Exploring active transportation investments and associated benefits for municipal budgets: a scoping review

Abstract

Municipalities play an important role in the planning and development of communities that support active transportation (AT), which refers to human-powered modes of travel, such as walking and cycling. Municipal-level stakeholders involved in landuse and transportation infrastructure planning consider multiple social, environmental and economic considerations to inform decision-making and investments in AT. Evidence around the fiscal benefits of AT investment for local governments has not been systematically identified. This scoping review sought to explore the existing evidence regarding investments in AT and opportunities for savings on municipal expenditures and revenue generation. In total, 7060 records were located and screened; of which 162 full-text articles were reviewed. Ultimately, 23 articles met our inclusion criteria and were included in this review. The available evidence focuses on potential economic benefits of AT in the areas of tax revenues, property values, consumer spending and employment, all of which are relevant sources of revenue generation in municipal operating budgets. An evidence gap was identified regarding AT infrastructure investments and benefits corresponding to municipal expenditures (e.g. maintenance cost savings). Notably, a large portion of literature was published after 2009, suggesting that municipal-level evidence on the fiscal benefits of AT investments may just be emerging. ARTICLE HISTORY

Supporting Active Mobility and Green Jobs through the Promotion of Cycling

“…This article reviews the main findings of the study “Riding towards the green economy: cycling and green jobs” [ 11 ], developed in the context of the Transport, Health and Environment Pan European Programme (THE PEP). As with previously published studies that present evidence of employment-generation from active transportation investments [ 12 ], the reviewed paper demonstrates that, in addition to its important environment and health benefits, cycling also has significant job creation potential.…”

Economic impacts on local businesses of investments in bicycle and pedestrian infrastructure: a review of the evidence

“…We focused on studies in the US and Canada in large part because opposition to new active travel facilities has often been fierce in those two countries (Bubbers, 2019;Chapple et al, 2018;Sadik-Khan, 2016), making this research particularly relevant and useful for planners and policymakers there. In addition, a preliminary review of our search records indicated that the vast majority of relevant English-language studies were done in the US and Canada, which is unsurprising given the relative surge in active travel projects (and accompanying opposition) there compared to European countries with more established active travel facilities (Kornas, Bornbaum, Bushey, & Rosella, 2017;Pucher, Buehler, & Seinen, 2011).…”

Transportation system and the city: What the urban transport reform should be

“…Во-вторых, транспортная устойчивость достигается за счет повышения доли «зеленого транспорта», использование которого дает меньший уровень загрязнения: новых видов углеводородного топлива, электротранспорта [Ronanki, Kelkar, Williamson, 2019] и велосипедов [Larsen, El-Geneidy, Yasmin, 2010;Kornas et al, 2017]. В 2019 г. в Санкт-Петербурге на нескольких маршрутах в северной и центральной частях города начала движение экспериментальная партия электробусов -автобусов и троллейбусов на электротяге.…”

“…Таким образом, положительное изменение экологической обстановки неизбежно оказывает влияние не только на здоровье жителей, но и на экономические показатели развития города [Kornas et al, 2017]. Поэтому развитие транспортной системы в рамках концепции устойчивого развития может не только улучшить экологическую ситуацию, но и дать ощутимые экономические выгоды для городского развития.…”