Start date: February 2025 | Expected completion date: Autumn 2030 | Contact: Gareth Hollands
What do we want to know?
Rapid modal shifts towards active transport are of vital importance for population and planetary health. However, levels of active travel in England and the are currently low. Furthermore, it is recognised that the current evidence base is unable to optimally inform decision-makers in England to develop and implement active travel interventions and policies that are equitable as well as effective, including those aimed at specific communities and population subgroups.
This research aims to provide a comprehensive evidence-based assessment to ensure that active travel interventions target populations and population subgroups appropriately and effectively, and so minimise the risk of widening existing health inequalities.
Who wants to know?
The review was commissioned by the Department of Health and Social Care (England) and will be of interest to policymakers, practitioners and researchers interested in active travel interventions and in addressing health inequalities.
What are the research questions?
The review aims to investigate two related overarching aims concerning the potential effects of active travel interventions in relation to (in)equity:
- Assess the extent to which active travel interventions increase active travel and improve health outcomes in population subgroups subject to inequity
- Assess the extent to which active travel interventions targeting general populations are more or less effective for subgroups subject to inequity relative to subgroups less subject to inequity
How will we answer these questions?
We will conduct a systematic review, primarily identifying studies via searches of 31 electronic databases. Eligible studies will evaluate active travel interventions and included quantitative data on active travel behaviours and/or linked health outcomes for population subgroup(s) defined by sex/gender, race/ethnicity, age, or socio-economic status.
We will summarise outcome data in relation to the directions of intervention effects on walking, cycling and generic active travel, for key population subgroups.
