Policies that stimulate active transportation (walking and bicycling) have been related to heath benefits. This study aims to assess the potential health risks and benefits of promoting active transportation for commuting populations (age groups 16–64) in six European cities. We conducted a health impact assessment using two scenarios: increased cycling and increased walking. The primary outcome measure was all-cause mortality related to changes in physical activity level, exposure to fine particulate matter air pollution with a diameter <2.5 μm, as well as traffic fatalities in the cities of Barcelona, Basel, Copenhagen, Paris, Prague, and Warsaw. All scenarios produced health benefits in the six cities. An increase in bicycle trips to 35% of all trips (as in Copenhagen) produced the highest benefits among the different scenarios analysed in Warsaw 113 (76–163) annual deaths avoided, Prague 61 (29–104), Barcelona 37 (24–56), Paris 37 (18–64) and Basel 5 (3–9). An increase in walking trips to 50% of all trips (as in Paris) resulted in 19 (3–42) deaths avoided annually in Warsaw, 11(3–21) in Prague, 6 (4–9) in Basel, 3 (2–6) in Copenhagen and 3 (2–4) in Barcelona. The scenarios would also reduce carbon dioxide emissions in the six cities by 1,139 to 26,423 (metric tonnes per year). Policies to promote active transportation may produce health benefits, but these depend of the existing characteristics of the cities. Increased collaboration between health practitioners, transport specialists and urban planners will help to introduce the health perspective in transport policies and promote active transportation.

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The EU Green Deal sets challenging goals for cities, including a 90% reduction in Green House Gas (GHG) emissions from transport by 2050. This requires an integrated and coordinated approach to urban mobility planning, represented by Sustainable Urban Mobility Plans (SUMPs), and encouraged by European legislation. However, the experience of cities with SUMPs varies substantially among the EU Member States. Using qualitative and quantitative methods of data analysis, this paper aims to explore the institutional settings, practices, and barriers to sustainable mobility in Czech cities and differences between cities with and without a SUMP. The data were collected using interviews and an online questionnaire survey among stakeholders who substantially influence the urban planning praxis. The data reveal that monitoring, evaluation, and public involvement are underestimated by analyzed cities and the perception of a need for a significant transport behavior change is still quite low among local politicians. A SUMP brings substantial benefits to Czech cities of all sizes, even in the initial phase of its implementation. The cities that have developed a SUMP apply various sustainable transport measures more often, create more participation activities, and are better at evaluation than cities without a SUMP.

In this paper, we analyse the specific behaviour of passengers in personal transport commuting to work or school during the COVID-19 pandemic, based on a sample of respondents from two countries. We classified the commuters based on a two-step cluster analysis into groups showing the same characteristics. Data were obtained from an online survey, and the total sample size consists of 2000 respondents. We used five input variables, dividing the total sample into five clusters using a two-step cluster analysis. We observed significant differences between gender, status, and car ownership when using public transport, cars, and other alternative means of transportation for commuting to work and school. We also examined differences between individual groups with the same socioeconomic and socio-demographic factors. In total, the respondents were classified into five clusters, and the results indicate that there are differences between gender and status. We found that ownership of a prepaid card for public transport and social status are the most important factors, as they reach a significance level of 100%, unlike compared to other factors with importance ranging from 60 to 80%. Moreover, the results demonstrate that prepaid cards are preferred mainly by female students. Understanding these factors can help in planning transport policy by knowing the habits of users.

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