Browsing by Subject "Active transportation"
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Item Children and youth transport in different urban morphological types(Journal of Transport and Land Use, 2016) Sarjala, Satu; Broberg, Anna; Hynynen, AriAs demonstrated in many earlier studies, the qualities of physical environment have great impacts on physical activity (PA) behavior. However, studying individual built-environment variables often produces contradictory effects between studies. To overcome this, we composed multivariate environment types using principal component analysis that takes notice of the inter-correlations between physical-environment variables. To get a realistic view of the places children and adolescents visit in their daily life, we used mapping methodology in which children themselves defined their important places. Based on 16 built-environment variables, six built-environment types were composed around these places. We found that walking and cycling were most prominent in residential environments and least common in mixed-use business districts. Areas with big commercial buildings as well as green environments had the highest proportions of car use. Most places, in general, were visited with friends, but most typically areas with big commercial buildings and mixed-use business districts were reached in the company of friends. Relatively many places were visited alone in residential areas.Item How Do Complete Streets Matter for Communities? The Case of Richfield, Minnesota(Minnesota Department of Transportation, 2020-07) Phinney, Robin; Fonseca, Camila; Bean, Nathan; Zhao, Jerry ZhirongMunicipalities across Minnesota have turned to Complete Streets in an attempt to develop more usable roads for their residents. This report investigates how Complete Streets are reshaping one Minnesota community. In 2013, Richfield, a suburb of Minneapolis, enacted a particularly innovative Complete Streets policy. Known locally as "Richfield Sweet Streets," the program has led to the reconstruction of several major roads across the city. Richfield's Sweet Streets program is unique in that it incorporates a modal hierarchy in which users are prioritized differently in road redesign and reconstruction. It relies on extensive community engagement, aiming to improve outcomes for individuals and the community as a whole. This research presents a baseline analysis of how Richfield's Sweet Streets projects are affecting the local community, while identifying a set of methods and measures for future research. The analysis draws on multiple sources of data to better understand the nature and consequences of Richfield's Sweet Streets for user experience and livability, economic vitality, transportation and safety, and individual and community health. The research aims to illustrate Richfield's innovative approach to transforming its transportation infrastructure while providing a roadmap for future analyses of the impacts of Richfield's Sweet Streets.Item The influence of urban form and socio-demographics on active transport: A 40-neighborhoods study in Chengdu, China(Journal of Transport and Land Use, 2020) Guan, ChengHe; Forsyth, AnnIn China, a centralized planning culture has created similar neighborhoods across the country. Using a survey of 1,048 individuals conducted in 2016 in Chengdu—located in a carefully conceptualized typology of neighborhood forms—we analyzed the associations between individual and neighborhood characteristics and active or nonmotorized transport behavior. Using several multiple logistic and multilevel models, we show how neighborhoods were categorized and how the number of categories or neighborhood types affected the magnitude of the associations with active transport but not the direction. People taking non-work trips were more likely to use active compared with motorized modes in all neighborhood types. Neighborhood type was significant in models but so too were many other individual-level variables and infrastructural and locational features such as bike lanes and location near the river. Of the 3-D physical environment variables, floor area ratio (a proxy for density) was only significant in one model for non-work trips. Intersection density and dissimilarity (land-use diversity) were only significant in a model for work trips. This study shows that to develop strong theories about the connections between active transport and environments, it is important to examine different physical and cultural contexts and perform sensitivity analyses. Research in different parts of China can help provide a more substantial base for evidence-informed policymaking. Planning and design recommendations were made related to active transport need to consider how neighborhoods, built environments, and personal characteristics interact in different kinds of urban environments.Item A mode choice analysis of school trips in New Jersey(Journal of Transport and Land Use, 2014) Noland, Robert; Park, Hyunsoo; Von Hagen, Leigh Ann; Chatman, Daniel G.This paper examines the mode choice behavior of children’s travel to school based on surveys conducted at a sample of schools in New Jersey. The main focus is on a variety of network design, land use, and infrastructure variables that have typically been associated with walking activity. Using a mixed logit model, it is found that good connectivity, more intense residential land use, and better sidewalk infrastructure are associated with increased walking to school. The use of a mixed logit model allows the examination of individual heterogeneity. Results indicate substantial heterogeneity in behavior associated with built environment variables.Item Nonmotorized Transportation Pilot Program Evaluation Study, Phase 2(Center for Transportation Studies, University of Minnesota, 2011-05) Götschi, Thomas; Krizek, Kevin J.; McGinnis, Laurie; Lucke, Jan; Barbeau, JoeThe Nonmotorized Transportation Pilot Program (NTPP) is a congressionally mandated program (SAFETEA-LU Section 1807) that, since 2006, has provided roughly $25 million each to four communities—Columbia, Missouri; Marin County, California; Minneapolis area, Minnesota; Sheboygan County, Wisconsin—to spur levels of walking and cycling via a variety of planning measures. The University of Minnesota Center for Transportation Studies is leading the community-wide population surveys for the Nonmotorized Transportation Pilot Program (NTPP), specifically in phase 2, to measure changes in levels of walking and bicycling as a result of the enhanced conditions for walking and bicycling. To evaluate impacts of the program, two community-wide surveys were conducted before (phase 1: 2006) and after (phase 2: 2010) the pilot program. This report describes the evaluation efforts based on community-wide population surveys. In contrast to project-specific evaluations, community-wide surveys serve the purpose of representatively assessing community-wide levels of nonmotorized travel behavior, which serve as the foundation for subsequent benefit calculations. The survey in phase 1 consisted of a short mail-out questionnaire and a computer assisted telephone interview (CATI) among respondents to the short questionnaire. In phase 2 the short questionnaire was integrated in the CATI. The final sample in phase 1 consisted of 1279 complete records and in phase 2 of 1807 complete records. Statistical analysis focused on evaluating differences between phase 1 and phase 2 in the core variables on nonmotorized travel behavior. The detailed analysis did not reveal any consistent or statistically significant differences between phases 1 and 2. It is important to point out that the inability to detect significant patterns of change is not synonymous to no change occurring. The report discusses some of the factors that make this type of research challenging.Item Past and present of active school transportation: An exploration of the built environment effects in Toronto, Canada from 1986 to 2006(Journal of Transport and Land Use, 2016) Mitra, Raktim; Papaioannou, Elli M.; Nurul Habib, Khandker M.The health benefits of walking and cycling to and from school, also called active school transportation (AST), are well documented. In the context of a declining trend in AST across the Western world, this paper examines school-travel behavior of 11-year-old children in Toronto, using multiple cross-sectional data from 1986, 1996, and 2006 Transportation Tomorrow Surveys. Results from binomial logit models suggest that school-travel distance and neighborhood built environment indeed explain some variation in the odds of AST between 1986 and 2006, and that the correlates of AST may have changed over time. Higher neighborhood block density correlated with walking/cycling in 1986. In contrast, household automobile ownership was negatively associated with AST in 2006; the effect of the built environment was relatively weak for that year. In addition, fewer children walked/cycled in 2006 compared to 1986, even when distance to school was short (<0.8 kilometers). Policy and programs should recognize the potentially changing role of travel distance to school and automobile ownership on a child’s school travel outcome. Interventions in neighborhoods with high automobile ownership should specifically focus on education and encouragement to increase AST rates.Item Physical activity in childhood cancer survivors(2014-08) Slater, Megan ElizabethBackground: Childhood cancer survivors (CCS) are at high risk of developing treatment-related late effects, including cardiovascular disease and diabetes, which can be exacerbated by inadequate physical activity (PA). Relationships between PA, physical fitness, and cardiometabolic risk factors in CCS have not been well described. Furthermore, active transportation, a specific domain of PA, has not been previously studied in CCS. The primary aims of this dissertation were to examine associations between PA/fitness and cardiometabolic risk factors and to identify active transportation behaviors and barriers in CCS.Methods: In Project 1, associations between PA and cardiometabolic risk factors were examined in 319 CCS and 208 sibling controls aged 9-18 years. In Project 2, associations between PA/fitness and cardiometabolic risk factors were examined in 119 adult CCS with a history of hematopoietic cell transplantation and 66 adult sibling controls. In Project 3, we recruited 158 adult CCS and 153 controls matched on age, sex, and location to complete a survey regarding active transportation behaviors and perceptions. Linear and logistic regression models accounting for correlation among siblings or matched participants were used to address research questions.Results: Higher levels of PA in CCS aged 9-18 (Project 1) and higher levels of endurance in adult CCS (Project 2) were associated with a favorable cardiometabolic profile. In Project 3, adult CCS engaged in similar levels of active transportation as controls despite perceiving greater health-related barriers. Marital/relationship status, planning/psychosocial barriers, and perceived neighborhood walkability were the strongest correlates of active transportation among CCS, while objective neighborhood walkability was the strongest correlate among controls.Conclusions: Findings suggest that efforts to increase PA and endurance in CCS may reduce the risk of future cardiovascular disease. Interventions might consider promoting active transportation as a moderate intensity PA option, since it appears to be as well accepted in CCS as in healthy adults. Such interventions will not be successful, however, without existing or improved pedestrian and bicycle infrastructure, safety, and access to local amenities. Additional research is needed to confirm results and explore the feasibility and efficacy of active transportation interventions in this population.Item Quality of Life: Assessment for Transportation Performance Measures(Minnesota Department of Transportation, 2013-01) Schneider, Ingrid E.; Guo, Tian; Schroeder, SierraQuality of life (QOL) is a commonly used term. Defining QOL, however, is an ongoing challenge that experts often take on with minimal input from citizens. This groundbreaking research sought citizen input on what comprised QOL and what role transportation played in it. Further, this research explored in detail the important factors across the breadth of transportation and how the Minnesota Department of Transportation (MnDOT) was performing on these important factors. The research encompassed three phases between 2010 and 2011: (1) an extensive literature review on QOL, (2) 24 focus groups that asked Minnesota’s citizens about their QOL, and (3) a mail questionnaire about what matters in quality of life, transportation and their intersection. Eleven related quality of life factors emerged, including transportation: education, employment and finances, environment, housing, family, friends and neighbors, health, local amenities, recreation and entertainment, safety, spirituality/faith/serenity, and transportation. Within transportation, seven important areas were identified that predicted satisfaction with MnDOT services: access, design, environmental issues, maintenance, mobility, safety and transparency. Results reveal that a) QOL is complex and transportation plays an important and consistent role in it across Minnesota; b) transportation is critical to QOL because it connects us to important destinations in aspects that matter most; and c) Minnesotans can readily identify what matters and how the state is performing within the breadth of transportation services.Item What is mixed use? Presenting an interaction method for measuring land use mix(Journal of Transport and Land Use, 2013) Manaugh, Kevin; Kreider, TylerIn recent decades, the mixing of complementary land uses has become an increasingly important goal in transportation and land use planning. Land uses mix has been shown to be an influential factor in travel behavior (mode choice and distance traveled), improved health outcomes, and neighborhood-level quality of life. However, quantifying the extent to which a given area is mixed-use has proven difficult. Much of the existing research on the mixing of land uses has focused on the presence and proportion of different uses as opposed to the extent to which they actually interact with one another. This study proposes a new measure of land use mix, a land use interaction method—which accounts for the extent to which complementary land uses adjoin one another—using only basic land use data. After mapping and analyzing the results, several statistical models are built to show the relationship between this new measure and reported travel behavior. The models presented show the usefulness of the approach by significantly improving the model fit in comparison to a commonly-used land use mix index, while controlling for socio-demographic and built form factors in three large Canadian cities (Vancouver, Toronto, and Montreal). Our results suggest that simple, area-based, measures of land use mix do not adequately capture the subtleties of land use mix. The degree to which an area shows fine-grained patterns of land use is shown to be more highly correlated with behavior outcomes than indices based solely on the proportions of land use categories.