Active transport in Brisbane: how much is happening and what are its characteristics?

Active transport is a term describing travel between destinations by walking, cycling and other non-motorised modes. Being 'active' this component of household travel is of interest to both the transport and health fields. Whilst we now know much about the value of active transport for physical activity there is less information available on the extent or characteristics of this travel within Australian cities. This paper reports on the South East Queensland Travel Survey 2003/04 dataset covering the weekday travel of 10,931 persons in Brisbane, Australia. The dataset was manipulated to identify all active transport travel by traveller type and travel purpose. Walking for transport is found to comprise the majority of all non-motorised travel found in the dataset. Single-mode walking trips made to and from destinations such as shops and primary schools are less important than the walking involved in multi-modal public transport trips to workplaces, shops, universities and secondary schools. The trip distances walked to destinations, whether as part of public transport trips or not, are generally much greater than established 'rules of thumb' used by planners. These active transport trips provide significant health benefits to those undertaking them. The paper demonstrates that household travel survey data can provide quantitative information on the extensity and characteristics of active transport in urban areas, with the potential to examine and compare active transport across cities.