Back to Annual Meeting Page		American Public Health Association 133rd Annual Meeting & Exposition December 10-14, 2005 Philadelphia, PA

Abstract #101284

Lilah M. Besser, MSPH, National Center on Birth Defects and Developmental Disabilities, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 1600 Clifton Road, MS E-86, Atlanta, GA 30333, 404-498-4445, lbesser@cdc.gov and Andrew L. Dannenberg, MD, MPH, National Center for Environmental Health, DEEHS, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 4770 Buford Highway, Mailstop F-30, Atlanta, GA 30341.

Objectives: To estimate the total daily walking times obtained by Americans to and from transit and the predictors of achieving the Surgeon General's recommendation of 30 minutes of physical activity daily solely by walking to and from transit. Methods: We examined transit associated walking times for 3,312 transit users among the 160,758 respondents to the 2001 National Household Travel Survey. This telephone-based survey is sponsored by the U.S. Department of Transportation to assess American travel behavior. Results: Americans achieve a median of 19 minutes of physical activity daily solely by walking to and from transit; 29% of those walking to and from transit achieve 30 minutes of daily physical activity. The median single walking trip time to or from transit was 4.0 minutes. There were a total of 11,940 separate walk segments to or from transit and 27.6% of the sample walked at least one trip segment of 10 minute or more. In multivariate analysis, rail users (versus bus), minorities, people in households earning less than $15,000 a year, and people in high density urban areas were significantly more likely to achieve 30 minutes of daily physical activity. Conclusions: Walking to and from public transportation can help physically inactive populations (especially low income and minority groups) attain 30 minutes of physical activity daily. Increased access to public transit may help to promote and maintain active lifestyles.

Learning Objectives: At the end of this poster or presentation the learner should be able to

• Describe which populations achieve the longest median walking time to and from transit.
• List the predictors of obtaining 30 minutes of physical activity daily by walking to and from transit.
• Understand that increased access to public transit may provide a viable and effective option to promote and maintain active lifestyles.

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

I wish to disclose that I have NO financial interests or other relationship with the manufactures of commercial products, suppliers of commercial services or commercial supporters.