Newly published reports from Active Travel England evaluate the impact of active travel investment

Active Travel England has published seven reports evaluating the impact of active travel investment. The research and analysis was carried out to assess the impact of active travel investment in England, and improve the effectiveness of active travel economic appraisal.

The reports date from 2024 and 2025.

The seven reports assess published international evidence of the impact of active travel interventions, with 4 focusing on the impact of:

• enabling adult cycling

• enabling walking and wheeling

• early consideration of active travel in planning and design

• active school travel

Three reports focus on the types of impact from any active travel intervention:

• economic impacts

• health and well-being impacts

• impacts on journey times, congestion and resilience 

The evidence review focuses on the safety, journey quality and place quality/urban realm impacts of active travel infrastructure schemes and applied valuation methods. It aims to understand how appraisal guidance might be updated and areas for further research that might be required.

The results will inform Active Travel England’s approach to evaluating investment in active travel.

Sheffield Hallam University, NatCen Social Research, and Mosodi Ltd were commissioned by the Department for Transport and Active Travel England to carry out the evidence assessments.

Frontier Economics and Systra were commissioned to carry out the evidence review.