Cycling and walking can help reduce physical inactivity and air pollution, save lives and mitigate climate change

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7 June 2022 News release

Significant shifts toward walking and cycling can address problems resulting from current transport patterns – including emissions of air pollutants, greenhouse gases and noise; traffic injuries; and limited opportunities for physical activity and use of public space – states the report ‘Walking and cycling: latest evidence to support policymaking’, presented at the Bonn Dialogue on Environment and Health, and hosted by the WHO European Centre for Environment and Health.

The publication provides policy-makers with the latest scientific evidence to promote walking and cycling. It was developed under the Transport, Health and Environment Pan-European Programme (THE PEP) – a joint programme between WHO and the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE).

Solid evidence to promote cycling and walking

While the links between physical activity and health are well-established, the specific effects of both active transport modes on people’s health are also highlighted in the new publication. Many studies have specifically investigated the impacts of walking and cycling. Among these, it was shown that:

walking for 30 minutes or cycling for 20 minutes on most days reduces mortality risk by at least 10%;
active commuting is associated with about a 10% decrease in risk for cardiovascular disease and a 30% decrease in type 2 diabetes risk; and
cancer-related mortality is 30% lower among bike commuters.

This evidence is particularly relevant in a region where almost two-thirds of adults and 1 in 3 children are overweight or obese, according to the WHO European Regional Obesity Report 2022. Physical inactivity and obesity are important risk factors for noncommunicable diseases in the Region, accounting for almost 86% of deaths and 77% of the disease burden.

Tackling the climate and air pollution crises requires curbing emissions from motorized transport, particularly private cars, as quickly as possible. Emerging evidence shows the importance of active mobility in mitigating climate change, notes the publication. For example, a shift from car to active travel is possible for trips up to 16 km in length, and those trips are responsible for 40% of carbon emissions from vehicles. Even if not all car trips could be substituted by cycling and walking, the potential for decreasing emissions is considerable.

However, enabling the necessary shifts towards more active travel requires addressing safety issues. In the Region, 84 000 people die from road injuries annually, including over 20 000 pedestrians and over 3000 cyclists. Safety improvement measures should follow a systems approach that targets multiple structural levels, from individual education to vehicle safety, infrastructure design, and traffic regulation.

What countries can do

The Region is often considered at the forefront of sustainable mobility but planning for active transportation remains a fragmented patchwork across cities and beyond, according to the publication. Measures can help promote safe cycling and walking, including the following.

It is crucial to redesign urban spaces that meet daily needs related to accessing jobs, education, health care, food and goods, recreation, and other amenities within distances that can be safely covered using active mobility means and public transport.
Infrastructure for safe walking and cycling plays a central role in promoting active travel.
Trip-end facilities, such as changing rooms at workplaces and secure parking for bikes at destinations and in the proximity of public transport, provide a backup option for active travelers.
Green spaces, parks and trails, and forms of urban revitalization are further options to promote walking and cycling indirectly.
Schools should be safely reachable by walking and biking, and children should learn about the importance of regular exercise and the environmental impacts of traffic.
Reducing car dependency through better land use and urban planning, efficient public transport and disincentivizing driving can lead to more walking and cycling.
Countries should develop national cycling and walking plans, secure resources and allocate responsibilities to support their implementation.

The new publication supports the Pan-European Master Plan for Cycling Promotion, which provides a set of recommendations to reallocate space for cycling and walking, improve active mobility infrastructure, increase cyclist and pedestrian safety to reduce fatalities, develop national cycling policies, and integrate cycling into health policies and urban and transport planning. This plan was endorsed last year by 56 countries of the pan-European region, convened under the framework of THE PEP at the fifth high-level meeting on transport, health, and environment.