Individual Public Transportation Accessibility is Positively Associated with Self-Reported Active Commuting

Background: Active commuters have lower risk of chronic disease. Understanding which of the, to some extent, modifiable characteristics of public transportation that facilitate its use is thus important in a public health perspective. The aim of the study was to examine the association between individual public transportation accessibility and self-reported active commuting, and whether the associations varied with commute distance, age, and gender. Methods: Twenty-eight thousand nine hundred twenty-eight commuters in The Capital Region of Denmark reported self-reported time spent either walking or cycling to work or study each day and the distance to work or study. Data were obtained from the Danish National Health Survey collected in February to April 2010. Individual accessibility by public transportation was calculated using a multi-modal network in a GIS. Multilevel logistic regression was used to analyze the association between accessibility, expressed as access area, and being an active commuter. Results: Public transport accessibility area based on all stops within walking and cycling distance was positively associated with being an active commuter. Distance to work, age, and gender modified the associations. Residing within 10 km commute distance and in areas of high accessibility was associated with being an active commuter and meeting the recommendations of physical activity. For the respondents above 29 years, individual public transportation accessibility was positively associated with being an active commuter. Women having high accessibility had significantly higher odds of being an active commuter compared to having a low accessibility. For men, the associations were insignificant. Conclusion: This study extends the knowledge about the driving forces of using public transportation for commuting by examining the individual public transportation accessibility. Findings suggest that transportation accessibility supports active commuting and planning of improved public transit accessibility has thus a potential of providing health benefits to commuters.

[1]  Mizuki Kawabata,et al.  Spatiotemporal Dimensions of Modal Accessibility Disparity in Boston and San Francisco , 2009 .

[2]  Michael J. Greenwald,et al.  Carbonless footprints: promoting health and climate stabilization through active transportation. , 2010, Preventive medicine.

[3]  Jennifer Dill,et al.  Toulan School of Urban Studies and Planning 4-3-2010 Associations Between Street Connectivity and Active Transportation , 2018 .

[4]  C. Gent,et al.  Advances in public transport accessibility assessments for development control - a proposed methodology , 2005 .

[5]  Planning public transport networks in the post-petroleum era , 2010 .

[6]  Alastair M. Morrison,et al.  Using desktop GIS for the investigation of accessibility by public transport: an isochrone approach , 2000, Int. J. Geogr. Inf. Sci..

[7]  Kathryn M Neckerman,et al.  Effect of individual or neighborhood disadvantage on the association between neighborhood walkability and body mass index. , 2009, American journal of public health.

[8]  Richard L. Church,et al.  Mapping transit‐based access: integrating GIS, routes and schedules , 2010, Int. J. Geogr. Inf. Sci..

[9]  Felipe Montes,et al.  The implications of megatrends in information and communication technology and transportation for changes in global physical activity , 2012, The Lancet.

[10]  Q. Shen,et al.  Job Accessibility as an Indicator of Auto-Oriented Urban Structure: A Comparison of Boston and Los Angeles with Tokyo , 2006 .

[11]  S. Mavoa,et al.  GIS based destination accessibility via public transit and walking in Auckland, New Zealand , 2012 .

[12]  Fuzhong Li,et al.  Built environment, adiposity, and physical activity in adults aged 50-75. , 2008, American journal of preventive medicine.

[13]  M. Dalvi,et al.  The measurement of accessibility: Some preliminary results , 1976 .

[14]  Ola Ekholm,et al.  The Danish National Health Survey 2010. Study design and respondent characteristics , 2012, Scandinavian journal of public health.

[15]  Penny Gordon-Larsen,et al.  Active commuting and cardiovascular disease risk: the CARDIA study. , 2009, Archives of internal medicine.

[16]  R. Reis,et al.  Built Environment and Physical Activity for Transportation in Adults from Curitiba, Brazil , 2014, Journal of Urban Health.

[17]  Thomas J Adler,et al.  Prospective study of urban form and physical activity in the Black Women's Health Study. , 2009, American journal of epidemiology.

[18]  Tuuli Toivonen,et al.  Modelling travel time in urban networks: comparable measures for private car and public transport , 2013 .

[19]  T. Jørgensen,et al.  Construct validity of a revised Physical Activity Scale and testing by cognitive interviewing , 2010, Scandinavian journal of public health.

[20]  Catherine Morency,et al.  Walking to transit: An unexpected source of physical activity , 2011 .

[21]  M. Hamer,et al.  Active commuting and cardiovascular risk: a meta-analytic review. , 2008, Preventive medicine.

[22]  I. Benenson,et al.  Public transport versus private car GIS-based estimation of accessibility applied to the Tel Aviv metropolitan area , 2011 .

[23]  David Ogilvie,et al.  Neighbourhood, Route and Workplace-Related Environmental Characteristics Predict Adults' Mode of Travel to Work , 2013, PloS one.

[24]  J. Mindell,et al.  Active travel to work and cardiovascular risk factors in the United Kingdom. , 2013, American journal of preventive medicine.

[25]  J. Wells,et al.  Correlates of physical activity: why are some people physically active and others not? , 2012, The Lancet.

[26]  G. Schofield,et al.  Travel behavior and objectively measured urban design variables: associations for adults traveling to work. , 2008, Health & place.

[27]  Xuan Zhu,et al.  Accessibility Analyst: An Integrated GIS Tool for Accessibility Analysis in Urban Transportation Planning , 2004 .

[28]  K. Clifton,et al.  Disaggregate land uses and walking. , 2011, American journal of preventive medicine.