Kiwis need to halve car use by 2050 to sufficiently improve health

Nicole Mathewson Reporter from The Press

New Zealanders need to almost halve their number of car trips to satisfactorily improve our health and wellbeing, a new report claims.

The University of Otago report, Turning the Tide - from Cars to Active Transport, has recommended the Government put targets and legislation in place to reduce car use in urban centres from 84 per cent of trips to 45 per cent by 2050.

The report claims two-thirds of car trips made for commuting between 2015 and 2017 were within a comfortable cycling distance (five kilometres or less), while one-third were within a reasonable walking distance (2km or less).