All “Public Health” topics

In 2016, a socio-acoustic survey was conducted in Auckland that considered the exposure response functions of people exposed to road-traffic and railway noise. A second socio-acoustic study in 2021 aimed to define and quantify the responses to short-term and long-term transportation noise exposure from road traffic, railways and aircraft.

With walking and cycling funding halved in the government’s recently released National Land Transport Programme1, and a weaker transport emissions reduction plan, the potential health benefits of a low-carbon transport system have hit a real speed bump.

A new report summarises the updated health and air pollution in New Zealand 2016 (HAPINZ 3.0) study which evaluates the effects of air pollution on human health across New Zealand and the resulting social costs.

High-level strategy and planning documents are unambiguous. Transport is an urgent public health matter – the Government Policy Statement on Land Transport 2018–2022 says, for example: ‘Reversing New Zealand’s current trauma trends requires a transport system that is designed for people, and one that considers their safety as the top priority.’