A/Prof Ben Beck

Huge thanks to co-authors Matthew Page, Adrian Bauman, @meghanwinters.bsky.social, Robyn Gerhard, Nyssa Clarke and Laolu Arogubdade

But when we take this approach without strong evaluation, we miss opportunities to understand how and why interventions succeed or fail, who they benefit and who they leave behind.

👉 Good evidence doesn't slow action - it sharpens it.

✅ Evidence matters. We need to get better at robustly evaluating what gets implemented. Rigorous, comparative studies are vital to provide evidence about what works and for whom, and in what contexts. We so often hear "we know what to do, we just need to do it" - which is partially true.

✅ There are lots of promising examples. This includes bike and walking school buses that boosted active travel to school by 42%.

✅ Travel behaviour is complex and people's decisions are influenced by a myriad of factors, such as safety perceptions, convenience, social norms and local contexts - and we need to make sure that combinations of interventions reflect people's needs and this complexity.

Key findings:
✅ Infrastructure is essential - high-quality infrastructure interventions (e.g. protected bike lanes, modal filters) were the most effective interventions
✅ But infrastructure is not the only way. A number of well designed behavioural interventions were shown to be effective

Effectiveness of interventions for modal shift to walking and bike riding: a systematic review with meta-analysis Identification of priority interventions to support modal shift to walking and bike riding is challenged by the myriad of interventions available, and a lack of synthesised evidence for what types ...

What works to increase active transport uptake? It's more than just infrastructure...

Led by @drlaurenpearson.bsky.social, we systematically reviewed the evidence to understand what actually works to boost walking and bike riding

www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....

Great to see the new Footscray Rd bridge open! Part 1 of the new 2.5km elevated veloway
@bikewest.org

We are hiring!

We are looking for a transport modeller, and particularly for someone who can think a bit outside of the box. A fantastic opportunity to work with our Sustainable Mobility and Safety Research Group to transform active transport modelling!

careers.pageuppeople.com/mob/513/cw/e...

The ride home feels a bit faster tonight! #AusGP

Great to see strong recommendations in Victoria's 30-year Infrastructure Strategy!

🚸 Make local streets safer for children and communities by reducing speed limits to 30km/h

🚲 Build 180km of safe cycling networks in Melbourne and regional cities

www.infrastructurevictoria.com.au/resources/dr...

Household transportation lifecycle greenhouse gas emission prediction This investigation develops a model to predict household transportation life-cycle greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and identifies the strongest determi…

Shift or improve policies? Using lifecycle GHG emissions we found greater efficiencies in terms of KMs or the number of trips shifting away from cars to #PT 🚌🚇🛤️or #AT🚶‍♀️🚲 than for #EV. This was examined based on Quebec's very low carbon content of kWh 🔌⚡ www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

Cross-country policy comparison of 30 km/h speed limits 30 km/h speed zones are one of the most cost-effective road safety interventions to enhance the safety and liveability of local streets. However, only two zones are currently implemented in the sta...

And the associated paper now published: doi.org/10.1080/2374...

The 30kmh revolution: Rethinking speed for safer, happier streets Globally, 30kmh speed zones have been shown to enhance road safety and liveability, yet Australia lags behind, with policy implementation facing significant challenges.

The 30kmh revolution: Rethinking speed for safer, happier streets

Our new article in @monashuniversity.bsky.social Lens: lens.monash.edu/2025/02/17/1...

@drlaurenpearson.bsky.social

The move to drop Sydney speed limits to 30km/h and allow cyclists on footpaths Reducing car speed limits to 30km/h and forcing e-bike riders to get insurance are among the recommendations of a months-long state parliamentary inquiry.

NSW Parliamentary Inquiry recommends reducing road speed limits to 30km/h in city centres and high streets around childcare centres, playgrounds and healthcare centres, and to 40km/h in all other areas

www.smh.com.au/national/nsw...

NYC Sees Pedestrian Traffic Increase in Congestion-Pricing Zone Pedestrian traffic on New York City’s busiest streets increased in January even after motorists began paying a new toll to drive into those same neighborhoods.

Congestion pricing seems to have triggered a surge in Manhattan pedestrian activity:

“Nearly 36M people last month were in areas south of 60th Street in Manhattan, a 4.6% boost from January 2024.” (The increase was 1.6% outside the zone.)

Suggests retail sales are growing within the zone, too.

This is so important. It is simply a transportation choice that everyone should be afforded

How extreme car dependency is driving Americans to unhappiness A car is often essential in the US but while owning a vehicle is better than not for life satisfaction, a study has found, having to drive too much sends happiness plummeting

“…this extreme car dependence is affecting Americans’ quality of life, with a new study finding there is a tipping point at which more driving leads to deeper unhappiness…having to drive for more than 50% of the time for out-of-home activities is linked to a decrease in life satisfaction.”

New evidence that reducing cars is good for business:

In London, retail spending was stronger after neighborhoods were added to the Urban Low Emissions Zone (ULEZ). Spending was also higher than in areas nearby but outside the ULEZ.

www.centreforcities.org/blog/ulez-ex...

A scoping review on the methods used to assess health-related quality of life and disability burden in evaluations of road safety interventions Introduction: Road traffic crashes globally cause 1.3 million deaths yearly and the rate of nonfatal crashes is increasing. Nonfatal injuries impact l…

🚨New SMSR publication! 🚨

The long-term impacts of road traffic crashes are substantial, yet we often overlook these impacts in road safety evaluations. Robyn Gerhard’s review highlights infrequent use of health-related quality of life and disability measures

www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

This is rad!

An essential read on disability & travel. Finds:

“The most commonly mentioned barriers are pedestrian infrastructure, particularly non-existent, narrow, or uneven pavements, while wide, good quality pavements with benches ease travel to local destinations and public transport stops.”

How can we build a future where we don’t need to own a car?

How do we build a future where we don’t need to own a car?

Fantastic episode with @gregmarsden-leeds.bsky.social @jilliananable.bsky.social and Ian Philips - worth a listen!

open.spotify.com/episode/3i1X...

92% of young women want to ride a bike, but participation is 4 times lower than men of the same age. Released today, our research found that young women experience unique barriers to riding a bike, and are actively looking for programs to overcome them.

www.monash.edu/medicine/sph...

New study finds that London's congestion charge reduced car ownership by ~7%. That's a lot!

doi.org/10.1016/j.tr...

Thanks Alexa!

Want to know more about what we do? Head to Sustainable Mobility and Safety Research’s website: www.monash.edu/medicine/sph...