Research overview Publications
Planetary Health Program Past Projects
Understanding connections between climate change, human, and planetary health

 Transportation for People

Health-Oriented Transportation

About the Initiative

Health-Oriented Transportation (HOT)

The Initiative for Health-Oriented Transportation (HOT) is a research group led by Samuel Younkin within the Climate Solutions for Health Lab dedicated to injecting health and sustainability into the transportation planning process. We create statistical models to estimate the public health co-benefits that arise from increasing active travel, namely walking and cycling, due to climate change mitigation policies and objectives. We recently concluded our work on a five-year Wellcome Trust funded grant, Complex Urban Systems for Sustainability and Health, led by colleagues at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine and University College London.

 

Our goal is to improve public health through active travel, typically through projects that have the primary objective of climate change mitigation. In the past we developed an online tool to assist policymakers in understanding the impact of active travel on public health, published a statistical model known as the HOT model, and evaluated the impact of proposed policies in London, England and Rennes, France.

We are now seeking to apply these tools and models in Wisconsin by focusing on data-driven analyses and community-based programs. We are interested in extending an equity-based program focused on active travel in rural counties, applying statistical methods to soon-to-be-available pedestrian and cycling count data from across Wisconsin, and developing tools and models for users to learn more about the public health impacts of active travel in their community.

Interested in Using the HOT Model?

Download the R package and read the tutorial

Explore the online HOT App

HOT Research

“Whenever I see an adult on a bicycle, I do not despair for the future of the human race”
— H.G. Wells
 

An Analysis of the Health Effects of Physical Activity due to Active Travel Policies in Rennes, France

City officials in Rennes, FR seek to improve public health and reach sustainable transportation goals through two proposed policies which increase population active travel (walking and cycling). We apply the Health-Oriented Transportation (HOT) statistical model to estimate the health impacts associated with these policies which (1) seek to increase the transportation mode share of walking, cycling, and public transit, as well as (2) reduce vehicle miles traveled across the metropolitan area. We also analyze subgroups’ relationship with active travel in the Rennes population. If Rennes residents achieve the city’s active travel goals for 2030, there is potential for a large reduction in health burden and subsequent costs.

The influence of socioeconomic characteristics on active travel in US metropolitan areas and the contribution to health inequity

Approximately six out of ten adults in the US are afflicted by chronic disease, and the prevalence varies across socioeconomic groups. Walking and cycling reduce the risk to many of these diseases and is known to be influenced by population density and access to automobiles. We show that, after adjustment for these factors, adults in major metropolitan areas within low-income, low-education, Black or African American, and Asian populations are less likely to walk or cycle than those in high-income, high-education, or White populations which may contribute to the observed health inequity in the US.

The Health-Oriented Transportation Model: Estimating the health benefits of active transportation

Tools and models that demonstrate the magnitude of the health benefits of physical activity are needed to inform policies addressing the epidemic of physical inactivity and to help promote environmentally sustainable cities. The Health-Oriented Transportation (HOT) model is a transparent and easily accessible tool that allows users to assess the current and potential health benefits of active transportation (walking or cycling) using data from a one-day travel survey. Through use of the HOT model we estimated that, in the 2016 adult population of London, England, 1,618 and 2,720 deaths were averted in the inner and outer boroughs, respectively, due to transportation-related physical activity. Similarly, A 50% increase in walking/cycling mode share among active travelers would result in a 2.5% reduction in premature deaths.

The Potential Health and Environmental Benefits of Cycling in the U.S.

Among the challenges we face today, two colliding crises pose an especially grave threat to human health: one is the rapid rise in the prevalence of chronic disease worldwide and the second is the global climate crisis. Increasing the extent to which populations engage in health-oriented transportation, such as walking and cycling, could help to slow or reverse the advance of these crises by increasing overall physical fitness and decreasing vehicle emissions which contribute to air pollution and climate change. Research conducted by the Global Health Institute’s Initiative for Health-Oriented Transportation (HOT) at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, in collaboration with Trek Bicycles, demonstrates that walking and cycling in lieu of routine driving is one of the most effective ways to improve human health and can help mitigate climate change.

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Funders

Complex Urban Systems for Sustainability and Health (CUSSH) is a five-year Wellcome Trust funded project that will deliver key global research on the systems that connect urban development and population health. Since 2018, CUSSH has worked with thirteen partner organisations across four continents to help cities develop in ways which improve population health and environmental sustainability.

Partial support from the John Holton Chair for Health and the Environment.