Here are a selection of our current or recently completed projects:

Department for Transport (DfT) Active Travel Portfolio National Evaluation (2022-27)

We have been commissioned by DfT to evaluate the active travel portfolio of funding that is supporting local authorities across England to implement a range of schemes over the coming years. The five-year project will be carried out by academics in the Centre for Regional Economic and Social Research (CRESR), Sport Industry Research Group (SIRG) and Outdoor Recreation Research Group (ORRG), alongside specialist partners NatCen and Mosodi. The evaluation will help to improve understanding of how active travel interventions are being delivered, what impact they are having on encouraging people to cycle and/or walk, whether interventions are value for money, and how they are contributing to the Department’s cycling and walking targets.

Contact: Ed Ferrari

Using Behaviour Change Techniques to encourage active travel across the Yorkshire and Humber region (2021-22)

The Local Government Association (LGA) funded six local authorities from Yorkshire and Humber to form a consortium and to work alongside behavioural science experts from the Centre for Behavioural Science and Applied Psychology (CeBSAP) at Sheffield Hallam University to design and test a theory-informed intervention to increase active travel across the Yorkshire and Humber region.

Informed by the Behaviour Change Wheel, the team in CeBSAP (including ATRG members: Prof. Maddy Arden, Dr Rachael Thorneloe and Dr Martin Lamb) worked with the consortium to explore the barriers and facilitators for active travel using focus groups, and then designed and tested theory-informed interventions to increase active travel as part of a fully powered randomised controlled trial. We found that a simple online intervention to increase motivation and to encourage making plans to swap a local journey from using the car to walking or cycling resulted in significantly higher levels of active travel.

The full report and a recording of a webinar hosted by the team is available on the project webpage.

Contact: Rachael Thorneloe

Developing a Monitoring and Evaluation Plan for the South Yorkshire Mayoral Combined Authority (2020-21)

A Sheffield Hallam University team, working collaboratively with sustainable travel experts from Mosodi, were commissioned to develop a monitoring and evaluation plan aligned with Sheffield City Region’s Implementation Plan. The process required extensive consultation with local authority partners, understanding what data was available, and how this could be used to its maximum potential. National and international good practice was reviewed and external experts from around the country provided input. The recommended approach was a tiered system which would prioritise getting the basics right and then develop over time to form a robust evidence base.

Contact: Maxine Gregory

Room to Move: Impacts of road-space reallocation measures (2020-21)

This study – funded by the DecarboN8 Network - was a collaboration between Sheffield Hallam University, the University of Central Lancashire, and the respective local authorities to evaluate the impacts of the road-space reallocation programmes introduced in response to the Covid-19 pandemic. The study offered a critical evaluation of diverse urban areas in varying states of preparedness for a rapid uptake in active travel. For example, Sheffield – as part of the wider city region – has already undertaken considerable work prior to the coronavirus pandemic to encourage higher levels of active travel and in Lancashire it has been almost a decade since the introduction of 20mph zones in residential areas across the county.

The study used online data collection techniques over a 12-month period to gather longitudinal data on travel behaviour, attitudes to active travel and the use of the temporary road-space reallocation measures.

Contact: Stephen Parkes

Equity in Walking and Cycling: A South Yorkshire case study (2020-24)

At the intersection of active travel studies and transport equity, this project aims to provide an appraisal of equity in walking and cycling across policy and practice within the South Yorkshire context. Using a mixed methods approach, the project will measure equity in active travel provision across the region based on a range of social and spatial factors, highlighting differential barriers. Based on the research findings, the project seeks to offer a suite of recommendations to address active travel equity issues in South Yorkshire and beyond, including reflections on a city-regional approach.

Contact: Mia Rafalowicz-Campbell

Active Travel and the School Commute - the Transition from Primary to Secondary School (2020-26)

At a time when children are increasingly demonstrating an upward trend towards obesity, the journey to school provides an opportunity for active travel and engaging in some level of physical activity. Current government statistics note that only 44% of pupils aged 5-16 walk or cycle to school. This presents an opportunity to reflect on the choices and decisions made and to objectively assess both the perceptions and reality of barriers and benefits of active travel to school by pupils and adults with the primary responsibility for the pupil.

The focus of this study is the mobility of pupils in primary and secondary schools to investigate and articulate the external and internal factors that affect travel behaviour over time. The transition of school from primary to secondary school necessitates a change of location and journey for most pupils. Using the life course theory, a focal point for the research will be the transition from primary to secondary school as this establishes a significant turning point in their life course and could well reflect a trajectory for future engagement with travel.

Contact: Josie Wilson