Improving walkways gets Kiwis moving more and may address travel inequities

Embargoed until: Publicly released: 2022-06-07 10:07

New Zealand

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Researchers studied two small NZ cities to see if efforts to improve walkways and cycle paths actually made locals more active in the long term. Through a mix of government funding meant to encourage active travel and council funding, New Plymouth and Hastings together spent more than $13 million to improve walking and cycling infrastructure, as well as create campaigns to encourage people to use them. As a comparison, the researchers looked at two similarly sized cities that didn’t get the funding. Using five years of survey data, the team found there was a long-term increase in active travel in New Plymouth and Hastings compared to the other two cities. Furthermore, this effect was larger for Māori and lower-income households. The researchers say the programmes successfully addressed some inequities within a car-dominated transport system.

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Research Elsevier, Web page

Journal/
conference: Transportation Research Part D: Transport and Environment

Research:Paper

Organisation/s: University of Otago, Victoria University of Wellington, Massey University, University of Auckland

Funder: Support from Hastings, New Plymouth, Whanganui and Masterton District Councils District Councils, along with Waka Kotahi (NZTA), are acknowledged with thanks. Financial support from the universities of Otago and Auckland, the Tertiary Education Commission establishment grant for the ‘New Zealand Centre for Sustainable Cities’ and New Zealand Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment ‘Resilient Urban Futures’ grant, which includes the ACTIVE study, are also acknowledged.

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