TfL publishes world’s first transport health action plan

Transport for London (TfL) has published the world’s first transport
health action plan, “Improving the health of Londoners”, which
sets out how it is working to improve the health of people in
London. According to London’s Transport Commissioner, Sir Peter
Hendy CBE, transport has a significant role to play in hel-ping to
tackle the major public health challenges London faces. If we can
make the environment and our public spaces more inviting, then
that will also encourage people to be more physically active.

As the capital’s integrated transport authority, TfL keeps London
moving, contributing to its success as a world city. It also has an
important role to play in the quality of life of Londoners and
helping tackle some of the public health challenges London faces.
Enabling people to be more physically active is a public health
priority for London, as it can help to prevent some of our biggest
health challenges including type 2 diabetes, obesity, heart disease
and some cancers.

The choices people make for getting around the capital impact
upon health and the action plan shows that transport is the main way that people stay physically active. More than two-thirds of all
public transport trips involve walking five minutes or more and a
quarter of adults in London get all of the physical activity they
need to stay healthy through their everyday travel.

More people travelling by bike is a key outcome in The Mayor’s
Vision for Cycling, which aims to double cycling in London by
2020 and to help grow the number of people benefiting from the
health aspects of cycling. TfL has more than trebled spending on
cycling, the growth which is set to deliver £250m in health benefits
each year.

TfL is committed to improving air quality, reducing death and
injury on London’s roads, as well as encouraging people to get
more physically active.
The Mayor, TfL and London boroughs are also working to transform
London to make it a city that is easier and more pleasurable
to enjoy on foot. A number of measures are being introduced to
achieve this, including new and improved public spaces, better
walking routes that link places people walk to, and more routes
away from traffic.

TfL and partners are also expanding the coverage of Legible
London pedestrian signs to help people easily find their way
around the city.
The action plan sets out ten actions to be delivered over the next
three years to demonstrate the important role that transport
plays in the health of Londoners.

Under the ten actions, TfL will:

Quantify and where possible monetise the health
impacts of TfL’s projects and policies ;
Explicitly build health into the development and
assessment of policies and projects ;
Evaluate the health impacts of its programmes ;
Assess what TfL is doing against the public health
evidence base ;
Strengthen TfL’s Health Impact Assessment processes ;
Support staff to be more physically active as part of their
daily travel ;
Support boroughs to improve the health of their populations
through their transport plans and investment ;
Work with public health intelligence specialists and
academics ;
Work with the National Health Service to encourage
travel analysis in the earliest stages of planning for
changes to healthcare provision ;
Urge central government to support our role in
increasing the physical activity levels of Londoners.