Motivations for active commuting: a qualitative investigation of the period of home or work relocation

International Journal of Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity, Sep 2012

Background Promoting walking or cycling to work (active commuting) could help to increase population physical activity levels. According to the habit discontinuity and residential self-selection hypotheses, moving home or workplace is a period when people (re)assess, and may be more likely to change, their travel behavior. Research in this area is dominated by the use of quantitative research methods, but qualitative approaches can provide in-depth insight into the experiences and processes of travel behavior change. This qualitative study aimed to explore experiences and motivations regarding travel behavior around the period of relocation, in an effort to understand how active commuting might be promoted more effectively. Methods Participants were recruited from the Commuting and Health in Cambridge study cohort in the UK. Commuters who had moved home, workplace or both between 2009 and 2010 were identified, and a purposive sample was invited to participate in semi-structured interviews regarding their experiences of, and travel behavior before and after, relocating. A grounded theory approach was taken to analysis. Results Twenty-six commuters participated. Participants were motivated by convenience, speed, cost and reliability when selecting modes of travel for commuting. Physical activity was not a primary motivation, but incidental increases in physical activity were described and valued in association with active commuting, the use of public transport and the use of park-and-ride facilities. Conclusions Emphasizing and improving the relative convenience, cost, speed and reliability of active commuting may be a more promising approach to promoting its uptake than emphasizing the health benefits, at least around the time of relocation. Providing good quality public transport and free car parking within walking or cycling distance of major employment sites may encourage the inclusion of active travel in the journey to work, particularly for people who live too far from work to walk or cycle the entire journey. Contrary to a straightforward interpretation of the self-selection hypothesis, people do not necessarily decide how they prefer to travel, relocate, and then travel in their expected way; rather, there is constant negotiation, reassessment and adjustment of travel behavior following relocation which may offer an extended window of opportunity for travel behavior change.

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Motivations for active commuting: a qualitative investigation of the period of home or work relocation

International Journal of Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity Motivations for active commuting: a qualitative investigation of the period of home or work relocation Caroline HD Jones 0 1 2 David Ogilvie 1 0 MRC Epidemiology Unit and CEDAR, Cambridge. She is now at the Department of Primary Care Health Sciences, University of Oxford , Oxford , UK 1 MRC Epidemiology Unit and UKCRC Centre for Diet and Activity Research (CEDAR) , Box 296 , Institute of Public Health , Forvie Site, Robinson Way, Cambridge, CB2 OSR , UK 2 Department of Primary Care Health Sciences, University of Oxford, Radcliffe Observatory Quarter , Woodstock Road, Oxford OX2 6GG , UK Background: Promoting walking or cycling to work (active commuting) could help to increase population physical activity levels. According to the habit discontinuity and residential self-selection hypotheses, moving home or workplace is a period when people (re)assess, and may be more likely to change, their travel behavior. Research in this area is dominated by the use of quantitative research methods, but qualitative approaches can provide in-depth insight into the experiences and processes of travel behavior change. This qualitative study aimed to explore experiences and motivations regarding travel behavior around the period of relocation, in an effort to understand how active commuting might be promoted more effectively. Methods: Participants were recruited from the Commuting and Health in Cambridge study cohort in the UK. Commuters who had moved home, workplace or both between 2009 and 2010 were identified, and a purposive sample was invited to participate in semi-structured interviews regarding their experiences of, and travel behavior before and after, relocating. A grounded theory approach was taken to analysis. Results: Twenty-six commuters participated. Participants were motivated by convenience, speed, cost and reliability when selecting modes of travel for commuting. Physical activity was not a primary motivation, but incidental increases in physical activity were described and valued in association with active commuting, the use of public transport and the use of park-and-ride facilities. Conclusions: Emphasizing and improving the relative convenience, cost, speed and reliability of active commuting may be a more promising approach to promoting its uptake than emphasizing the health benefits, at least around the time of relocation. Providing good quality public transport and free car parking within walking or cycling distance of major employment sites may encourage the inclusion of active travel in the journey to work, particularly for people who live too far from work to walk or cycle the entire journey. Contrary to a straightforward interpretation of the self-selection hypothesis, people do not necessarily decide how they prefer to travel, relocate, and then travel in their expected way; rather, there is constant negotiation, reassessment and adjustment of travel behavior following relocation which may offer an extended window of opportunity for travel behavior change. Active commuting; Qualitative; Relocation; Habit discontinuity; Residential self-selection Background Promoting physical activity is a public health priority. It is recommended that adults should take part in ≥150 minutes of moderate intensity physical activity each week, but most adults in the UK do not achieve this [ 1 ]. One strategy for increasing population physical activity levels is to promote walking and cycling for transport (active travel). Commuter journeys account for the greatest distances travelled by UK adults [ 2 ], and are a way in which physical activity could be built into the daily routine; hence incorporating walking and cycling into the journey to work (active commuting) has been identified as a particular strategy to reduce physical inactivity [ 3 ]. Indeed, active commuting has been found to be associated with lower levels of overweight and obesity than car commuting [ 4,5 ], and also with reduced sickness absence [6], cardiovascular risk and mortality [ 7,8 ]. Yet levels of active commuting are low: in 2010, 70% of UK adults usually travelled to work by car, compared to 14% by walking or cycling [9]. Understanding the determinants of travel to work, and how levels of active commuting could be increased, is therefore important. The term “active commuting” will be used throughout this paper to refer to those modes of travel to and from work which involve physical activity (walking and cycling). According to this definition, active commuting can involve commuting solely by walking or cycling; or by walking or cycling in combination with motorized modes of travel (for example a combination of car with walking, or of train with cycling). We use the term “inactive commuting” to refer to those modes of travel to and from work which do not involve any significant physical activity (motorized travel only). Inactive commuting can involve one or mo (...truncated)


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Caroline HD Jones, David Ogilvie. Motivations for active commuting: a qualitative investigation of the period of home or work relocation, International Journal of Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity, 2012, pp. 109, 9, DOI: 10.1186/1479-5868-9-109