UCLA Institute of Transportation Studies

Walking and cycling are the ultimate in sustainable transportation. From a societal perspective, they are practically zero carbon, and emit no harmful air pollutants. They require minimal space on the street and for parked bicycles. And it costs cities little to provide infrastructure for sidewalks and bicycle lanes. From the individual perspective, traveling by foot or bicycle is free or low cost. And it helps people integrate physical activity into their daily routines.

How can mayors, city officials, and other policymakers realize this potential and encourage more people to walk and cycle in safety? This playbook uses a new source – Google Environmental Insights Explorer – to provide data-driven guidance on how to encourage active transportation in cities around the world. Based on data on walking and cycling in 11,487 cities from 121 countries across six continents, it highlights success stories from a range of geographic and socio-economic contexts, including cities whose efforts have flown under the radar and attracted little attention to date.