Grant: Operating Grant: Population Health Intervention Research

This project will study the on-going implementation of the active transportation policies of the cities of Montreal and Toronto. Walking or cycling to work, the grocery store or the medical clinic are examples of active transportation. It is a trend in urban mobility that major Canadian cities have sought to encourage over the last decade because of its many potentially positive impacts on urban populations. For instance, active transportation can help reduce traffic congestion, mitigate the impact of climate change, improve social cohesion and, not least, improve the health of urban populations. It increases rates of physical activity and thus contributes to reducing risks of obesity and related cancers, heart and lungs diseases, diabetes, high pressure and depression. The cities of Montreal and Toronto have been developing active transportation policies since the early 2000s. The current revision of their development and transportation plans shows that there is an increased interest for active transportation in these cities today. However, just like other cities around the world, Montreal and Toronto are faced with considerable challenges at the implementation stage of their policies. Our goal is to understand the conditions and processes that support the implementation of active transportation policies so as to be able to support the creation and implementation of these and other urban policies that can have a positive impact on health. Based on political science knowledge on public policies and the policy process, we shall study the role of the actors (public, private, NGOs, citizens, municipal councillors) from several policy areas (transportation, public health, sustainable development or urban planning) who contributed to the agenda setting and implementation of the policies. Our hypothesis is that changes among these actors -who defend specific interests and ideas- between the agenda setting and implementation stages might explain implementation challenges.