TRANSPORT SAFETY & SECURITY
Active Travel
EVERYBODY ACTIVE
In the UK, over a third of those aged 55-64 and almost 50 per cent of 65-74 year olds do not get the amount of exercise they need each week. How can we get older people moving? Sustrans, The Centre for Ageing Better and Greater Manchester Moving unite to find the solution, as Andy Cope, Aideen Young and Eve Holt explain
© David Tett for the Centre for Ageing Better
Active travel – making day-to-day journeys by walking or cycling – is an important way to build physical activity into our lives, regardless of age. And with physical inactivity one of the main risk factors for developing long-term health conditions, increasing our levels of physical activity is key to reducing the burden of disease and improving our later lives. While supporting older people to travel actively is no easy task, help is at hand. In the UK, the Centre for Ageing Better, a charitable foundation funded by The National Lottery Community Fund and part of the government’s What Works Network, is working with POLIS member Sustrans, the charity making it easier for people to walk and cycle, to understand the role that active travel can play in supporting healthy ageing. Together, the coalition has been looking at the needs of older people, and how cities can best support them to make active travel their default way to get around.
According to the new report, Best Foot Forward, too many people in their 50s and 60s will remain physically inactive unless a number of measures are taken to address the barriers people face in walking and cycling. The diversity of those measures means that action is needed from national and local government, service providers and health systems.
Best Foot Forward, the Centre for Ageing Better’s report on active travel and better ageing
The study delved into what older cyclists and walkers need and how these requirements can best be accommodated, reviewing published literature on attitudes to active travel and the role of the built environment, and conducting qualitative interviews with a diverse group of people in their 50s and 60s.
Read more here
Data talks
In the UK, the car is the dominant form of transport, especially for older travellers. Of all trips made by people aged 50-69 in England in 2020, 64-66% were in a car (either as the driver or as a passenger). When it comes to walking, the proportion of people who stroll for 20 minutes or more at least three times a week is 67% in the 50-59-year age group and 60% in the 60–69-year age group. UK cities, like their counterparts across the channel, have been on a mission to replace car trips with active travel. From Glasgow’s Strategic Plan for Cycling, to Newcastle’s cycleway projects, cities and city regions have been pioneering pedal power, while organisations such as Living Streets have been supporting walkability across the country. However, attention to the needs of older people is required if cycling is to be accessible for all citizens. With cycling accounting for just 3% of all trips by people aged 50-59, action is needed fast! UK cities, like their counterparts across the channel, have been on a mission to replace car trips with active travel. From Glasglow’s Strategic Plan for Cycling, to Newcastle’s cycleway projects, cities and city regions have been pioneering pedal power, while organisations such as Living Streets have been supporting walkability across the country. However, attention to the needs of older people is required if cycling is to be accessible for all citizens. With cycling accounting for just 3% of all trips by people aged 50-59, action is needed fast!
Older Sikh man riding a bike ©Peter Kindersley for the Centre for Ageing Better
No quick fixes
The Best Foot Forward report revealed the specific needs of the older generation must be addressed to encourage cycling and walking. People aged 50-70 years do not all have the same capabilities, opportunities and motivations, and behaviour change interventions aimed at this group cannot be “one size fits all”. While there are a range of health conditions that limit mobility, they do not all rule out active travel, messaging on active travel in people aged 50-70 should not exclude people because of limited mobility. Furthermore, race, age, gender, and socio-economic status intersect to influence how people in this age group perceive active travel.
A portrait of Lizzie, a cyclist, during Pride 2021 © Gemma Taylor for the Centre for Ageing Better
Policy responses – making active travel the first choice
Achieving a future where active travel is the best choice for the older generation requires targeted and granular interventions, and policy makers and service providers should adopt an individualised approach when promoting active travel to this cohort. The report suggested that:
- Policymakers need to capitalise on the interest in walking for leisure among this age group to encourage extension to walking for purposeful travel. This may require a better understanding of the dynamic between leisure walking and travel.
- Lack of proximity to services can be a barrier to active travel. Sometimes people simply live too far away from shops and other services for active travel to be a realistic option, and those shops that people can reach also have to meet their needs and preferences, otherwise people will simply drive further afield to others that they like better. Neighbourhood design is therefore an enabler of active travel.
Activities like cycling and walking bring major health benefits at all stages of life © Peter Kindersley, Centre for Ageing Better
- Even though cycling and walking are less-intensive forms of exercise than some people in mid-life may have engaged with when they were younger, they nevertheless bring major health benefits. This means that it may be possible to adapt promotional messages to appeal to groups transitioning from more intensive activity.
- There are greater barriers to cycling than walking with a common perception that cycling requires a greater level of physical fitness. Many older people may not have cycled for a long time or may not own a bike.
- Safe infrastructure is crucial in enabling more people in this age group to cycle. The provision of good quality and adequately segregated and maintained cycle paths is the single biggest enabler of cycling in people in this age group (especially women), as it is in other age groups.
- There is a lack of understanding of the contribution e-bikes and adapted bikes might make to a healthy lifestyle. Indicators suggest that the potential is huge, and there is a need to understand how to realise that potential.
- Changes in lifestyles and active travel habits brought about by lockdown provides policymakers with an opportunity to push at an open door. Policies should recognise this and may be designed to address ‘pandemic-enforced’ changes in habits.
Manchester makes a move
POLIS member Manchester is one city taking great strides to expand active travel for older citizens. Councillor Eve Holt, Strategic Director for GM Moving (Greater Manchester’s movement for movement) and GreaterSport (Greater Manchester’s Active Partnership), explained how the city is achieving this.
Read more here
#OlderAndGreener © Matt Writtle for the Centre for Ageing Better
What does the future hold?
Spurred by impending climate targets and COVID-19 conditions, cities across Europe are embracing active travel. However, as cycling superhighways and bike sharing hubs spring up, ensuring these work for older users is critical. This demands further research that identifies the needs and complex mobility requirements of older generations. However, the future looks bright. According to the National Travel Survey, the average annual number of trips by bike taken by 50-59-year-old men increased from 18 in 2019 to 37 in 2020. While the historical data suggests that there is a lot of work to do to improve uptake of cycling as a mode of active transport, the shift seen in the last year shows progress is possible – the future is on two wheels, especially if the older generations are joining in!
Andy Cope, Aideen Young and Eve Holt are, respectively, Director of Evidence & Insight at Sustrans, Senior Evidence Manager at the Centre for Ageing Better & Strategic Director at Greater Manchester Moving
You can contact them are: andy.cope@sustrans.org.uk, aideen.young@ageing-better.org.uk and eve@gmmoving.co.uk
Research was undertaken by: Dr Nick Cavill, Prof Adrian Davis, CFE Research and David Corner.