Active Travel Can Save Us.

What is active travel? Active travel is choosing to make your journey in a physically active way, without using the car, train, or bus. Particularly for those relatively short distances. You know, like popping out to the shops down the street, or the daily commute to work. But hey, convenience is king. And we all like to take the path of least resistance when it comes to getting on with our daily grind. But deep down, we also know that convenience isn’t always clever. And it’s starting to show in our own health and the health of our precious planet. But that’s where active travel can be a game-changer. A little adjustment for you, a wonderful change for all.

Active travel is a breath of fresh air.

Did you know?

The overall costs to society from road transport are substantial. For example, it has been estimated that half of the UK’s £10bn cost per annum of air pollution comes from road transport.

Public Health England

Sustainability matters. By making way for behaviour change in this area, and investing in a better walking and cycling infrastructure, we can begin to see an enormous impact on our neighbourhoods, towns, and cities. Ditch the car and…

• Traffic congestion reduces
• Parking issues are reduced
• Local air quality improves
• Carbon emissions are reduced
• Road casulaties reduce
• Social cohesion improves
• Public realm improves
• Quality of life improves

Active travel is good for you.

Did you know?

Recent UK research finds that active commuting is positively associated with wellbeing, and is associated with reduced risk of feeling constantly under strain and being unable to concentrate, compared to car travel.

Public Health England

We know that physical and mental health is everything. But it is often the case that people find it very hard to fit physical exercise into their already demanding daily schedules, and so the vicious cycle begins. This is where active travel can be a very simple, do-able, solution. You have to get from A to B; that’s a given. Getting some physical activity in while you’re getting from A to B…two birds, one stone. It just makes sense. Get walking, running, or cycling and…

• Cardiovascular mortality risk is reduced
• Hypertension risk is reduced
• Type 2 diabetes risk reduces
• Levels of cardio-respiratory fitness increases
• Stress levels are reduced
• Feelings of calm and happiness increase

The future is active.

The World Health Organisation has set out its ambition to reduce physical inactivity by 10% by 2025 and by 15% by 2030.

Smart Transport

We have reached physical inactivity crisis levels. And now people are starting to take notice. We need to take notice. Research has shown that more than four in ten women (42%), and one in three men (34%), in the UK do not get the recommended amount of general physical activity. Promoting walking and cycling, and giving people the tools to be able to achieve this, can help to solve this issue right now.

The economic, human and environmental costs of inactivity, climate change, air pollution, and traffic congestion are huge. Active travel can help combat all of these and, as they become more pressing concerns, there is an increasingly compelling case for policymakers to give active travel the attention and funding that it has not historically received.

Let’s get your people moving.

As businesses become more conscious of their impact on the environment and the health and well-being of their employees, there is a greater drive towards making positive changes in these areas. And active travel is starting to make some waves. We know it works. Now we just need to help people to do it. Let’s look at some of the clever tools available to help you to get your workforce or building occupants on their way to an active travel lifestyle…

Make it…Motivating. Fun. Rewarding. Do-Able.

Give people the tools they need to succeed. There is already some great technology available to help people make active travel a realistic part of their everyday lives. Here are some of the apps and initiatives we love…

Fitlink

Fitlink is a fitness and well-being app that connects friends, motivates people to move, and rewards people for making the active travel choice. Every one of Fitlink’s features is designed to inspire people to make the change, to engage, to get active, to achieve wellness and sustainability goals, and to thrive in work and life.

• Connect: friends and colleauges connect on one app. And any tracker can be linked.
• Track: from the app, people can track their walking and cycling activity linking to the trackers they prefer.
• Play: friends and colleagues can challenge eachother in leaugues to have fun and keep up the motivation.
• Win: every walk, run or cycle tracked is turned into points that unlock exclusive rewards.
• Discover: people can use the discovery map to find cool routes or groups in their local areas.
• Manage: with a smart dashboard and insightful data, employers can create and manage succesful active travel campaigns for their teams.

Active Things

Active Things helps people to find the practical things they need when they run, walk or cycle in the city.

• Find secure bike parking in a specific location.
• Find showers on-demand in a specific location.

Runsome

Runsome.org is a fantastic campaign aimed at inspiring people to run some of their everyday journeys, errands, and commutes. People can sign up and make every run/walk count towards helping to get the active travel message out there and appeal to government for the proper funding, policy, and support.

Cyclescheme

Cyclescheme.co.uk is a cycle to work benefit that helps employees to get commuter bikes and cycling accessories through their employer, whilst spreading the cost over 12 months and benefiting from substantial savings through a tax break.

• A cost-effective way to get started on your cycle to work journey.
• Any bike. The brand of your choice. Whatever the price.
• Fuss free ownership.
• Great value.

The time to make a healthy change is always now.

Let’s remove the barriers, create the opportunities for transformation, and join forces to help our cities and our communities to thrive.