Te Ara Mua-Future Streets
| ISRCTN | ISRCTN89845334 |
|---|---|
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1186/ISRCTN89845334 |
| Protocol serial number | N/A |
| Sponsor | University of Auckland |
| Funders | Ministry for Business Innovation and Employment, NZ Transport Agency, Auckland Transport, Māngere-Otahuhu Local Board |
- Submission date
- 14/06/2018
- Registration date
- 21/06/2018
- Last edited
- 11/07/2018
- Recruitment status
- No longer recruiting
- Overall study status
- Completed
- Condition category
- Other
Plain English summary of protocol
Background and study aims
A shift to more walking and cycling for transport and recreation has the potential to benefit health and equity. Road traffic injuries cause death and disability in New Zealand, while vehicle-related air pollution has a comparable mortality cost. New Zealand has the OECD’s third highest rate of obesity, partly caused by physical inactivity. Obesity and inactivity cause a wide range of negative health impacts and are influenced by physical and social environments. Car-dependent urban transport patterns create social and health inequities and contribute to climate change, arguably this century’s most pressing public health problem. Existing evidence suggests that encouragement alone is ineffective for achieving healthy change, and that environmental change may be needed. Research to support effective interventions for shifting from car dependence towards healthier transport is difficult to undertake and therefore uncommon. Natural experiment studies of improving urban infrastructure for walking and cycling have shown some positive outcomes but are prone to bias. Evidence suggests longer term follow-up is needed (over 2 years) to see the effects of such interventions. The aim of this study is to measure the effectiveness of street changes on a range of public health outcomes in a mainly Pacific and Māori community. The intervention changes the design of streets to prioritise walking and cycling, improve safety and social connection, and reflect indigenous history and aspirations.
Who can participate?
Residents aged 7 and over who live in the study areas during the study period
What does the study involve?
Two areas of Auckland are randomly allocated to be either the intervention area or the control area. In the intervention area the changes include: improving and widening footpaths, new pedestrian crossings, pedestrian priority across side streets, improved routes through linear parks, a fitness trail, improvements to lighting and informal surveillance, cycle lanes, way-finding, and landscaping. Changes in walking and cycling, traffic speeds and volumes, physical activity, road traffic injuries, neighbourhood perceptions and greenhouse gas emissions are measured before and after the intervention.
What are the possible benefits and risks of participating?
The possible benefits of taking part in the study include the health, social and financial benefits of having improved access to safer walking and cycling for short distances in the neighbourhood (for example improved physical activity, reduced fuel costs and greater neighbourhood social connection). Some possible benefits also come at a community level from community level participation (such as improved air quality, community sense of safety from crime, and reduced motor vehicle traffic). The possible risks of taking part include the possibility of physical injury from walking and cycling, and potentially in this context a risk of exposure to criminal activity. The design of the intervention is focused on making walking and cycling safer (from crime and road traffic injury), and multiple studies have demonstrated that the benefits of increasing daily walking and cycling outweigh the risks of injury in almost all settings.
Where is the study run from?
1. Māngere Central (New Zealand)
2. Māngere East (New Zealand)
When is the study starting and how long is it expected to run for?
October 2012 to December 2021
Who is funding the study?
1. Ministry for Business Innovation and Employment (New Zealand)
2. NZ Transport Agency (New Zealand)
3. Auckland Transport (New Zealand)
4. Māngere-Otahuhu Local Board (New Zealand)
Who is the main contact?
Dr Alexandra Macmillan
alex.macmillan@otago.ac.nz
Contact information
Scientific
Public Health Physician and Senior Lecturer
Environmental Health
Department of Preventive and Social Medicine
University of Otago
PO Box 56
Dunedin
9054
New Zealand
 ORCID ID |
0000-0002-9421-1313 |
|---|---|
| Phone | +64 (0)3 479 7196 |
| alex.macmillan@otago.ac.nz |
Study information
| Primary study design | Interventional |
|---|---|
| Study design | Single-centre area-level randomised unblinded controlled before-after intervention study |
| Secondary study design | Cluster randomised trial |
| Study type | Participant information sheet |
| Scientific title | Te Ara Mua-Future Streets: a controlled before-after intervention study of suburb-level street changes for walking and cycling in Auckland, New Zealand |
| Study acronym | Future Streets |
| Study objectives | Changing the physical environment to make walking and cycling safer and more attractive is an effective way to increase walking and cycling at a population-level, and thereby improve health and health equity. |
| Ethics approval(s) | University of Auckland Human Participants Ethics Committee, 06/11/2013, ref: 010723 |
| Health condition(s) or problem(s) studied | Transport-related public health outcomes (physical activity, road traffic injury, social connection, air and climate pollution, diabetes risk) |
| Intervention | Two areas of Auckland have been randomised into an intervention and control area. The project statistician used a computer random number generator to select the intervention area. The other area was designated as the control area. There was no allocation of concealment possible for the researchers, the participants, the people completing the intervention or during the analysis. A policy-research-community co-design process has resulted in the design of physical street changes to prioritise walking and cycling. Changes comprise: improving and widening footpaths, new pedestrian crossings; pedestrian priority across side streets; improved routes through linear parks; a fitness trail; improvements to lighting and informal surveillance; cycle lanes; way-finding; and landscaping. |
| Intervention type | Other |
| Primary outcome measure(s) |
1. Changes in walking and cycling, measured by a longitudinal random sample face-to-face survey of residents which includes a 1-week travel diary (baseline 2014; 2017; 2019) |
| Key secondary outcome measure(s) |
1. Road user behaviour, measured by video monitoring (2014, 2017, 2019) |
| Completion date | 31/12/2021 |
Eligibility
| Participant type(s) | All |
|---|---|
| Age group | All |
| Sex | All |
| Target sample size at registration | 13974 |
| Key inclusion criteria | 1. Participants must be resident in the intervention and control area during the study period 2. Two age groups are included in the survey: 7-13 year-olds, and 13 years and over |
| Key exclusion criteria | 1. Participants were excluded from survey and pedometer participation if they were not able to mobilise outside their house 2. Participants were excluded from participating in the survey and pedometer measurement if they were less than 7 years of age |
| Date of first enrolment | 10/10/2013 |
| Date of final enrolment | 15/12/2019 |
Locations
Countries of recruitment
- New Zealand
Study participating centres
2022
New Zealand
2024
New Zealand
Results and Publications
| Individual participant data (IPD) Intention to share | No |
|---|---|
| IPD sharing plan summary | Data sharing statement to be made available at a later date |
| IPD sharing plan | The data sharing plans for the current study are unknown and will be made available at a later date. |
Study outputs
| Output type | Details | Date created | Date added | Peer reviewed? | Patient-facing? |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Protocol article | protocol | 09/07/2018 | Yes | No | |
| Participant information sheet | Participant information sheet | 11/11/2025 | 11/11/2025 | No | Yes |
Editorial Notes
11/07/2018: Publication reference added.
