Transport-Health Equity Outcomes from mobile phone location data – a case study

Abstract

[EN] The work presented here demonstrates the potential of new generation data arising from innovative policies (based on persuasive technologies) in the transport sector. Improved understanding of the spatial distribution of health impacts arising from the introduction of new travel initiatives will support more targeted and efficient policy development across both the transport and health sectors. Typical health impacts include those arising from changes in levels of personal activity with alternative mode choices. With a sectoral approach to policy development, positive impacts for one sector (i.e. improved transport services) may be negated by dis-benefits in another (e.g. low levels of active travel choice and increased obesity related disease burden). The horizontal notion of equity (Thomopoulos, Grant-Muller and Tight, 2009) is applied using a range of transport-related health outcomes including cancer, heart disease and depression. The research methodology interfaces new generation ‘Track and Trace’ information on individuals location and mode choices (detected as mobile phone app-based sensor data) with a new integrated transport and health model (IHITM), finally calculating an equity indicator based on distributional impacts.