Closing the loop: short term impacts on physical activity of the completion of a loop trail in Sydney, Australia

Abstract

Background In Australia, an estimated 57% of the population do not meet physical activity recommendations for health. The built environment is important for active living, and recreational trails provide safe and pleasant settings for this purpose. However, evidence for positive impacts on physical activity from real world natural experiments is sparse. We describe the impact of transforming a recreational trail into a loop on usage by cyclists and pedestrians and users’ physical activity levels. Method We conducted time series analyses of pre and post-completion (November 2013–July 2015) counts taken from infrared electronic counters of pedestrians and cyclists on two established sections of the trail adjusted for underlying trend, trend change, weather, holidays and trail closures. Chi-square analyses of pre and post-completion visual counts examined change in the distribution of pedestrian/cyclist, adult/child, and male/female users. Descriptive and bivariate analyses of post-completion intercept survey data of 249 trail users were conducted to examine user characteristics and impact on physical activity. Results Pedestrian and cyclist counts on established trail sections increased by between 200 and 340% from pre to post-completion. Visual count data showed a significant 7% increase in children (vs adults) using the trail at one site pre to post ( p = 0.008). Of previous users, 48% reported doing more physical activity at the trail and this was additional to (not replacing) physical activity done elsewhere. Those users not meeting physical activity recommendations were more likely to report increased total physical activity since the loop was created (55.5% vs 39.2%, p = 0.031). The connected loop nature of the trail and its length was perceived to encourage more and different forms of physical activity. Conclusion Creating an accessible loop trail away from motorised traffic can lead to increased trail use and potentially total physical activity. The modification to the trail encouraged proportionate and real increases in usage among vulnerable populations such as children and perhaps greater total physical activity especially for people not meeting physical activity recommendations. The findings suggest that the benefits of environmental changes such as these can accrue to those most in need of support for being physically active. Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (10.1186/s12966-019-0815-4) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Walking on Water—A Natural Experiment of a Population Health Intervention to Promote Physical Activity after the Winter Holidays

“…The frozen waterway trail studied here attracted over 200,000 visitors each year, representing 2000–4500 visitors daily. This daily visitor rate was 3- to 5-fold higher than any other published evaluation of an urban trail using similar methods [4,16,25,26]. Furthermore, the 3- to 5-fold increase in user counts during the intervention greatly exceeds the effect size observed in previous natural experiments or urban trail expansions [16,25,26,27].…”

“…This daily visitor rate was 3- to 5-fold higher than any other published evaluation of an urban trail using similar methods [4,16,25,26]. Furthermore, the 3- to 5-fold increase in user counts during the intervention greatly exceeds the effect size observed in previous natural experiments or urban trail expansions [16,25,26,27]. The data presented here suggest that creating a trail along a frozen waterway is a unique population health strategy that attracts large segments of an urban population to be physically active in the winter.…”

“…User counts were collected objectively using a PYRO-Box people counter (Eco-Counter, Montreal, QC, Canada) throughout the duration of the intervention and control periods. The PYRO-Box counts people by detecting their body heat using passive-infrared pyroelectric technology, and a high-precision lens, and is used frequently to quantify visitors to urban trials [15,16]. It was chosen for its high level of accuracy, data storage capabilities, wireless connectivity, and long battery life [17,18].…”

“…When weather permitted, trail users completed a brief survey regarding their demographic information, the frequency and duration of trail use, and the perceived impact of the trail on their mental and physical health. Trail counts, objective measurements of physical activity, and surveys of users are the most common methods used to assess physical activity-based population health interventions [15,16,17,18,19,20]. When used in concert, data can be triangulated to answer questions relevant to policy makers, including “How often is the intervention being used?”; “What dose/amount of activity are users achieving?”; and “What are users saying about the intervention?”…”

Multi-use physical activity trails in an urban setting and cardiovascular disease: a difference-in-differences analysis of a natural experiment in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada

“…A core assumption when creating attributes of the built environment that support physical activity is that citizens will use them. Previous natural experiments reveal that expanding multi-use trails in an urban setting increase trail use and physical activity levels of individuals [ 36 – 38 ]. For example, following the creation of a 3-mile paved multi-use trail in Knoxville Tennessee, areas adjacent to the trail observed a 3-fold increase in the number of pedestrians and cyclists, compared to a comparison areas that were not exposed to a new trail [ 37 ].…”