Evidence reviews of interventions to enable modal shift to walking and bike riding

2023–2024

Active transportation (walking and bike riding) has well-established benefits on physical and mental health, and modal shift away from private car-based travel has the potential to substantially contribute to reduced emissions. As a result of the myriad of benefits of enabling modal shift to walking and bike riding, there has been significant interest in how to increase participation rates. However, walking and bike riding participation remains low across many developed countries and we lack an understanding of what interventions are effective in increasing participation rates. There already exists a well-developed body of evidence on the impact of built environment approaches to promote walking and bike riding, particularly with respect to the provision of safe, protected and connected routes and urban environments. In contrast, we lack synthesised evidence on the effectiveness of 'behaviour based' initiatives, including factors such as education (increasing knowledge), persuasion (using communication to stimulate action), incentivisation (creating expectation of reward), coercion (creating expectation of punishment or cost), training (imparting skills), and restriction (using rules to reduce or increase a behaviour).

To address this knowledge gap, we are conducting a comprehensive systematic review of the effectiveness of a variety of interventions to enable modal shift to bike riding and walking. Where possible, we will explore opportunities to understand who the intervention was designed for and who the intervention impacted (to measure equity impacts).

This work is supported by funding from the British Columbia Centre for Disease Control, and led by Associate Professor Ben Beck, Dr Lauren Pearson and Dr Matthew Page.

Relevant publications

  • Pearson L, Page MJ, Gerhard R, Clarke N, Winters M, Bauman A, Arogundade L, Beck B. Effectiveness of interventions for modal shift to walking and bike riding: a systematic review with meta-analysis. Transport Reviews. 2025 Jul 4;45(4):482-513. doi.org/10.1080/01441647.2025.2480292
  • Pearson, L., Page, M., Gerhard, R., Clarke, N., Winters, M., Bauman, A., Arogundade, L., & Beck, B. (2024). Effectiveness of interventions for modal shift to walking and bike riding: A systematic review with meta-analysis. medRxiv, 2024–07. doi.org/10.1080/01441647.2025.2480292