Health, wellbeing and quality of life

Transport is fundamental to health, wellbeing and quality of life. By providing accessibility and mobility, it contributes positively to population health in numerous ways. However, many significant health challenges can also be attributed to particular ways of travelling, with the dominance of the private car as a particular issue. Transport has the potential to address health inequalities yet, despite a recent upsurge of interest in the benefits of active travel, health is seldom a primary consideration in transport policy. Proposing an agenda for change that puts health and wellbeing at the heart of transport policy, we investigate how transport and health policy can collaborate to realise the benefits of transport, while mitigating its negative impacts, and argue that the underlying purpose of transport policy must be to improve the health and wellbeing of citizens.