Abstract

This is an accepted article with a DOI pre-assigned that is not yet published.

Cities around the world promote Active Transportation (AT) to their residents with varying degrees of success. In 2017, the Canadian municipality of Halifax released a baseline report of indicators that were compiled to measure AT uptake following the launch of the Halifax Regional Municipality (HRM) Integrated Mobility Plan (IMP), designed to prioritise AT over motorised transportation modes. In this case study, we assessed the uptake of this baseline report and accompanying indicators and identified any progress or roadblocks in monitoring identified indicators through semi-structured qualitative interviews. We spoke with 13 participants, selected based on their experiences and expertise around AT in the HRM or their involvement in the drafting of the original baseline report. Thematic analysis resulted in four themes: 1) car-centric culture 2) idle hands and wheels, 3) navigating the detours of AT, and 4) every step counts. These themes highlighted that AT promotion in the HRM was easily and often derailed by the prevailing car-centric culture. We also noted limited engagement with the baseline AT indicator report, and a lack of progress with indicator monitoring. Our findings reinforce that, without effective implementation and accountability, alongside efforts to overcome the dominance within society of automobility, actions to promote AT remain vulnerable to cultural and political resistance, with their demonstrable outcomes at best unheeded, and at worst, actively undermined to the detriment of population and planetary health.

Keywords

active transportation, implementation science, data, population health, municipal politics