Every kilometre cycled benefits society, new ITF report claims

The health benefits to society from cycling outweigh negative impacts by up to a factor of 20, according to the International Transport Forum (ITF) at the Organisation of Economic Cooperation and Development’s (OECD) latest research report ‘Cycling, Health and Safety’. The report, published at a time when many cities are seeking to increase the share of cycling amidst concerns for safety, shows that the key to delivering overall benefits from cycling is creating a safe system through government policy and
February 19, 2014 Read time: 1 min
The health benefits to society from cycling outweigh negative impacts by up to a factor of 20, according to the 1102 International Transport Forum (ITF) at the Organisation of Economic Cooperation and Development’s (OECD) latest research report ‘Cycling, Health and Safety’.

The report, published at a time when many cities are seeking to increase the share of cycling amidst concerns for safety, shows that the key to delivering overall benefits from cycling is creating a safe system through government policy and city action.

Among the recommendations for policy makers is the moderation of some urban road speeds to 30km/h or less, and the use of separated cycling infrastructure to increase the number of new cyclists. Attracting new cyclists gains the greatest health benefits through increased physical activity, including reducing risks linked to cardiovascular disease, obesity and Type-2 diabetes.

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • IRF strives for improved road safety
    November 1, 2012
    The latest in the series of major road safety conferences hosted by IRF’s India Chapter will take place in New Delhi from 1-2 November 2012, with the focus on Urban and Rural Roads Each day, thousands of people are injured or killed on roads around the world. According to the World Bank, “the social and economic losses from road deaths and injuries in low and middle-income countries are projected to be on a catastrophic scale. . .” Globally, road injuries and deaths are due to a number of factors. This unde
    Read More
  • 4th Ibero-American road safety focus planned
    July 2, 2014
    The Latin America and Caribbean Region suffers from a high number of crashes on rural roads and also in the urban areas. Road crashes are now one of the leading causes of death in the region, especially for those aged 5-44. There are around 100,000 reported road fatalities/year in Latin America and the Caribbean while over 5 million/year are injured. Data from the World Health Organisation (WHO) shows that the death and serious injury rates are 10-20 times higher than in other industrialised regions, highli
    Read More
  • Enforcement lack affects safety on Europe’s roads
    June 17, 2016
    Insufficient police enforcement across Europe is damaging road safety, according to the European Transport Safety Council (ETSC). Two reports available through the ETSC say that a fall in the level of police enforcement of traffic offences is contributing to Europe’s failure to cut the numbers dying in road collisions. More than 26,000 people died on EU roads last year, the first increase since 2001 according to the ETSC annual road safety performance index (PIN) report. Exceeding speed limits, drink or
    Read More
  • S&P Global Rating: credit stability for toll road operators
    August 14, 2017
    The outlook is generally stable for business conditions and credit quality for toll roads worldwide, according to the latest survey from ratings agency S&P Global.The exception is the US where the overall outlook is “positive”, noted the report S&P Global Ratings' 2017. The 21-page report considers broad economic and industry-specific trends. It looks at economic conditions, demographic trends and geopolitical risks that affect the movement of people and goods. “We expect stable or improving, but still frag
    Read More

Highlighted Content