Résumé
Active transportation such as walking, wheeling, running, or cycling, is increasingly recognized as an accessible means of physical activity. Despite investments in active transportation through the implementation of infrastructure, such as cycling lanes, disparities remain in access, benefit, and perceived safety. Indeed, marginalized groups have been historically neglected in transportation planning, perpetuating systemic inequalities in health mobility and physical activity participation. Moreover, little is known about the extent to which equity is considered throughout the planning, construction, and maintenance of active transportation interventions. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to explore how equity is considered in the implementation of a specific type of cycling infrastructure, All Ages and Abilities, across Canada. We used a comparative case approach, selecting 16 case studies from nine Canadian municipalities. First, an initial document review was completed to identify preliminary patterns in how equity is considered in the different stages of implementation (e.g. pre-implementation, implementation, post-implementation). Next, we conducted semi-structured interviews with key-informants to gain further insight into practices that municipalities use to engage marginalized groups during the implementation of cycling infrastructure. After thematically analyzing 265 documents and interviewing 40 key-informants, we found that equity was most frequently considered during the pre-implementation phase of an intervention. Additionally, distributional equity, defined as the equitable distribution of resources, infrastructure, and opportunity, was the most common type of equity considered. This study contributes to scholarship on equity in active transportation and provides evidence to inform more equitable mobility and physical activity outcomes in marginalized communities.
