Building CapaCITY/É for Sustainable Transportation

2023–2028

There is clear evidence that All Ages and Abilities (AAA) bicycle networks and speed management interventions improve health in cities via increased physical activity, reduced road traffic injuries, amongst other pathways. However, implementation of these interventions is inhibited by practical (e.g. budget, planning, local adaptations, etc.) and political hurdles (e.g. short political cycles, vocal opposition). The Building CapaCITY/É for Sustainable Transportation (CapaCITY/É) project will focus on better understanding what works where, for whom, and in which context, helping to accelerate on-the-ground action towards healthy, sustainable and equitable cities.

Led by Associate Professor Ben Beck, CapaCITY/É will work with the Victorian Government Department of Transport and Planning, and colleagues in Canada to catalyse the implementation of bicycling networks for people of all ages and abilities and lower urban speed limits. A/Prof Beck’s Australian team has been awarded $1.25 million from the National Health and Medical Research Council, alongside the Canadian arm of the project, funded by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research as part of the 'Healthy Cities Implementation Science Team Award' program.

Meet the team

  • A/Prof Ben Beck, Head of Sustainable Mobility & Safety Research, Monash University
  • Dr Lauren Pearson, Research Fellow, Sustainable Mobility & Safety Research, Monash University
  • Prof Helen Skouteris, Head of Health and Social Care Unit, Monash University
  • A/Prof Darshini Ayton, Deputy Head, Health and Social Care Unit, Monash University
  • Prof Rob Raven, Deputy Director, Monash Sustainable Development Institute, Monash University
  • Prof Chris Pettit, Director of City Futures Research Centre, University of New South Wales
  • Dr Brian Lee, Senior Lecturer, City Futures Research Centre, University of New South Wales
  • Dr Mike Harris, Senior Lecturer, School of Built Environment, University of New South Wales
  • Dr Patrick Harris, Director, Centre for Health Equity Training, Research & Evaluation, University of New South Wales
  • Prof Evelyne de Leeuw, Professor of Urban Health and Policy, University of New South Wales
  • Prof Meghan Winters, Applied Public Health Chair, Gender and Sex in Healthy Cities and Professor, Faculty of Health Sciences, Simon Fraser University
  • Karen Labaree, Research Manager, University of Victoria
  • A/Prof Daniel Fuller, Associate Professor, Community Health and Epidemiology, University of Saskatchewan
  • Prof Alison Macpherson, Professor, School of Kinesiology and Health Science, York University
  • Dr Emily McCullogh, Postdoctoral research fellow, York University
  • Prof Yan Kestens, Professor, Département de médecine sociale et préventive à l’École de santé publique de l’Université de Montréal
  • Dr Sarah Moore, Assistant Professor, School of Health and Human Performance, Faculty of Health, Dalhousie University
  • A/Prof Anne Harris, Associate Professor, School of Occupational and Public Health, Toronto Metropolitan University
  • A/Prof Linda Rothman, Assistant Professor, the School of Occupational and Public Health, Toronto Metropolitan University
  • Dr Andrew Howard, paediatric orthopaedic surgeon and injury epidemiologist, the Hospital for Sick Children and the University of Toronto
  • Adam Awoke, Master’s student, Toronto Metropolitan University
  • A/Prof Raktim Mitra, Director and Associate Professor, TransForm Research Laboratory, Toronto Metropolitan University
  • A/Prof Brent Hagel, Associate Professor, Departments of Paediatrics and Community Health Sciences, University of Calgary
  • A/Prof Brice Batomen Kuimi, Assistant Professor, Epidemiology Division, University of Toronto
  • Dr Jennifer Tomasone, Associate Professor, School of Kinesiology and Health Studies, Queen’s University
  • Dr Martine Shareck, Assistant Professor, Department of Community Health Sciences, Université de Sherbrooke
  • Dr Kaitlyn Kauffeldt, Postdoctoral research fellow, Queen’s University
  • Prof Marie-Soleil Cloutier, Professor, l’Institut National de la Recherche Scientifique and Director, Centre Urbanisation Culture Société
  • Tim Chevrier, GIS Researcher, Institut national de la recherche scientifique

Relevant publications

  • Winters, M., Fuller, D., Cloutier, M. S., Harris, M., Howard, A., Kestens, Y., Kirk, S., Macpherson, A., Moore, S., Rothman, L., & others. (2024). Building CapaCITY/É for sustainable transportation: Protocol for an implementation science research program in healthy cities. BMJ Open, 14(4), e085850. doi.org/10.1136/bmjopen-2024-085850