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The relation between hot weather, greenspace, and active travel behavior – a natural experiment using plausible routes

15 July 2024

Hot weather can discourage people from going outside and being active, because staying inside helps them stay cooler. One possible field in which this is true, is travel. It is possible that people are less keen to walk and cycle during hot weather. Hot weather does not have the same effect everywhere. For example, greener areas with more trees are less prone get less hot than grey areas, because trees provide shade and cool the air. Therefore, we investigate whether the relationship between hot weather and travel is different in green neighbourhoods compared to grey neighbourhoods. We use travel data to investigate how hot weather changes the way people travel, and how their environment plays a role in this. To do so, we use a new way to model the possible routes a person can follow to get from A to B, and investigate the environment of their route on a more detailed scale than ever before.