Health gains of low-traffic schemes up to 100 times greater than costs, study finds

Research looked at three London boroughs to value overall health benefits of active travel over 20 years at up to £4,800 per head

Policies to help people walk and cycle such as low-traffic neighbourhoods can create public health benefits as much as 100 times greater than the cost of the schemes, a long-term study of active travel measures has concluded.

The research, based on six years of surveys among thousands of people living in three outer London boroughs that introduced LTNs or similar schemes, found they tended to prompt people to switch some trips from cars to active travel, although the effects were varied.