Transport-related Walking Among Young Adults: when and Why?

Overview

Journal BMC Public Health

Publisher Biomed Central

Specialty Public Health

Date 2020 Feb 20

PMID 32070313

Citations 3

Authors

Behrang Assemi

Renee Zahnow

Belen Zapata-Diomedi

Mark Hickman

Jonathan Corcoran

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

Background: The existing smartphones' technology allows for the objective measurement of a person's movements at a fine-grained level of geographic and temporal detail, and in doing so, it mitigates the issues associated with self-report biases and lack of spatial details. This study proposes and evaluates the advantages of using a smartphone app for collecting accurate, fine-grained, and objective data on people's transport-related walking.

Methods: A sample of 142 participants (mostly young adults) was recruited in a large Australian university, for whom the app recorded all their travel activities over two weekdays during August-September 2014. We identified eight main activity nodes which operate as transport-related walking generators. We explored the participants' transport-related walking patterns around and between these activity nodes through the use of di-graphs to better understand patterns of incidental physical activity and opportunities for intervention to increase incidental walking.

Results: We found that the educational node - in other samples may be represented by the workplace - is as important as the residential node for generating walking trips. We also found that the likelihood of transport-related walking trips is larger during the daytime, whereas at night time walking trips tend to be longer. We also showed that patterns of transport-related walking relate to the presence of 'chaining' trips in the afternoon period.

Conclusions: The findings of this study show how the proposed data collection and analytic approach can inform urban design to enhance walkability at locations that are likely to generate walking trips. This study's insights can help to shape public education and awareness campaigns that aim to encourage walking trips throughout the day by suggesting locations and times of the day when engaging in these forms of exercise is easiest and least intrusive.

Citing Articles

Conceptual and Evidence Update on Incidental Physical Activity: A Scoping Review of Experimental and Observational Studies.

Reyes-Molina D, Zapata-Lamana R, Nazar G, Cigarroa I, Ruiz J, Parrado E Scand J Med Sci Sports. 2025; 35(1):e70015.

PMID: 39831442 PMC: 11744493. DOI: 10.1111/sms.70015.

Effects of public transportation use on non-exercise activity thermogenesis and health promotion: a mini-review.

Kim S, Hwang D, Kyun S, Jang I, Kim T, Kim J Phys Act Nutr. 2024; 28(1):31-36.

PMID: 38719464 PMC: 11079379. DOI: 10.20463/pan.2024.0005.

Comparison of Physical Activity Levels in Youths before and during a Pandemic Lockdown.

Bronikowska M, Krzysztoszek J, Lopatka M, Ludwiczak M, Pluta B Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2021; 18(10).

PMID: 34066200 PMC: 8151114. DOI: 10.3390/ijerph18105139.

A Scoping Review of How Income Affects Accessing Local Green Space to Engage in Outdoor Physical Activity to Improve Well-Being: Implications for Post-COVID-19.

Spencer L, Lynch M, Lawrence C, Tudor Edwards R Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2020; 17(24).

PMID: 33322829 PMC: 7764517. DOI: 10.3390/ijerph17249313.

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