2025/05/28 by Marshall, Kirsty, Bamber, Hayley, Aho, Hanna +4
#Medicine and Health Sciences #Public Health #Social and Behavioral Sciences #Urban Studies and Planning
paper · doi:10.17605/osf.io/htnw8
Systematic review - the preregistration of the protocol for the systematic review. This is a review into the barriers and facilitators for women when taking up active travel. the review is international with a focus on the context of Europe. Europe has an aging population which has a healthy life expectancy at birth of 64.5 years for women and 63.5 years for men. This means that only 78% and 82% of a person’s life expectancy is spent free from activity limiters, although this percentages varies a lot between individuals (Eurostat). In the UK the Marmot report (2020) highlighted that there are significant health inequalities and variations across the UK with social deprivation having a significant impact on the population’s health. For women in the bottom 10% most deprived population life expectancy had stalled for the first time (Marmot, 2020). Active travel, which includes walking and cycling, plays a crucial role in promoting population health by supporting physical activity, inclusiveness and social participation (Prati, 2018, European commission, 2023). Goel et al (2021) study of 19 major cities across 13 countries found that while women are more likely to engage in active travel (walking and using public transport) than men, however, this reverses for cycling, where women are less likely to cycle. There is a large body of evidence of the positive health impacts of adopting of active travel. A study by The Netherlands Institute for Transport Policy Analysis (2019) found that walking had a positive impact in lowering BMI and cycling had a wide range of health benefits. The institute also found that People who cycle or walk to work are more likely to feel satisfied, less stressed, more relaxed than people who drive to work by car (Haas and Kolkowski, 2023). Heesch et al (2012) commented that cycling is a powerful primary prevention tool which can have positive impacts on an individual’s physical and mental health, but they also report that cycling for transport/commuting is much more likely to be adopted by men than women. This is supported by Goel et al (2021) who found that in countries with mode share under 7% (The percentage of the total transport share for that mode of transport) women are much less likely to cycle. There are also wider public health benefits for the wider adoption of active travel including improved air quality, increased road safety, better street life, and reduced carbon emissions (Committee of public accounts, 2023). Urban areas pose unique challenges for active as air pollution, road noise and congestion are particularly problematic. For example, in London between 2014-2016 over 4,000 Londoners, a quarter of whom were children, were hospitalised with asthma or other lung conditions because of air pollution (Walton, et al, 2019). Additionally, a case study from Finland found that the noise exposure of cyclists in Helsinki significantly exceeded the official guidelines supporting previous similar studies in large urban areas (Willberg et al, 2023). The Netherlands National Institute for Public Health and the Environment (2018) outline that improving active travel through cycling has the potential to reduce health inequality through improving environment factors in in urban areas where people with low socio-economic status are more likely to live and work (NIfPHE, 2028). The World Health Organisation (WHO) cycling and walking can help reduce physical inactivity and air pollution, save lives and mitigate climate change Giacomantonia et al, (2024) states that differences in cycling adoption can often be attributed to the unique barriers faced by women. Sanghamitra et al (2024) study of active travel in low and middle income countries found for women are the lack of adequate, reliable, safe, and integrated public transport, poor pedestrian infrastructure, and unsafe environments where barriers to adoption of active travel. The EU commission in their Declaration on Cycling (2023) acknowledges that particular attention should be paid to the needs of women, children, older people and vulnerable and marginalised groups to ensure health benefits are realised across the population equitably. Active travel England (2023) has set the ambition that by 2030 50% of all short journeys should be walked, wheeled or cycled, they however acknowledge there are specific accessibility inclusivity, and safety concerns that need to be addressed for women. It is important to recognise that women are not a homogeneous group, and they have multiple intersecting experiences – such as women from marginalised groups and women with lower socioeconomic status - these multiple lived experiences could further influence women’s adoption of active travel. This complexity may not have been considered in the development of active travel policies (Giacomantonia et al, 2024). This systematic review aims to explore the barriers and facilitators for women in engaging with active travel including cycling, walking and public transport within urban settings. with attention being given to the intersectional gendered experience of women and health inequality faced by women.