Some people are more likely than others to be affected by car travel yet less likely to own a car, like low income communities and older people. Road space reallocation can make car-free journeys easier and reduce health inequalities.

Public Health Scotland have published papers that look at the evidence of whether road space reallocation can contribute to health and assess the potential impacts on health within Scotland. The reports also make recommendations for future action.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, temporary reallocation schemes were used to enable pedestrians, wheelers and cyclists to physically distance. 

The Public Health and Sustainable Transport Partnership Group, hosted by Public Health Scotland, completed a health impact assessment (HIA) of road space reallocation to identify and assess the potential positive and negative impacts of road space reallocation interventions on health and wellbeing including inequalities in impacts experienced by different populations.

View the reports