Active Transport

Insights and analysis for investments in active transport projects and initiatives.

At NineSquared, we understand the transformative power of active transport in building healthier, more sustainable communities. As the world moves towards greener and more efficient ways to travel, cycling, walking, and e-mobility solutions offer a practical response to today’s urban challenges. As cities continue to expand and evolve, the need for efficient, cost-effective, and environmentally friendly transportation solutions has never been more urgent.

Active transport—encompassing cycling, walking, and emerging forms of e-mobility—offers a compelling alternative to traditional modes of transportation, providing measurable benefits to both individuals and the economy at large.

Ensuring that active transport projects or initiatives maximise their potential requires a comprehensive approach, focusing on accessibility, efficiency, and integration with the fabric of modern urban environments. We provide a full range of services tailored to support decision making processes with an aim to help you leverage the benefits of walking, cycling, and e-mobility solutions for a cleaner, healthier, and more connected future.

Why Active Transport?

Active transport projects and initiatives have the potential to generate a range of benefits for users and the community more broadly. These may include:

Amenity and placemaking benefits: Pursuing active transport infrastructure can often give way to improving the amenity of a precinct. This can include the improvement of the physical, social, cultural, environmental, or economic factors of a space that ultimately results in communities wanting to spend more time within it.
Environmental Benefits: Active transport modes significantly reduce emissions, contributing to cleaner air and lower carbon footprints. Cycling, walking, and e-mobility are essential to achieving sustainable urban environments and mitigating the impacts of climate change.
Health & Wellness: Active transport promotes physical activity, improving public health by reducing obesity, heart disease, and other lifestyle-related health conditions. By encouraging walking and cycling, cities can create healthier communities.
Economic Impact: Investing in active transport infrastructure can boost local economies by attracting more visitors, reducing healthcare costs, and increasing productivity by improving mobility. This is particularly evident when active transport initiatives are combined with placemaking.
Decongestion: When car trips are replaced by active modes, there are benefits for all road users as congestion levels falls. This improves travel times for those who remain on the road and extend the life of existing infrastructure.
Social & Community Benefits: Active transport fosters social connections by making public spaces more vibrant and accessible. It supports inclusivity by providing affordable transportation options for all income groups and encourages sustainable behaviour

How we help our clients

To maximise these benefits, we offer expert economic analysis and strategic advice to help our clients. Our services include:

Developing project proposals and business cases – Our team of transport specialists are proficient in defining project proposals, assessing a project’s costs and benefits, and articulating these for decision makers.
Cost benefit analysis – Using cost benefit analysis, we can support decision making associated with active transport initiatives including supporting infrastructure projects, changes to existing infrastructure, or policy changes.
Establishing project logic – Our team has a wealth of experience in setting up projects for success. This includes the development of Investment Logic Maps, developing policy or infrastructure logic, and developing benefit registers to measure success.
Assessing socio economic impacts – Comprehensive impact assessments for communities are a key consideration in decisions to proceed or not. The NineSquared team has significant experience in conducting this type of analysis
Ex-post evaluations – Measuring success can be challenging given the multitude of factors influencing projects. The team has undertaken program evaluations to help understand where a project worked, where outcomes could have been improved, and how the decision-making process could be improved for future assessments.
Evaluating risk and uncertainty – We provide trusted, evidence-based advice and rigorous risk analysis that assists decision makers to understand the full impact of a project and the implications of uncertainty.