What is it about?
Researchers from UCLA and Google conducted the most comprehensive global study of active transportation to date, analyzing travel patterns in more than 11,500 cities representing roughly 41% of the world’s urban population.
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Why is it important?
Expanding city-level walking and cycling infrastructure globally could cut carbon emissions from private cars by 6% and generate $435 billion in health benefits annually. Increasing density and redesigning streets to make active travel safer and more comfortable are the two most effective ways cities can encourage more people to walk and bike.
Perspectives
The way that cities design their streets fundamentally shapes how people get around, especially for short trips. Are there sidewalks? Bike lanes? How wide are the traffic lanes? In this study, we show that these seemingly local planning choices, made in thousands of cities around the world, can collectively drive major shifts in global climate outcomes.
Adam Millard-Ball
University of California Los Angeles
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: Global health and climate benefits from walking and cycling infrastructure, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, June 2025, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences,
DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2422334122.
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