Evaluation of the Binley cycleway: an economic analysis and model development to support investment in local government active travel policy

Background:

The UK population have become less physically active over time and there is strong evidence that physical inactivity is associated with poorer health and mortality. Guidance states that adults should aim to achieve at least 150 minutes of at least moderate-vigorous intensity physical activity in bouts of 10 minutes of more over a week. Active travel policy has been identified as a means to enable adults to achieve this, and by embedding active travel into daily lives this means that it naturally becomes part of routine daily living with benefits to population health as well as the environment through the reduction of carbon emissions.

To enable local authorities in England to understand the economic value of investing in cycleway infrastructure, we will evaluate a ‘case study’ intervention located in Coventry – this will lead to the development of an economic model that will be freely available for other local authorities to estimate the cost-effectiveness of future investment opportunities.

The Binley cycleway:

Working with our research partners within Coventry City Council, we will evaluate the costs and effectiveness of the new ‘Binley cycleway’ – a 6km stretch of segregated cycleway that runs from Coventry City Centre to Coventry City hospital. This cycleway is a significant investment, costing £8.5 million, and our evaluation will generate economic evidence that captures the impact on overall physical activity levels, morbidity, mortality, the environment and equity effects.

Methods:

We will conduct a population survey to collect data from a representative sample of local residents and workers who live and work at different distances from the cycleway. This will enable a zonal analysis based on the theory that the further an adult resides or works from the cycleway then the less they will be impacted. Comparator groups will be created to measure differences in physical activity, cycling, active travel behaviours, health and wellbeing over time.

An economic analysis will be undertaken to assess the cost-effectiveness through the development of a model that will link changes in physical activity behaviours with longer term health and wellbeing outcomes. The costs and benefits associated with the cycleway will be compared, and an assessment made of cost-effectiveness, tracking the flow of costs and consequences across multiple sectors.

Furthermore, the analysis will assess how the outcomes associated with population subgroups have been affected enabling a distributional cost-effectiveness analysis to assess equity effects. Dissemination and output:

The findings will provide policy makers and third sector organisations with robust evidence regarding the cost-effectiveness of a cycleway to improve active travel levels in the population. The model will be freely available to be re-used to inform future investment opportunities.