S10-2: Promoting active mobility as a win-win opportunity for sustainable physical activity promotion

TL;DR

This paper introduces a tool to assess the health and economic benefits of promoting walking and cycling as sustainable transport options.

Contribution

The paper presents a globally applicable, evidence-based tool for evaluating the economic and health impacts of active mobility.

Findings

The HEAT tool calculates economic values of health impacts from active mobility.

The HEAT has been widely used for health-impact assessments in transport globally.

The tool supports advocating for active transport through economic analysis.

Abstract

Promoting active mobility (e.g. cycling, walking) provides win-win opportunities but requires consideration of these often overlooked modes in transport policy and practice. This presentation will introduce the well-tested, evidence-based practical Health Economic Assessment Tool (HEAT) for Walking and Cycling.

The HEAT calculates: if x people walk or cycle a distance of y on most days, what is the economic value of impacts on premature mortality, taking into account effects of physical activity, air pollution and road fatalities, as well as on carbon emissions. It is developed through an open-ended, evidence- and multidisciplinary-based approach, led by the WHO and an interdisciplinary coordinating team. Each development step is done through consensus meetings with ad-hoc invited international experts from various fields. Since 2021, a globally applicable version of the HEAT is available.

HEAT has been named the “most-used tool for health-impact assessment in transport”, with scientific, policy and practice-related applications across the world. Selected case studies will be presented to illustrate different use-cases as well as its user-interface and workflow.

Since its launch in 2009, the HEAT provides a win-win opportunity for sustainable physical activity promotion, particularly by allowing to also assess carbon-related emission reductions of different transport options on a population level.

The HEAT fosters advocating for transport-solutions that prioritize active transport by using an economic approach customarily used in transport planning.

The HEAT has been supported by a range of donors, the WHO Regional Office for Europe and WHO Headquarters as well as European Union research projects. A full list of donors can be found on www.heatwalkingcycling.org.