What Is the Best Practice Method for Quantifying the Health and Economic Benefits of Active Transport?

Loading...
Thumbnail Image
File version

Version of Record (VoR)

Author(s)
Möller, Holger
Haigh, Fiona
Hayek, Rema
Veerman, Lennert
Griffith University Author(s)
Primary Supervisor
Other Supervisors
Editor(s)
Date
2020
Size
File type(s)
Location
Abstract

The aim of this study was to identify a best practice method to cost the health benefits of active transport for use in infrastructure planning in New South Wales, Australia. We systematically reviewed the international literature covering the concept areas of active transport and cost and health benefits. Original publications describing a method to cost the health benefits of active transport, published in 2000-2019 were included. Studies meeting the inclusion criteria were assessed against criteria identified in interviews with key government stakeholders. A total of 2993 studies were identified, 53 were assessed for eligibility, and 19 were included in the review. The most commonly studied active transport modes were cycling (n = 8) and walking and cycling (n = 6). Exposures considered were physical activity, road transport related injuries and air pollution. The most often applied economic evaluation method was cost benefit analysis (n = 8), and costs were commonly calculated by monetising health outcomes. Based on evaluation of models against the criteria, a Multistate Life Table model was recommended as the best method currently available. There is strong and increasing interest in quantifying and costing the health benefits of active transport internationally. Incorporating health-related economic benefits into existing regulatory processes such as cost benefit analyses could provide an effective way to encourage the non-health sector to include health impacts in infrastructure measures.

Journal Title

International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health

Conference Title
Book Title
Edition
Volume

17

Issue

17

Thesis Type
Degree Program
School
Publisher link
Patent number
Funder(s)
Grant identifier(s)
Rights Statement
Rights Statement

© 2020 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Item Access Status
Note
Access the data
Related item(s)
Subject

Health services and systems

Public health

Urban and regional planning

active transport

cost-benefits

cycling

health-benefits

walking

Persistent link to this record
Citation

Möller, H; Haigh, F; Hayek, R; Veerman, L, What Is the Best Practice Method for Quantifying the Health and Economic Benefits of Active Transport?, International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 2020, 17 (17), pp. 6186

Collections