Draft Active Travel Strategy Consultation

8. Co-benefits

8.1 Delivering the objectives of this strategy will benefit a range of other Council priorities.

Active lifestyles

8.2 There is overwhelming evidence of the health benefits from walking and cycling. This is especially true for two groups within Central Bedfordshire where irrespective of age, each additional step walked is a stride towards better health:

• the 25% of adults who have sedentary lifestyles, for whom even a small increase in physical activity protects against chronic disease and improves quality of life
• the 30% of children within the authority whose level of physical activity falls short of the recommended guidelines. For this group, cycling or walking more would reduce the damage their inactivity is doing to their future health and wellbeing.

Accessible green spaces

8.3 Central Bedfordshire Council's Vision 2050 seeks to make Central Bedfordshire a place where all residents can lead active lives by creating accessible culture and leisure opportunities that make it easy to spend time outdoors or engaging in sport and culture; and crucially, making these opportunities affordable to all.

Enhanced safety and social inclusion

8.4 Walking improves social inclusion for those adult residents and the many under 25s who don't drive. Car ownership is typically lower in neighbourhoods that score highest on indicators of social deprivation. Hence, it is doubly unfortunate that the severest impacts of busy roads, collisions, air, and noise pollution disproportionately affects areas of deprivation and people facing social exclusion.Having level, clear and obstacle-free footways and footpaths is also hugely important for people whose mobility is impaired and families with young children travelling in a pushchair and to people with mobility issues and who rely on a stick, mobility scooter, or wheelchair.

Improved air quality and lower emissions

8.5 Currently over 40% of Central Bedfordshire's greenhouse gas emissions are from transport. The authority's strategy to reduce emissions is enshrined in its Sustainability Plan and seeks to engineer a switch to electrically powered transport, a reduction in the need to travel and a switch to more walking, cycling, and wheeling for shorter distance trips. This switch will be vital given government forecasts predict that road-based traffic will increase substantially over the period 2025 to 2060, potentially by as much as 54%.

Vibrant town and local centres

8.6 The most economically vibrant market towns and shopping streets are often those with the most pedestrian-friendly environments. There is a body of evidence that shows that people who regularly frequent town centres often arrive on foot. Reducing the dominance and addressing the severance caused by traffic creates a more attractive environment and improves 'dwell time'. This in turn helps attract footfall and public and private interest and investment.