title: Active Commuting Behaviors in a Nordic Metropolitan Setting in Relation to Modality, Gender, and Health Recommendations.
abstract: Active commuting between home and place of work or study is often cited as an interesting source of physical activity in a public health perspective. However, knowledge about these behaviors is meager. This was therefore studied in adult active commuters (n = 1872) in Greater Stockholm, Sweden, a Nordic metropolitan setting. They received questionnaires and individually adjusted maps to draw their normal commuting route. Three different modality groups were identified in men and women: single-mode cyclists and pedestrians (those who only cycle or walk, respectively) and dual-mode commuters (those who alternately walk or cycle). Some gender differences were observed in trip distances, frequencies, and velocities. A large majority of the commuting trip durations met the minimum health recommendation of at least 10-minute-long activity bouts. The median single-mode pedestrians and dual-mode commuters met or were close to the recommended weekly physical activity levels of at least 150 minutes most of the year, whereas the single-mode cyclists did so only during spring-mid-fall. A high total number of trips per year (range of medians: 230-390) adds to the value in a health perspective. To fully grasp active commuting behaviors in future studies, both walking and cycling should be assessed over different seasons and ideally over the whole year.
authors.affiliation: Research Unit for Movement, Health and Environment, The Swedish School of Sport and Health Sciences, GIH, Stockholm SE-114 86, Sweden. stigell.erik@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Erik
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Stigell
authors.affiliation: Research Unit for Movement, Health and Environment, The Swedish School of Sport and Health Sciences, GIH, Stockholm SE-114 86, Sweden. peter.schantz@gih.se.|Unit for Occupational and Environmental Medicine, Department of Public Health and Clinical Medicine, Umeå University, Umeå SE-901 87, Sweden. peter.schantz@gih.se.
authors.forename: Peter
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Schantz
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001642:Bicycling / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012737:Sex Factors; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D013548:Sweden; D014186:Transportation / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D014505:Urban Population / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D016138:Walking / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*
keywords: bicycling; commuting; distance; duration; frequency; modality; seasonality; velocity; walking