ATW05 Public Health Wales

Y Pwyllgor Cyfrifon Cyhoeddus a Gweinyddiaeth Gyhoeddus | Public Accounts and Public Administration Committee

Teithio Llesol yng Nghymru | Active Travel in Wales

Public Health Wales is the national public health agency in Wales and exists to protect and improve health and well-being and reduce health inequalities for people in Wales.

Public Health Wales is pleased to provide this written submission to the Active Travel in Wales consultation on 28th March 2025. Public Health Wales is the national public health agency in Wales and exists to protect and improve health and well-being and reduce health inequalities for people in Wales. We are one of the 11 organisations that make up NHS Wales.

The Welsh Government’s new active travel delivery plan, including any perceived gaps in coverage.

 

Public Health Wales welcomes the Active Travel Delivery Plan, including the inclusion of some measures that seek to address road danger. However, whilst the delivery plan does include school street closures and the 20mph speed limit's benefits for active travel, there would be benefit from the inclusion of more widespread traffic measures; research suggests that implementing active travel interventions alongside traffic restraint can significantly increase their impact.[1] The ATDP would therefore benefit from a more comprehensive strategy for broader traffic demand management measures across Wales as a core component to further incentivise active travel and greater use of public transport.

The ATDP outlines the reliance of self-assessment methods as part of the ongoing development of evaluation and monitoring activities. Whilst this is understandable due to current resource and capacity pressures within the active travel system, there still should be some consideration made about certain delivery elements of the plan to be independently evaluated. This independent evaluation activity could be undertaken at programme level. For example, a process evaluation that explores the experiences of local authorities’ delivering against the ATDP and how the available active travel funding spending decisions were developed across Wales [2].

The ADTP lacks the clarity on long-term funding security beyond the current spending review: The plan states the aspiration to maintain Active Travel Fund investment at current levels as a minimum, subject to the next spending review. This uncertainty about future ATF funding could hinder long-term planning and the delivery of ambitious, sustained active travel programmes, especially at an AT systems and strategic level. 

The ADTP would benefit from more detail on addressing specific barriers for underrepresented groups, such as the disabled or people living with long term life limiting conditions. While the plan acknowledges the need to understand and address barriers faced by people with protected characteristics, it could benefit from more specific actions, comprehensive strategies and targets for increasing active travel among these groups. 

Opportunities for improved mainstreaming of active travel considerations in wider policy and programmes.

 

We agree that there should be a focus on ensuring opportunities are taken to improve the mainstreaming of active travel considerations in wider policy and programmes. This can be achieved by fostering collaboration between key sectors such as health, education, and transport to create synergies that promote active travel. 

 

Wales needs to continue to embed active travel considerations into broader policy frameworks such as climate action plans, public health strategies, and economic development programs, but with a clearer focus on how these commitments will lead to action at a local level (a point raised by the Audit Wales report). This will ensure a holistic approach to promoting active travel across Wales, capitalising on shared agendas and goals, which can deliver benefits both in the form of improved active travel and other outcomes desired by the system.

 

The development sector has a crucial role to play in active travel, given its significant influence on place. We therefore need to ensure that active travel is a core consideration in urban planning and development projects. This includes mandating the inclusion of walking and cycling infrastructure in new developments and major retrofitting projects and ensuring that developers work closely with local authorities to ensure that roads and streets promote slower vehicle speeds. 

Various types of statutory and non-statutory impact assessments can enhance the integration of active travel considerations into broader policies and programs. For instance, a Health Impact Assessment (HIA), which is currently non-statutory, examines the broader determinants of health, including physical activity and opportunities for engagement. HIA helps identify whether active travel implications have been adequately considered within the policy and who might benefit or be disadvantaged by these impacts. It also provides an opportunity to influence policy or program changes based on the assessment outcomes, thereby enhancing active travel opportunities for everyone.

 

Similarly, an Equality Impact Assessment (EIA), which is statutory, should identify how the policy or program may disproportionately or differentially affect protected characteristic groups. This typically includes consideration of how travel options and access may be impacted.

 

One example of how active travel considerations can be mainstreamed in wider policy and programmes is the Daily Active Whole School Approach to Physical Activity. This programme aims to improve opportunities for physical activity in and around the school day, with active travel being one of the eight domains identified for action. This programme brings together transport, health and education partners to pursue shared goals.

 

Another example of work to promote active travel across different sectors is the Healthy Travel Charter programme, which encourages organisations and businesses across Wales to sign up to a number of commitments to support their staff and visitors to walk and cycle more.

 

 

The developing role of Transport for Wales as part of the delivery arrangements for active travel. We support the developing role of Transport for Wales in the delivery of active travel and have worked productively with TfW over recent years. They are well placed to deliver the integrated transport system that is needed across Wales, enabling people to actively travel and use public transport in as seamless a way as possible. TfW’s focus on behaviour change is welcomed, as we need to use a range of approaches to achieve modal shift. We feel there is opportunity for closer working between TfW and PHW, particularly in the behaviour change and evaluation space.

 

For major planning applications, Transport for Wales (TfW) should be encouraged to participate in consultations. This will ensure that active travel is effectively and appropriately delivered to meet the specific requirements of the development, whilst also contributing to the broader active travel.

The role and activities of the Welsh Government’s Active Travel Board.

 

We are an active member of the Active Travel Board (ATB) and its sub-group, the Active Travel to School Group. We feel that the ATB is an effective forum for discussing important strategic issues and holding key stakeholders to account. The role of the independent members is important in providing that independent scrutiny. 

The Welsh Government’s active travel spending and how it is distributed and prioritised between different schemes and types of intervention.

 

Interventions combining infrastructure changes with social/behavioural programmes have more impact. Therefore, policies should integrate environmental and infrastructure changes to make active travel more acceptable to adopt and maintain, alongside behaviour change initiatives. Some research indicates the importance of considering the effectiveness of interventions (cost per trip) and that revenue interventions are typically more effective in the short term, but observable changes of outcomes can decay more rapidly, while capital interventions typically take longer to implement but do not decay if maintained at the required level.  [1,3]

 

Welsh Government's spending plans shows a degree of alignment with the current evidence base especially if significant investment in infrastructure is maintained to continue to deliver high-quality networks. Some evidence suggests though that if core infrastructure funding (i.e the ATF) is reduced the optimum proportion of revenue spending would need to be recalculated and be considerably higher than ‘baseline’ or previous active travel revenue investment. [1]

Where possible the monitoring of benefits from the combined spending on active travel schemes/interventions and improvements in public transport (especially bus services) could be used to identify where best value for money is being achieved.  Ideally this should include consideration of the health benefits associated with increased physical activity (from active travel), improved air quality and improved amenity. 

 

The extent to which local authorities are prioritising active travel and related investment, capacity constraints, and potential impacts from an increased emphasis on regional transport planning.

When developing regional transport plans, they must be accompanied by an Integrated Wellbeing Appraisal (IWA) as required by WelTAG 2022. If conducted robustly, these appraisals should assess how effectively (and equitably) active travel is being integrated into the regional transport plan. As part of an iterative process, they should also provide feedback on where priorities may need to shift within the transport plans to better align with the Wales Transport Strategy 2021: Llwybr Newydd, which prioritises walking and cycling at the top of the sustainable transport hierarchy. Because these transport plans are a regional level, the detail of how local level active travel targets and initiatives will be achieved is not included. However, there is a requirement for a detailed monitoring and evaluation plan to accompany regional transport plans, and these should cover delivery and effectiveness of active travel initiatives and infrastructure at local levels. [4]  

How best to drive behaviour change in support of active travel, and current barriers.

As noted earlier in this response, interventions combining infrastructure changes with social/behavioural programmes have more impact on active travel. Therefore, policies should integrate environmental and infrastructure changes to make active travel more acceptable to adopt and maintain, alongside behaviour change initiatives.

Public Health Wales advocates more use and integration of behavioural science when planning and implementing active travel initiatives and interventions, especially for revenue expenditure projects and understanding the perceived and real barriers and facilitator to AT. [5,6] For example, many individuals intend to engage in active travel but fail to act due to biases like status quo bias or present bias. Behavioural approaches help bridge this ‘intention to behaviour’ gap by ascertaining a detailed understanding of the barriers via a behavioural diagnosis process, before identifying possible intervention options to help address the barriers. 

Public Health Wales has worked with Transport for Wales on behaviour change issues, including through a joint post, but the focus was not on active travel. We would be interested in building on this joint working to develop a behavioural science approach to active travel in Wales.

The barriers to walking and cycling are diverse and vary among individuals. For cycling, the most frequently cited barriers include safety concerns, lack of confidence, insufficient safe and secure bike storage at destinations, and inclement weather. Addressing these barriers through targeted interventions can address each element of the COM-B model of behaviour change: improving capability, providing opportunities, and increasing motivation for individuals to adopt more active modes of travel.

We commissioned insight work to explore parental attitudes to active travel to school and found a range of factors affecting whether parents encourage and/or allow their children to walk, cycle and scoot to school. We used the findings from the insight to develop a range of social marketing resources, testing these at national and local levels.

PHW ran a staff survey in 2023 that explore the issue of active travel to work and have since delivered ten focus groups with staff to explore barriers to adopting active, healthier travel, and what support we can put in place to overcome these. 

Ensuring active travel is accessible and inclusive, including around scheme design.

Public Health Wales believes it is crucial to ensure that active travel in Wales is accessible and inclusive, to ensure that health inequalities (including opportunities for being active) are narrowed rather than widened. It is important that design principles ensure that active travel infrastructure is accessible to all, including people with disabilities, older adults, and families with young children.

It is important that diverse community groups are engaged in the planning and design process, to ensure that the needs of all users are considered and addressed. Engaging stakeholders (particularly vulnerable and disadvantaged groups) to understand the lived experiences, needs, and desires of local communities is crucial for ensuring that active travel infrastructure is accessible, inclusive, and truly fit for purpose. This approach ensures that the infrastructure is not only functional but also desired by the communities it serves. 

We need to ensure that active travel routes are well-integrated with public transport. This includes providing accessible routes to bus stops and train stations, as well as ensuring that public transport facilities are equipped to handle bicycles, mobility scooters, prams and pushchairs. 

Improving monitoring and evaluation and the Welsh Government’s plans for enhanced data collection through a new National Travel Survey.

Public Health Wales welcomes the establishment of the National Travel Survey and the recent publication of the Active Travel Monitoring Framework.

Building a culture of rigorous evaluation across the system that is tasked with improving AT in Wales is integral to the process of identifying what works, and if and how it can be replicated in other areas. Both process and outcome evaluations should be undertaken to ensure we get an understanding of how an AT project or intervention worked and what impact it had on the AT behaviour. The development of a standardised AT evaluation framework will bring with it an array of benefits that will help us undertake more accurate comparisons between all the AT activity being delivered across Wales.

References:

[1]Mindell J and Watkins S (editors). Advances in transport policy and planning. Health on the move 3: The reviews. Volume thirteen. Cambridge: Elsevier; 2024.

 

[2]Aldred, R. and Lawlor, E. (2024) Report on the second stage of the process evaluation of the Active Travel Fund Tranche 2, Report to Department for Transport.

 

[3]Sloman L, Cairns S, Green A, Hopkinson L and Perrotta F. CWIS Active Travel Investment Models: Model structure and evidence base. UK. Transport for Quality of Life and ARUP Aecom Consortium; 2019

 

[4]Llwybr Newydd. The Wales Transport Strategy, 2021/ Welsh Transport Appraisal Guidance (WelTAG), 2022.

 

[5]Brunel University London. Evidence Brief. Behaviour Change for Active Travel. London. Brunel University London; 2024.

 

[6]Timmons S, Andersson Y, McGowan F and Lunn P. Using Behavioural Science to Design and Implement Active Travel Infrastructure: A Narrative Review of Evidence. Economic and Social   Institute. 2023; 1-44.