Abstract
The draft Government Policy Statement (GPS) on Land Transport 2024-34 neither supports the health and wellbeing of the population nor addresses the transport challenges of the
21st century. The current transport system causes thousands of preventable premature deaths and tens of thousands of hospitalisations and doctor visits every year through air
pollution, injury, noise pollution and physical inactivity. The policies outlined in the draft GPS 2024 are, as a package, likely to worsen the already high levels of illness, disability,
and early death in our communities caused by the transport system. This will have considerable implications for an already overburdened health system, as well as social,
economic and environmental costs to society. The lack of plausible policy to reduce transport greenhouse gas emissions will further contribute to poor health through the
impacts of climate change on the population.
In summary, the proposed policies will erode what current health benefits there are from transport, fail to deal with current health harms and will likely exacerbate these health
harms in the short and long term.