Changes in bicycling over time associated with a new bike lane: Relations with kilocalories energy expenditure and body mass index

Abstract

Although bicycling has been related to positive health indicators, few studies examine health-related measures associated with non-competitive community cycling before and after cycling infrastructure improvements. This study examined cycling changes in a neighborhood receiving a bike lane, light rail, and other “complete street” improvements. Participants wore accelerometers and global positioning system (GPS) data loggers for one week in both 2012 and 2013, pre- and post- construction completion. Participants sampled within 2 km of the complete street improvements had the following patterns of cycling: never cyclists (n=434), continuing cyclists (n= 29), former cyclists (n=33, who bicycled in 2012 but not 2013), and new cyclists (n=40, who bicycled in 2013 but not 2012). Results show that all three cycling groups, as identified by GPS/accelerometry data, expended more estimated kilocalories (kcal) of energy per minute during the monitoring week than those who were never detected cycling, net of control variables. Similar but attenuated results emerged when cycling self-report measures were used. BMI was not related to cycling group but those who cycled longer on the new path had lower BMI. Although cyclists burn more calories than non-cyclists across the week, among cyclists, their cycling days involved more calories expended than their non-cycling days. The new cyclists account for 39% of the cyclists identified in this study and former cyclists account for 32% of cyclists. These results suggest that cycling is healthy, but that sustaining rates of cycling will be an important goal for future policy and research.

A systematic review of empirical and simulation studies evaluating the health impact of transportation interventions

“…Empirical studies included in the review were published between 2005 and 2017 ( Table 3 ). These studies were based in: North America, including the United States (n = 11) ( Boarnet et al, 2005 ; Evenson et al, 2005 ; Burbidge and Goulias, 2009 ; Parker et al, 2011 ; Chen et al, 2012 ; Parker et al, 2013 ; Dill et al, 2014 ; Brown et al, 2016 ; Cook et al, 2016 ; Ferenchak and Marshall, 2016 ; Brown et al, 2016b ) and Canada (n = 1) ( Bhatia et al, 2016 ); Europe, specifically, the United Kingdom (n = 9) ( Goodman et al, 2013 ; Goodman et al 2013b ; Goodman et al 2014 ; Heinen et al, 2015 ; Panter and Ogilvie, 2015 ; Heinen and Ogilvie, 2016 ; Panter et al, 2016 ; Panter and Ogilvie, 2017 ; Song et al, 2017 ) and Denmark (n = 1) ( Jensen, 2008 ); and Australia (n = 4) ( Greaves et al, 2015 ; Langdon, 2015 ; Rissel et al, 2015 ; Heesch et al, 2016 ). Only three studies were based in LMIC, specifically, Colombia, Mexico and Brazil ( Cerdá et al, 2012 ; Pazin et al, 2016 ; Chang et al, 2017 ).…”

“…Among these, one study evaluated newly built aerial tram infrastructure which was implemented in combination with other neighborhood improvements including, additional lighting in public spaces, pedestrian bridges and recreational centers ( Cerdá et al, 2012 ). Five studies evaluated the health effects of bicycle lanes which were variously combined with a host of interventions such as light rail and pedestrian infrastructure improvements, the creation of parking facilities and additional lighting ( Boarnet et al, 2005 ; Goodman et al, 2013 ; Brown et al, 2016 ; Pazin et al, 2016 ; Brown et al, 2016b ). The remaining studies (n = 4) combined BRT and bicycle/pedestrian paths with park-and-ride sites ( Heinen et al, 2015 ; Heinen and Ogilvie, 2016 ; Panter et al, 2016 ; Chang et al, 2017 ).…”

“…The intervention also included a light rail line extension, narrowing of automotive lanes and the creation of wider and better lit sidewalks. Intervention (near) group: Adults living (≤800 m) from the complete street renovation Control (far) group: Adults living 801–2000m from complete street renovation Adults (536) NR 51 Active transit mode share (n = 3) No 4 Brown et al (2016b) Salt Lake City, USA 2013 MC: cycling infrastructure; bike lanes (unclear) The complete streets intervention included the completion of a sporadic bike lane and involved widening sections to make it a designated “high comfort” bike lane (with speed limit reduced to 50 km/h) on the city bike map. The bike lanes were painted on both sides of the street and the sidewalks were improved and widened to create a shared bike and pedestrian path.…”

Revealed Preference Methods for Studying Bicycle Route Choice—A Systematic Review

“…A pollution focused study in Colorado USA made 45 participants travelling with all modes to wear a modified backpack containing GPS together with air intake tubes connected to air quality instrumentation [ 46 ]. Lastly two before and after infrastructure evaluation studies in Portland [ 47 ] and Salt Lake City, USA [ 48 ] required 341 and 939 participants respectively to wear both a GPS device and accelerometer.…”

Methods, theory, and behaviour change

“…Diffusion of Innovation also categorises individuals into stages reflecting their readiness to change. Heesch et al (2016) and Brown et al (2016) have taken advantage of 'natural experiments' (Craig et al, 2012) to study the effects of new bicycle infrastructure. Heesch and colleagues found that a new veloway can increase distances cycled.…”