The development of policy-relevant transport indicators to monitor health behaviours and outcomes

Evidence-based and replicable spatial indicators relevant to transport policy are needed to monitor pathways for health behaviours and outcomes and inform planning in this field. Yet, little is known about which indicators are most useful, what are meaningful geographic scales for applying spatial data, and how these relate to urban and transport planning policy. As such, we sought to: (1) develop a conceptual model from a public health perspective to demonstrate how multiple pathways of transport impact on health behaviours and outcomes; and (2) identify using the conceptual model the most useful spatial indicators policy-makers and planners could apply over a given region to determine how measures of transport support or hinder health behaviours and outcomes. Associations documented in the literature guided the development of the conceptual framework, relationships, and indicator selection. Twenty-three transport indicators were identified in the literature as being viable measures relevant to the Victorian (Australian) region. These were categorised into measures of public transport, car reliance, cycling, and traffic exposure. This work has the potential to facilitate the comparison of health behaviours and outcomes with area-level transport variations to explore how transport policy and planning decisions impact on population health and inequalities.