Research and analysis

Estimating the benefits of active travel investment

Examines how economic appraisal can be done more effectively for active travel interventions that do not fit into existing frameworks.

From:
Active Travel England
Published
30 July 2025

Documents

Estimating the benefits of active travel investment

PDF, 12.1 MB, 56 pages

This file may not be suitable for users of assistive technology.

Request an accessible format.
If you use assistive technology (such as a screen reader) and need a version of this document in a more accessible format, please email webmasterdft@dft.gov.uk. Please tell us what format you need. It will help us if you say what assistive technology you use.

Details

This report considers the strengths and weaknesses of economic appraisal tools and frameworks when used to assess active travel investment. It focuses on what can be done to improve these methods when assessing active travel interventions.

Active Travel England’s (ATE’s) objectives for this report were to:

  • assess the strengths and weaknesses of existing tools and frameworks
  • identify the types of intervention, policies and outcomes that are poorly served by existing approaches
  • outline solutions to overcome the limitations in existing approaches
  • explore ways to incorporate the wider impacts of active travel investment
  • discuss ways to reduce the bureaucratic burden associated with scheme appraisal
  • identify approaches that are well suited to emerging types of intervention and programmes of work including a range of interventions

The report was commissioned by ATE and written by Dr John Nellthorp at the Institute of Transport Studies, University of Leeds.

Updates to this page

Published 30 July 2025

Sign up for emails or print this page