Personal and Environmental Characteristics Associated with Choice of Active Transport Modes versus Car Use for Different Trip Purposes of Trips up to 7.5 Kilometers in The Netherlands

Abstract

IntroductionThis explorative study examines personal and neighbourhood characteristics associated with short-distance trips made by car, bicycle or walking in order to identify target groups for future interventions.MethodsData were derived from ‘Mobility Research Netherlands (2004–2009; MON)’, a dataset including information regarding trips made by household members (n = ±53,000 respondents annually). Using postal codes of household addresses, MON data were enriched with data on neighbourhood typologies. Multilevel logistic modelling was used to calculate odds ratio (OR) of active transport versus car use associated with four different trip purposes (shopping (reference), commuting, taking or bringing persons or sports). A total of 277,292 short distance trips made by 102,885 persons were included in analyses.ResultsCompared to women shopping, women less often take active transport to sports clubs (OR = 0.88) and men less often take active transport for shopping (OR = 0.92), or for bringing or taking persons (OR = 0.76). Those aged 25–34 years (OR = 0.83) and 35–44 years (OR = 0.96) were more likely to use active transport for taking or bringing persons than persons belonging to the other age groups (relative to trips made for shopping by those 65 years or over). A higher use of active transport modes by persons with an university or college degree was found and particularly persons living in urban-centre neighbourhoods were likely to use active transport modes.ConclusionIn developing policies promoting a mode shift special attention should be given to the following groups: a) men making short distance trips for taking or bringing persons, b) women making short distance trips to sport facilities, c) persons belonging to the age groups of 25–44 years of age, d) Persons with a primary school or lower general secondary education degree and persons with a high school or secondary school degree and e) persons living in rural or urban-green neighbourhoods.

Effect and Process Evaluation of a Smartphone App to Promote an Active Lifestyle in Lower Educated Working Young Adults: Cluster Randomized Controlled Trial

“…Young adults who do not complete higher education (college or university) and who start employment around the age of 18 years have an even higher risk for inactive lifestyle because of their lower educational attainment [14]. Among adults of all ages, lower levels of education have been associated with lower levels of overall physical activity [5,15], less active transport [16,17], higher levels of overweight or obesity, and the prevalence of common chronic diseases [18]. Specific research on young adults is scarce and mostly focused on students as they are easier to recruit through university and college settings [4].…”

Bikeshare’s impact on active travel: Evidence from the United States, Great Britain, and Australia

“…Physical activity is increasingly regarded as the 'best buy' in preventative health measures (Bauman et al, 2009) and walking and cycling represent one of most effective methods of building PA into daily life (Scheepers et al, 2013), whilst at the same time avoiding the pollution and congestion caused by motorised forms of transport (Bauman et al, 2008). The World Health Organisation recommends healthy adults (18-64 years old) should engage in a minimum of 150 min of moderate intensity aerobic activity throughout the week (World Health Organisation, 2010) and bike use has been found to achieve the necessary intensity to qualify for moderate-intensity activity (Ainsworth et al, 2011;Gojanovic et al, 2011;Simons et al, 2009;Sperlich et al, 2012;Fishman et al, 2015a).…”

Start Walking! How to Boost Sustainable Mode Choice—Psychological Measures to Support a Shift from Individual Car Use to More Sustainable Traffic Modes

“…For instance, a lack of knowledge about good preconditions for walking (poor communication) will lead to sub-optimal appreciation of these preconditions by the users, while convincing communication that gets people to walk, but then they find out that the preconditions are unsatisfactory, may result in a boomerang effect: "I tried it. It worked so badly that I will never do it again" [24][25][26].…”