title: Predictors of initiating and maintaining active commuting to work using transport and public health perspectives in Australia.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To identify predictors for initiating and maintaining active commuting (AC) to work following the 2003 Australia's Walk to Work Day (WTWD) campaign.
  
  
  METHODS
  Pre- and post-campaign telephone surveys of a cohort of working age (18-65 years) adults (n=1100, 55% response rate). Two dependent campaign outcomes were assessed: initiating or maintaining AC (i.e., walk/cycle and public transport) on a single day (WTWD), and increasing or maintaining health-enhancing active commuting (HEAC) level (> or = 30 min/day) in a usual week following WTWD campaign.
  
  
  RESULTS
  A significant population-level increase in HEAC (3.9%) was observed (McNemar's chi(2)=6.53, p=0.01) with 136 (19.0%) achieving HEAC at post campaign. High confidence in incorporating walking into commute, being active pre-campaign and younger age (<46years) were positively associated with both outcomes. The utility of AC for avoiding parking hassles (AOR=2.1, 95% CI: 1.2-3.6), for less expense (AOR=1.8, 95% CI: 1.1-3.1), for increasing one's health (AOR=2.5, 95% CI: 1.1-5.6) and for clean air (AOR=2.2, 95% CI: 1.0-4.4) predicted HEAC outcome whereas avoiding the stress of driving (AOR=2.6, 95% CI: 1.4-5.0) and the hassle of parking predicted the single-day AC.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Transportation interventions targeting parking and costs could be further enhanced by emphasizing health benefits of AC. AC was less likely to occur among inactive employees.
authors.affiliation: Centre for Physical Activity and Health (CPAH), School of Public Health, Level 2, Medical Foundation Building K25, The University of Sydney, NSW 2006, Australia. dafnam@health.usyd.edu.au
authors.forename: Dafna
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Merom
authors.forename: Yvette D
authors.initials: YD
authors.lastname: Miller
authors.forename: Hidde P
authors.initials: HP
authors.lastname: van der Ploeg
authors.forename: Adrian
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Bauman
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001334:Automobile Driving / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D006304:Health Status; D006306:Health Surveys; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009043:Motor Activity; D016272:Occupational Health; D010299:Parking Facilities / Q000191:economics / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D011634:Public Health; D012307:Risk Factors; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D013997:Time Factors; D014186:Transportation; D016138:Walking; D017132:Workplace; D055815:Young Adult