourhood liveability as we stay home for the coronavirus lockdown. What we learn about local strengths and weaknesses can help us improve our communities in future.
Only the inner suburbs of Melbourne and other capital cities meet the 20-minute neighbourhood test. But we could transform the other suburbs for much less than the cost of current transport projects.
Top contributors
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Distinguished Professor and Director, Urban Futures Enabling Capability Platform, and Director, Healthy Liveable Cities Group, RMIT University
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Professor Communications and Media, University of Canberra
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Professor of Future Urban Mobility, Swinburne University of Technology
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Professor of Cultural Studies, University of Wollongong
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Professor of Geography, University of Wollongong
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Professor, University of Canterbury
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Associate Professor and Head of Sustainable Mobility and Safety Research, Monash University
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Adjunct Professor, Institute of Transport and Logistics Studies, University of Sydney Business School, University of Sydney
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Elaine Stratford is a Friend of The Conversation.
Professor, School of Geography, Planning, and Spatial Sciences, University of Tasmania
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E-Mobility Research Fellow, The University of Queensland
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Adjunct Professor, Department of Geography, Environments, Geomatics, L’Université d’Ottawa/University of Ottawa
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Honorary Associate Professor, School of Science, UNSW Sydney
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Associate Professor in Law, UNSW Sydney
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Honorary Associate Professor, Australian National University
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Associate Professor, Investigator for UNSW Digital Grid Futures Institute; Affiliated Investigator NHMRC Centre for Air Pollution, Energy and Health Research, Associate Investigator the ARC Centre of Excellence for Climate Extremes, UNSW Sydney
