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When Transport Policy Becomes Health Policy: A Documentary Analysis of Active Travel Policy in England

Bloyce, Daniel
; 
White, Christopher
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Affiliation
University of Chester
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Publication Date
2018-09-17
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Sport and Exercise Sciences
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Abstract
There has been a succession of policy documents related to active travel published by the British government since the implementation of a National Cycle Network (NCN) in 1995. However, as the latest National Travel Survey (NTS) reveals, the number of journeys made by bike in the UK has remained steadfastly around only 2% (Department for Transport [DfT], 2018a). By using documentary analysis of the available official policy documents and statements, the aim of this paper is to make sense of the policies that have been published concerning active travel (AT) in England. This is done from a figurational sociological perspective. Three key themes emerge from the analysis: (1) the rhetorical, advisory level of the vast majority of the policies; (2) the reliance on a wide network of local authorities to implement AT policy; and (3) the focus placed on individuals to change their behaviour. Furthermore, the analysis reveals that despite a large number of policy publications from a range of government departments claiming to promote AT, little has actually changed in this time period in terms of a national agenda. Despite the successive policies, it seems there is little appetite on behalf of recent governments to make widespread infrastructural changes, where instead the focus has largely been on persuading the individual to seek more active modes of travel, increasingly for their own, individual ‘health’ gains.
Citation
Bloyce, D. & White, C. (2018). When transport policy becomes health policy: A documentary analysis of active travel policy in England. Transport Policy, 72, 13-23. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tranpol.2018.09.012
Publisher
Elsevier
Journal
Trasnport Policy
Research Unit
URI
http://hdl.handle.net/10034/621394
DOI
10.1016/j.tranpol.2018.09.012
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Article
Language
en
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ISSN
0967-070X
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https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0967070X18302646