Public transit generates new physical activity: Evidence from individual GPS and accelerometer data before and after light rail construction in a neighborhood of Salt Lake City, Utah, USA

Harvey J Miller; Calvin P Tribby; Barbara B Brown; Ken R Smith; Carol M Werner; Jean Wolf; Laura Wilson; Marcelo G Simas Oliveira

doi:10.1016/j.healthplace.2015.08.005

Public transit generates new physical activity: Evidence from individual GPS and accelerometer data before and after light rail construction in a neighborhood of Salt Lake City, Utah, USA

Health Place. 2015 Nov:36:8-17. doi: 10.1016/j.healthplace.2015.08.005. Epub 2015 Sep 1.

Authors

Harvey J Miller¹, Calvin P Tribby², Barbara B Brown³, Ken R Smith⁴, Carol M Werner⁵, Jean Wolf⁶, Laura Wilson⁶, Marcelo G Simas Oliveira⁶

Affiliations

¹ Department of Geography, The Ohio State University, 1036 Derby Hall/154 North Oval Mall, Columbus, OH 43210, USA; Center for Urban and Regional Analysis (CURA), The Ohio State University, USA. Electronic address: miller.81@osu.edu.
² Department of Geography, The Ohio State University, 1036 Derby Hall/154 North Oval Mall, Columbus, OH 43210, USA; Center for Urban and Regional Analysis (CURA), The Ohio State University, USA.
³ Department of Family and Consumer Studies, University of Utah, USA.
⁴ Department of Family and Consumer Studies, University of Utah, USA; Huntsman Cancer Institute, University of Utah, USA.
⁵ Department of Psychology, University of Utah, USA.
⁶ Westat, Inc., USA.

Abstract

Poor health outcomes from insufficient physical activity (PA) are a persistent public health issue. Public transit is often promoted for positive influence on PA. Although there is cross-sectional evidence that transit users have higher PA levels, this may be coincidental or shifted from activities such as recreational walking. We use a quasi-experimental design to test if light rail transit (LRT) generated new PA in a neighborhood of Salt Lake City, Utah, USA. Participants (n=536) wore Global Positioning System (GPS) receivers and accelerometers before (2012) and after (2013) LRT construction. We test within-person differences in individuals' PA time based on changes in transit usage pre- versus post-intervention. We map transit-related PA to detect spatial clustering of PA around the new transit stops. We analyze within-person differences in PA time based on daily transit use and estimate the effect of daily transit use on PA time controlling for socio-demographic variables. Results suggest that transit use directly generates new PA that is not shifted from other PA. This supports the public health benefits from new high quality public transit such as LRT.

Keywords: Accelerometer; Global positioning system; Physical activity; Public transit; Quasi-experiment.

Publication types

Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural
Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Accelerometry* / statistics & numerical data
Environment Design
Exercise*
Female
Geographic Information Systems*
Humans
Male
Railroads*
Transportation / methods*
Utah

Abstract

Publication types

MeSH terms

Grants and funding