Files and links (2)
Published, Version of Record (VoR)CC BY V4.0, Open
Journal article
The climate change mitigation impacts of active travel: Evidence from a longitudinal panel study in seven European cities
Global environmental change, v 67, 102224
Mar 2021
Featured in Collection : UN Sustainable Development Goals @ Drexel
Abstract
• First study of lifecycle carbon emissions effects of changes in active travel in cities.
• Changes in active travel have significant lifecycle carbon emissions benefits.
• Active travel substitutes for motorized travel – not just additional travel.
• Largest benefits from shifts from car to active travel for business, social, commuting.
• Methodology, metrics and findings are applicable to many cities across the globe.
Active travel (walking or cycling for transport) is considered the most sustainable and low carbon form of getting from A to B. Yet the net effects of changes in active travel on changes in mobility-related CO2 emissions are complex and under-researched. Here we collected longitudinal data on daily travel behavior, journey purpose, as well as personal and geospatial characteristics in seven European cities and derived mobility-related lifecycle CO2 emissions over time and space. Statistical modelling of longitudinal panel (n = 1849) data was performed to assess how changes in active travel, the ‘main mode’ of daily travel, and cycling frequency influenced changes in mobility-related lifecycle CO2 emissions.
We found that changes in active travel have significant lifecycle carbon emissions benefits, even in European urban contexts with already high walking and cycling shares. An increase in cycling or walking consistently and independently decreased mobility-related lifecycle CO2 emissions, suggesting that active travel substituted for motorized travel – i.e. the increase was not just additional (induced) travel over and above motorized travel. To illustrate this, an average person cycling 1 trip/day more and driving 1 trip/day less for 200 days a year would decrease mobility-related lifecycle CO2 emissions by about 0.5 tonnes over a year, representing a substantial share of average per capita CO2 emissions from transport. The largest benefits from shifts from car to active travel were for business purposes, followed by social and recreational trips, and commuting to work or place of education. Changes to commuting emissions were more pronounced for those who were younger, lived closer to work and further to a public transport station.
Even if not all car trips could be substituted by active travel the potential for decreasing emissions is considerable and significant. The study gives policy and practice the empirical evidence needed to assess climate change mitigation impacts of urban transport measures and interventions aimed at mode shift to more sustainable modes of transport. Investing in and promoting active travel whilst ‘demoting’ private car ownership and use should be a cornerstone of strategies to meet ‘net zero’ carbon targets, particularly in urban areas, while also reducing inequalities and improving public health and quality of urban life in a post-COVID-19 world.
Metrics
Details
- Title
- The climate change mitigation impacts of active travel: Evidence from a longitudinal panel study in seven European cities
- Creators
- Christian Brand - Environmental Change Institute, University of Oxford, South Parks Road, Oxford, OX1 3QY, United KingdomThomas Götschi - University of Oregon, School of Planning, Public Policy and Management, Eugene, OR, USAEvi Dons - Hasselt UniversityRegine Gerike - Dresden University of Technology, Chair of Integrated Transport Planning and Traffic Engineering, 01062 Dresden, GermanyEsther Anaya-Boig - Centre for Environmental Policy, Imperial College London, London, United KingdomIone Avila-Palencia - Drexel University, Urban Health CollaborativeAudrey de Nazelle - Imperial College LondonMireia Gascon - ISGlobal, Barcelona, SpainMailin Gaupp-Berghausen - Austrian Institute for Regional Studies (ÖIR), Vienna, AustriaFrancesco Iacorossi - Agenzia Roma Servizi per la Mobilita' Srl, Rome, ItalySonja Kahlmeier - Physical Activity and Health Unit, Epidemiology, Biostatistics and Prevention Institute, University of Zurich, Zurich, SwitzerlandLuc Int Panis - Flemish Institute for Technological Research (VITO), Boeretang 200, 2400 Mol, BelgiumFrancesca Racioppi - World Health Organization Regional Office for Europe, European Centre for Environment and Health, Bonn, GermanyDavid Rojas-Rueda - ISGlobal, Barcelona, SpainArnout Standaert - Flemish Institute for Technological Research (VITO), Boeretang 200, 2400 Mol, BelgiumErik Stigell - Trivector Traffic, Barnhusgatan 16, Stockholm, SwedenSimona Sulikova - Environmental Change Institute, University of Oxford, South Parks Road, Oxford, OX1 3QY, United KingdomSandra Wegener - University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences Vienna, Institute for Transport Studies, Vienna, AustriaMark J. Nieuwenhuijsen - Universitat Pompeu Fabra
- Publication Details
- Global environmental change, v 67, 102224
- Publisher
- Elsevier
- Number of pages
- 15
- Resource Type
- Journal article
- Language
- English
- Academic Unit
- Urban Health Collaborative
- Web of Science ID
- WOS:000634865600012
- Scopus ID
- 2-s2.0-85100003935
- Other Identifier
- 991019169013604721
UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)
This publication has contributed to the advancement of the following goals:
InCites Highlights
Data related to this publication, from InCites Benchmarking & Analytics tool:
Highly Cited Paper
- Collaboration types
- Domestic collaboration
- International collaboration
- Web of Science research areas
- Environmental Sciences
- Environmental Studies
- Geography