Available online 2 November 2023

Development of a novel sustainable transport infrastructure scoring system.

Paucity of sustainable transport infrastructure in hospitals for staff nationally.

Actively commuting to work is beneficial to climate change and public health.

Healthcare contributes significantly to carbon dioxide emissions, which can be reduced by promoting sustainable mobility amongst staff commuting. This study aims to investigate the national sustainable transport infrastructure for staff of healthcare facilities and utilise this data to develop a novel scoring and ranking system.

This was an empirical retrospective observational study. Data was collected on all 47 hospitals sustainable transport infrastructure. A working group calculated the weighted scores for each sustainable transport data point. These scores were used to calculate the Total and Active Sustainability Scores for each hospital, allowing a ranking to be formed.

7 of 47 (15 %) hospitals had EV charging on campus. 17 of 47 (36 %) hospitals had secure bike parking. 2 of 47 (4 %) hospitals had a “bike hub”. 18 of 47 (38 %) hospitals had a bike lane. 13 of 22 (59 %) city hospitals had bike sharing facilities. 42 of 47 (89 %) hospitals had one public transport route. City hospitals ranked higher in both Total & Active Sustainability Scores.

This study explored a new concept of measuring sustainable transport infrastructure. Frameworks examining sustainability are available, however, none allowed for ranking of hospitals. This study highlights the lack of both research in this field and sustainable transport infrastructure in hospitals.

Sustainable transport

Active travel

Green travel

Sustainability

Planetary health

Climate change

© 2023 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd on behalf of Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh (Scottish charity number SC005317) and Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland.