Active Travel & Health

The Working Group on Active Travel and Health is dedicated to preserving walking, wheeling, and cycling as integral parts of mobility systems while considering interactions with urban planning, environment and health. 

The working group aims to foster discussions and exchanges on strategies and measures for prioritising active modes and enabling a more balanced distribution of public space for improved quality of life for everyone.  

Shifting the priority to active modes is a process that demands bold actions and leveraging from opportunities and integration. So, the working group meetings and workshops bring opportunities to approach active travel as a horizontal issue, exploring the linkages with other areas that strengthen the potential and benefits of active modes for more sustainable and inclusive mobility. 

Furthermore, the group also focus on capacity building for active modes, advancing the knowledge of the integration of health in urban and transport planning processes and ensuring that walking, wheeling, and cycling are accessible to all. 

Through the group, POLIS partners with WHO’s Transport, Health and Environment Pan-European Programme (THE PEP) in the Partnership on Active Mobility, linking high-level strategy to regions and cities realities, the Transport Decarbonisation Alliance’s Community of Interest on Active Travel and DUT Driving Urban Transitions. 

Topics being discussed in this Working Group are: 

Inclusivity, accessibility and safety 

Urban planning for active mobility 

• Reallocation of space to promote active travel: active modes sharing space, quality of space, “space as places”, UVAR and active travel, curbside and active travel 
• The 15-minute city concept, a reality check in view of inclusivity, gentrification, implementation, timing, etc. 
• Urban planning and sustainable transport and Integration of transport and health policies 

Active mobility planning 

• Active modes in intermodality, transport planning, MaaS and mobility hubs 
• Data  and ITS for active mobility 
• Cost-benefit analysis of active travel 

Infrastructure for active mobility 

• Cycle highways, bike parking solutions and shared bike systems
• Improving walking and wheeling in cities and regions
• Bikes versus e-bikes
• Capacity building