Ambient Air Conditions and Variation in Urban Trail Use

This study examines the effect of air quality and administrative policies on use of urban trails in Indianapolis, IN. Attention is focused on two policy variables: (1) issuance of air pollution advisories and (2) the adoption of Daylight Savings Time. Results suggest that while trail use varies with air quality, current public advisories regarding air pollution may be of limited effectiveness in reducing trail users’ exposures to hazardous pollutants. In contrast, the adoption of Daylight Savings Time was associated with a statistically significant increase in traffic levels.

[1]  Kees de Hoogh,et al.  Effects of travel mode on exposures to particulate air pollution. , 2008, Environment international.

[2]  Baruch Fischhoff,et al.  What Number is “Fifty‐Fifty”?: Redistributing Excessive 50% Responses in Elicited Probabilities , 2002, Risk analysis : an official publication of the Society for Risk Analysis.

[3]  Karen Bickerstaff,et al.  Clearing the smog? Public responses to air‐quality information , 1999 .

[4]  Aruni Bhatnagar,et al.  Environmental cardiology: studying mechanistic links between pollution and heart disease. , 2006, Circulation research.

[5]  S D Colome,et al.  Psychological reactions to air pollution. , 1988, Environmental research.

[6]  N. C. Sharp,et al.  Exercise and outdoor ambient air pollution , 2001, British journal of sports medicine.

[7]  Ingrid M. Martin,et al.  Intended and Unintended Consequences of Warning Messages: A Review and Synthesis of Empirical Research , 1994 .

[8]  J. Sallis,et al.  An ecological approach to creating active living communities. , 2006, Annual review of public health.

[9]  G A Allen,et al.  Effects of ozone and other pollutants on the pulmonary function of adult hikers. , 1998, Environmental health perspectives.

[10]  R. Schapira,et al.  Effects of ozone on lung function and lung diseases , 2003, Current opinion in pulmonary medicine.

[11]  Zhehui Luo,et al.  Fixed effects, random effects and GEE: What are the differences? , 2009, Statistics in medicine.

[12]  D. Stieb,et al.  Do smog advisories work? Results of an evaluation of the Canadian Smog Advisory Program. , 1996, Canadian journal of public health = Revue canadienne de sante publique.

[13]  Jeffrey S. Wilson,et al.  Neighborhood Correlates of Urban Trail Use. , 2006, Journal of physical activity & health.

[14]  S. Breznitz.  Cry Wolf: The Psychology of False Alarms , 1984 .

[15]  J. Schwartz,et al.  Ambient Gas Concentrations and Personal Particulate Matter Exposures: Implications for Studying the Health Effects of Particles , 2005, Epidemiology.

[16]  Branden B Johnson,et al.  Communicating Air Quality Information: Experimental Evaluation of Alternative Formats , 2003, Risk analysis : an official publication of the Society for Risk Analysis.

[17]  L. Jensen,et al.  Modifications of health behaviour in response to air pollution notifications in Copenhagen. , 1991, Social science & medicine.

[18]  P. Gobster.  Recreation and Leisure Research from an Active Living Perspective: Taking a Second Look at Urban Trail Use Data , 2005 .

[19]  Branden B Johnson,et al.  Gender and Race in Beliefs about Outdoor Air Pollution , 2002, Risk analysis : an official publication of the Society for Risk Analysis.

[20]  J. Sallis,et al.  Environmental correlates of walking and cycling: Findings from the transportation, urban design, and planning literatures , 2003, Annals of behavioral medicine : a publication of the Society of Behavioral Medicine.

[21]  Steven P. Girardot,et al.  Ozone and PM2.5 Exposure and Acute Pulmonary Health Effects: A Study of Hikers in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park , 2006, Environmental health perspectives.

[22]  GREG LINDSEY,et al.  Urban Greenways, Trail Characteristics and Trail Use: Implications for Design , 2008 .