Why is Healthy Travel Important?

We urgently need to change how we move around.  

Declining levels of physical activity, increasing levels of obesity and diabetes, widespread air pollution, social isolation, and worsening health inequalities are all pressing public health issues. ​Climate change is a severe threat which is already being felt in the UK and across the world.  
Changing patterns in the way we travel and how we design our environments for travel have played a significant role in these issues.  
Bold action is required in Wales if we are to reverse these trends in population and global health and create a healthier more sustainable future for our residents.   

The Effects On Health and Well-being  

This shift in travel mode has contributed to a significant decrease in physical activity, which in turn is associated with an increased risk of ill health, including cardiovascular disease, cancer and diabetes.  Road transport is a major contributor to harmful air pollution, and is responsible for around 1,000 accidents causing serious injury or death each year in Wales.  
 
​As our environments have been shaped around the car, interactions within and between communities have dropped. Many of the adverse impacts of road transport are felt more in more deprived communities, contributing to worsening health inequalities. 
 
Climate change increases the risk of severe weather events including flooding which will increasingly affect our communities and our infrastructure.  For more detail and full references for the information here, please see the Moving Forwards report.