Behavior
Individual and contextual factors associated with active travel to work in England and Wales Jemima Stockton* Jemima Stockton Oliver Duke-Williams
Two thirds of adults in the United Kingdom live with overweight, and whilst around 43% of commuters In England and Wales travel less than 5km to work, only 14% walk or cycle to work. The potential for active travel to improve public health through increased physical activity is huge. A shift away from car dependency, and thereby reduced transport commissions, also plays a role in reducing risks to global health posed by climate change. In previous work, we examined people’s travel to work behaviours using the Office for National Statistics Longitudinal Study (LS). The LS is the largest longitudinal data resource in England and Wales, containing linked census and life events data for a largely representative 1% sample from 1971 onwards. Between 2 consecutive decennial censuses, we found that among those travelling by bicycle at one census, a much higher proportion switched to car commuting at the next (43.5%) than retained their commute mode (30.8%). Car drivers had the highest rate of mode retention of all commuters, with 86.3% drivers commuting at one census still commuting by car ten years later at the next. Currently, we are exploiting the unparalleled sample size of the LS to understand the individual and contextual factors – such as age, neighbourhood walkability, distance to work, and workplace and residential stability – associated with propensity to maintain, or switch to, active travel. We also plan to use the LS to study the long-term impacts of commuting on health, using indicators such as mortality. Our findings will provide evidence on which to base pro-environmental and pro-health transport policies.