Current issues in the impacts of transport on health

Abstract

Introduction or background: Transport affects health in many ways. Benefits include access to education, employment, goods, services and leisure, and opportunities for incorporating physical activity into daily living. There are major inequalities: benefits generally accrue to wealthier people and harms to the more deprived, nationally and globally.

Sources of data: Health on the Move 2; Journal of Transport and Health.

Areas of agreement: Benefits of travel for access and physical activity. Harms include health impacts of air and noise pollution; injuries and fatalities from falls or collisions; sedentary behaviour with motorized transport; community severance (barrier effect of busy roads and transport infrastructure); global climate change; impacts on inequalities; transport's role in facilitating spread of communicable diseases.

Areas of controversy include: Biofuels; cycle safety; driving by older people.

Growing points and areas for research include: Effects of default 20 mph speed limits; impacts of autonomous vehicles on health and inequalities.