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.

transport, health, inequalities