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Sign in or register for an accountTransport is an important factor of everyday life that allows people to access education, employment, leisure, visiting friends and family, and take care of their own health. It may take the form of personal transport such as privately owned or leased vehicles, public transport including trains, buses, trams and taxis, or more active modes of transport such as walking and cycling.
Use of transport may have significant effects on health directly, in terms of enabling access to healthcare and support services, as well as indirectly through access to services and activities with strong connections to the wider determinants of health (Adobe PDF format, 2.5mb).
Access to transport can provide positive benefits to health through access to employment, educational and recreational opportunities. Conversely, a lack of access to transport can mean reduced access to opportunities and consequent negative impacts upon health.
The mode of transport chosen also has implications for health and wellbeing. Road safety in particular has a direct impact on public health, with road accidents being a major cause of preventable death and injury. Road vehicles are also significant contributors to levels of noise, air pollution and carbon emissions, with greater efforts in recent years to encourage residents to make greater use of public transport and active travel alternatives.
Transport Related Social Exclusion (TRSE) is a measure developed by Transport for the North (TfN) of the extent to which problems with accessing transport have a significant impact on everyday life and the ability to meet everyday needs. According to data produced by TfN, over 16,000 (or roughly 6%) of Salford residents live in neighbourhoods with a high risk of TRSE. In comparison with other areas in England, Salford’s national rank for TRSE risk is 236th out of 361, placing it in the lower half of local areas for this measure.
Salford’s public transport network is managed along with the rest of Greater Manchester through the Bee Network, providing access to a variety of integrated public transport options. Rail services are administered separately from the Bee Network, some still operated through private franchises, but all eventually planned to transition back into public ownership.
Active travel in Salford is made more accessible through an extensive network of traffic-free walking and cycling routes (Adobe PDF format, 3.9mb). These include both on-road segregated cycle lanes and off-road traffic free routes. The Looplines and Greenways are former railway lines or canal paths with improved surfaces and signage, making them ideal for cyclists and walkers. Some parts of Salford are covered by the Bee Network cycle hire scheme under which standard cycles or motorised e-bikes can be hired on a ‘pay as you ride’ basis. Cycle training for school aged children is also provided in Salford through Bikeability, with Salford achieving significant increases in participation over the last five years. Salford is also trialling the use of E-scooters, providing public hire of e-scooters through Lime.
According to Department for Transport data, in 2023, 44% of people in Salford walked or cycled at least once a week for travel purposes, with no increase over the rate in 2016 but second highest of the ten local authorities in Greater Manchester (after Manchester).
In 2025, 124 people were killed or seriously injured (KSI) on Salford’s roads, the highest number since at least 2016. The KSI rate in Salford per billion vehicle miles in was 82 in 2025, the 4th highest in Greater Manchester.
Salford has a higher proportion of the population than the England average exposed to significant noise from road, rail or air transport, particularly at night-time where 14% of the population were exposed to transport noise of 55db (decibels) or more at night in 2021, compared with 8% nationally.
The map below shows the level of risk for Transport Related Social Exclusion (TRSE) across Salford at the level of Output Areas, which typically have a resident population of 100 to 625 people. The level of TRSE risk is divided into deciles (that is, ten equal portions), with the lower levels of risk in lighter colours and higher levels in darker colours. The data shown in the map is also available to download below.
[Download the TRSE Salford data, csv format, 27kb]
As the map shows, northern parts of Salford around Walkden, Clifton, Pendlebury, Kersal and Broughton, as well as the southwestern area around Irlam and Cadishead are the areas with highest TRSE risk.
A report on transport, health, and wellbeing produced for the Department for Transport identifies a number of sub-groups who are most affected by transport-related social exclusion:
Lower income groups who are more likely to be ‘transport poor’
Those with mobility issues, who take half as many trips as those without mobility problems
Older people, with over 30% of those aged over 70 having issues with mobility
Females, who are less likely to possess a driving licence than males but also more likely to feel unsafe using public transport such as buses
People from non-white ethnicities, who tend to make fewer trips and have lower car ownership levels than white ethnic groups
In terms of road injuries and deaths, a higher proportion of KSI casualties live in areas of high deprivation compared to less deprived areas, showing a consistent pattern over the years 2021-2025.
Transport allows people easy access to local pharmacy services. Most of the population of Salford access pharmacies by car or on foot. In Salford’s Pharmaceutical Needs Assessment (PNA) (Adobe PDF format, 2.4mb) for 2025 to 2028, travelling by tram, bus or cycle were the main ways of reaching a pharmacy for only 3% of respondents to a survey of pharmacy users. In contrast, 44% of people responded that they walk to their local pharmacy, while 47% visited pharmacies by motor vehicle as either a driver or passenger. According to the PNA, the majority of Salford’s population are able to reach a pharmacy by a public transport journey of 20 minutes or less, with only more rural areas around Worsley and Cadishead requiring longer journeys.
While transport policies alone cannot fully address health inequalities, they can make an important contribution and play an important part in broader approaches that address multiple wider determinants of health.
The Urban Transport Group (formerly PTEG) identifies four key factors that transport should ideally fulfil in order to be socially inclusive:
Available: Transport should be within easy reach of where people live and take them where they want to go. Information about transport should also be easily obtainable
Accessible: Vehicles, stops and stations, interchanges and walking routes should be designed so that everyone can use them without unreasonable difficulty
Affordable: No-one should be priced out of using public transport, fares should be easy to understand, and people should be able to locate the right ticket or pass easily
Acceptable: People should feel that transport is equipped to meet their needs and is comfortable, safe, and convenient which ever mode they choose
Guidance produced by NICE recommends that public health practitioners consider walking and cycling interventions as part of a range of measures to improve health outcomes and ensure that policies and plans encourage both walking and cycling, addressing behavioural and environmental factors that affect people’s willingness use more active travel methods. NICE also recommends personalised travel planning for individuals and for schools and workplaces to foster a culture that encourages active travel.