Correction: Mela, G.; Girardi, P. Is Active Mobility Really a Sustainable Way of Travelling in Italian Cities? When and Where Injury Risk Offsets the Benefits of Riding or Walking. Sustainability 2024, 16, 7432

The authors found an error in the computer code they used to carry out this study. Such an error does not change the main findings of this paper, i.e., that when people shift from passive to active mobility, the increased road injury risk often offsets the health benefits yielded by increased physical activity. The error does, however, change the magnitude of the impacts, which are, indeed, lower than in the published version.

The authors would like to make the following corrections to the published paper [1]. The changes are as follows:

(1)

Replacing Figures and Related Descriptions:

(a)

All monetary values per km and disease contribution percentages (e.g., for diabetes, stroke, TBI) were corrected in text and figures (Figure 3, Figure 4, Figure 7, Figure 8, Figure 9 and Figure 10).

(b)

The figures in the published version (Figures 3, 4 and 7–10) displayed incorrect results. These figures have now been replaced with the correct ones, which reflect the accurate data analysis.

(2)

Replacing Textual Content in the Results and Discussion Sections:

Several sentences and numerical values in the original version overestimated the impacts of active mobility. The corrected version includes the revised and accurate values:

• The overall health effect of the modal shift is negative, but it is lower in absolute value than originally reported.
• We rephrased the results in Section 3 to reflect the revised figures for road injury risks, the health impact values in EUR/km, and the city-specific conclusions (e.g., with Naples now being the only city where walking shows a positive impact).

(3)

Correct a Sentence in the Conclusions section, Paragraph 3, the correct content is as following:

Increased physical activity improves health mainly through reduced incidence of diabetes mellitus type 2, while most of the damage carried by road injuries is due to traumatic deaths and traumatic brain injury (with permanent damage), highlighting the importance, at least for cyclists, to wear helmets while travelling.

(4)

Clarification in City-Specific Results (Section: Results; Paragraphs 8 and 11):

Figure 7 illustrates the results for the main Italian cities: the asterisks denote the level of positive health effects that would counterbalance the negative health effects due to air pollution and road injuries. The negative impact of air pollution is almost negligible for all cities, even the most polluted ones (Milan, Turin, Bologna). The impact of physical activity tends to be higher in hilly cities like Genoa and Naples. The importance of road injuries is always high and, in most cases, the negative effect of increased road injury risk offsets the positive effect of increased physical activity. Nonetheless, in big cities, overall positive effects of a modal change are possible in the following circumstances and cities:

• From cars to walking: Naples;
• From cars to conventional bikes: Palermo and Florence;
• From cars to e-bikes: Palermo.

The outcomes that affect health the most are the same across all three active modes considered. The positive effect of physical activity on health is mainly due to the reduction in the number of people contracting or dying from diabetes mellitus (type 2). Diabetes mellitus (type 2) is also the health outcome responsible for most of the damage caused by increased air pollutant intake. The picture changes when it comes to road injuries, however. The outcomes that make the most of the overall health damage caused by increased road injury risk are traumatic deaths and moderate/severe TBI with permanent damage. The former is especially important in the case of pedestrians.

(5)

Addition to the Acknowledgments Section:

The following sentence was omitted in the published version and has now been added:

This work has been financed by the Research Fund for the Italian Electrical System under the Three-Year Research Plan 2022–2024 (DM MITE n. 337, 15.09.2022) in compliance with the Decree of 16 April 2018.

The authors state that the scientific conclusions are unaffected. This correction was approved by the Academic Editor. The original publication has also been updated.