Thesis (Ph.D.) - University of Glasgow, 2007. / Continuous pagination. Ph.D. thesis submitted to the Medical Research Council Social and Public Sciences Unit, Faculty of Medicine, University of Glasgow, 2007. Includes bibliographical references. Print version also available.

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There is a growing recognition of the role that walking and cycling can make in reducing traffic congestion and air pollution whilst also contributing to improved personal health and wellbeing. While studies suggest that infrastructure is required to promote walking and cycling, there is a lack of evidence at the micro level on how interventions aimed at improving connectivity for walking and cycling influence travel behaviour and whether they promote a modal shift away from short car journeys. The aim of this study was to investigate the extent to which the implementation of a high quality traffic free route, delivered by a recent programme targeted at everyday walking and cycling in the UK - the Sustrans Connect2 Programme - influenced individuals' day-to-day travel decisions, changed the spatial and temporal nature of their journeys and impacted on overall carbon emissions from motorised travel. To achieve this aim an in-depth longitudinal panel study of a community of residents living next to a totemic Connect2 scheme in Penarth, Cardiff, was conducted. A panel of purposively selected participants (N=50) were interviewed and asked to record their travel behaviour using personal GPS devices and travel diaries over two seasonally matching 7-day time periods in 2011 and 2012. This novel GPS based mixed-method approach provided a detailed account of participants' travel behaviour in the local area (n=2664 journeys) and a comprehensive understanding of how, why and for whom the Connect2 intervention was likely to influence travel behaviour and the longevity of effects. The findings revealed that participants used the new Connect2 scheme regularly during the period of the study (36% in 2011; 26% in 2012); however, the new scheme was likely to have a greater impact for recreational journeys rather than for everyday travel. Spatial data provided new insights into the complexities of walking behaviour and factors influencing cycling for everyday travel or recreation, including route choice decisions, destinations where activities were conducted and the role of the new Connect2 infrastructure in supporting this. Further findings support the potential of active travel in replacing short car trips (20%) and its impact on carbon emissions from personal travel (4.9% among the study sample). However, results suggest that the new Connect2 scheme alone was unlikely to promote a significant change in travel behaviour and carbon emissions from (displaced) car journeys. The study contributes to the debate on the effectiveness of interventions targeted at promoting walking and cycling and the importance of wider infrastructural improvements that may be required to encourage their wider uptake. The combination of methods for data collection developed and employed in this study also helps to inform future travel behaviour research.

Aim: The aim of this degree project is to investigate the current condition of sustainable infrastructure in Sundbyberg City and how the city can encourage and increase active transport. Method: The methods used are interviews with politicians and a transport expert within the city of Sundbyberg as primary data collection. The other methods are secondary survey data provided by Sundbyberg City that provides the transport modes of the participants of the city in late 2022 and the third method is a site visit to the city center where many different modes of transport interact daily. Results: The findings indicate that the city is in need of improving the infrastructure for active transport. The usage of cars increased in the city since 2019 and this could possibly be due to the coronavirus pandemic that forced people to isolate and take their cars. Gender plays also a role in the choice of transport as more women tend to drive in Sundbyberg and walk less. Studies indicate a safer and better active infrastructure could encourage women to turn to active transport. The positive findings are that the interviews have shed light on new setts of policies that will help reduce the usage of cars and increase active transport. In particular, during the summer of 2023, two famous streets will be closed to cars and only walking and cycling will be allowed. Furthermore, many parking spaces will be turned into parks to reduce the usage of cars and encourage people to turn to more sustainable modes of transport. Conclusion: Sundbyberg city needs to improve the infrastructure for active transport by building wider lanes, separated from cars and if possible colored to highlight it for the users because that could have a positive impact on the residents and most likely encourage many to start walking and cycling. The importance of increase in active transport is improvement in the health of the public while also reduce the usage of cars. The politician and the transport experts in the city seem to be aware of the importance of better infrastructure for active transport and the importance of reducing the usage of cars as that will reduce emissions and air pollution. However, the cost seems to be a crucial factor that stands in the way of many projects. On the other hand, new policies such as closing streets from car traffic, removing parking spaces with green areas, and encouraging people to cycle even during the winter by providing salted and maintained lanes might prove to be equally important to better infrastructure and increase the city’s goal of becoming a more sustainable transport city.