Sources and Applications of Emerging Active Travel Data: A Review of the Literature

Abstract

Active travel (AT) has the potential to integrate with, or in some cases substitute for, trips taken by motorized transportation. In this paper we review relevant research on AT outcomes to address the potential of AT and emerging data sources in supporting the transport paradigm shift toward AT. Our analysis identifies physical, mental, built and physical environmental, monetary, and societal outcomes. Traditional methods used to acquire AT data can be divided into manual methods that require substantial user input and automated methods that can be employed for a lengthier period and are more resilient to inclement weather. Due to the proliferation of information and communication technology, emerging data sources are prevailing and can be grouped into social fitness networks, in-house developed apps, participatory mapping, imagery, bike sharing systems, social media, and other types. We assess the emerging data sources in terms of their applications and potential limitations. Furthermore, we identify developing policies and interventions, the potential of imagery, focusing on non-cycling modes and addressing data biases. Finally, we discuss the challenges of data ownership within emerging AT data and the corresponding directions for future work.

Active mobility and mental health: A scoping review towards a healthier world

“…Researchers have also measured people’s health status as the sum of outcomes such as sickness and absence from work (Hansson et al, 2011; Mytton et al, 2016), long-term illness, walking difficulties and obesity (BMI) (Mattisson et al, 2018). Considering the established beneficial influence of transport physical activity on physical health (Marques et al, 2020; Alattar et al, 2021), it was no surprise that active travel modes improved objective and subjective health measures. Objectively, walking and cycling reduced sickness absence days, illness levels, walking difficulties and obesity scores (Mattisson et al, 2018).…”

“…Later, the USA Physical Activity Guidelines Advisory Committee ( 2018 ) reported that transportation physical activity examples include “walking or bicycling to and from work, school, transportation hubs, or a shopping centre”. Finally, Alattar et al ( 2021 ) defined active travel as “journeys that have been undertaken either entirely or partially using human-powered transportation modes such as walking, cycling or using a wheelchair”. More recently, European researchers involved in the PASTA (Physical Activity through Sustainable Transport Approaches) project defined activities, including “walking and cycling for transport solely or in combination with public transport”, as AM (Gerike et al, 2016 ).…”

“…AM, the exposure factor While studies have shown that AM improves physical health (Alattar et al, 2021), it is not always the case for mental health. The current scoping review is part of a larger project examining the effects of AM on different aspects of well-being in the adult population.…”

“…In particular, public health experts have promoted walking and cycling as they contribute to total physical activity levels across all age groups, improving populations’ health and well-being (Kelly et al, 2018 ). In addition, walking and cycling as active travel modes are of interest from urban and environmental perspectives because of their potential impact on reducing traffic congestion and air pollution (Alattar et al, 2021 ). Purposeful travel, especially to and from work or educational sites, is a substantial part of people’s daily routines.…”

Contraflows and Cycling Safety: Evidence from 22 Years of Data Involving 508 One-Way Streets

“…This could be realised through traditional manual counting or newer technologies such as machine learning analysis of video camera images (e.g. Foroozandeh Shahraki et al, 2017;Edwardes et al, 2021) augmented with emerging data sources (Alattar et al, 2021) such as crowdsourced data to improve the spatial and temporal granularity (Conrow et al, 2018;Kwigizile et al, 2022).…”