Determining factors affecting public bike ridership and its spatial change before and after COVID-19

COVID-19, which has spread since late 2019, has caused drastic changes in transportation use. A few studies have already addressed the relationships between COVID-19 and transportation mode choice. However, in most cases, the analysis has been based on transit ridership during the early phases of the COVID-19 pandemic. In addition, few studies have focused on public bike use before and after COVID-19. This study examines the effect of COVID-19 on the ridership of public bikes and various determining factors of public bike use. An origin-destination (OD) analysis and spatial regression models were used with public bike ridership data from Seoul, Korea. The findings of the analysis can be summarized as follows. First, this study confirms that public parks have significantly influenced the increase in public bike ridership since the COVID-19 outbreak. This finding indicates that outdoor spaces such as riverside parks have played important roles in public bike ridership during the pandemic period. Second, this study finds that accessibility to subway stations strongly impacts the increase in public bike ridership. This means that the demand for public bikes as a connected transportation mode has increased since COVID-19. Third, access to bike lanes has had a significant impact on the increase in public bike ridership. This finding indicates the importance of expanding the public bike infrastructure network. Finally, this study makes policy proposals to promote public bike ridership during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Fuzzy PROMETHEE model for public transport mode choice analysis

The importance of public transportation service quality research is significantly increasing in recent years, it is the key to understanding and analyzing passengers' preferences. Different approaches are utilized to explore users' preferences however, dominantly these apply merely subjective scoring of the attributes and alternatives of the mobility. In this paper, we design a specific model for public transportation mode choice which is capable of integrating subjective scoring with scoring by objective measures such as distance or time. Owing to this purpose, we combine the outranking Preference Ranking Organization METHod for Enrichment Evaluation (PROMETHEE) as a method to evaluate passengers' preferences for tangible and intangible criteria with the fuzzy theory, and the Graphical Analysis for Interactive Aid (GAIA) plane to visualize the interactions between attributes as well as to test the robustness of the results via sensitivity analysis. The contribution of this paper is the constructed integrative method that is less subjective than the well-known models but also keeps the freedom of individual evaluators in expressing their preferences. Moreover, another significant issue of mode choice analysis is the group consideration, which is also refined in the new methodology by taking into account not only the mean of group preferences but also their range. A common characteristic of public surveys, the possible vague responses of the layman pattern is solved with the fuzzy approach to reduce the risk of uncertain scoring. The proposed model acts as a great base for the fuzzy inference system that can facilitate mode choice for passengers within a changing environment. The efficiency of the new methodology is demonstrated through a real-world case study of Budapest city, the obtained results are supporting underground mode service quality and highlighting its impact on citizens' behavior in favor of public transport.

Vehicle access and falling transit ridership: evidence from Southern California

We examine pre-COVID declines in transit ridership, using Southern California as a case study. We first illustrate Southern California's unique position in the transit landscape: it is a large transit market that demographically resembles a small one. We then draw on administrative data, travel diaries, rider surveys, accessibility indices, and Census microdata for Southern California, and demonstrate a strong association between rising private vehicle access, particularly among the populations most likely to ride transit, and falling transit use. Because we cannot control quantitatively for the endogeneity between vehicle acquisition and transit use, our results are not causal. Nevertheless, the results strongly suggest that increasing private vehicle access helped depress transit ridership. Given Southern California's similarity to most US transit markets, we conclude that vehicle access may have played a role in transit losses across the US since 2000.

Investigating factors affecting university students' use of subway before and after COVID-19 outbreak: A case study in Tehran

Identifying and examining factors affecting the use of the subway is critical for developing countries as they struggle with high levels of auto use and resulting congestion, noise and air pollution. In this research, we surveyed students of a top-ranked university in the capital of Iran before and after the COVID-19 outbreak to identify the factors affecting their use of the subway. Chi-square tests show that gender, level of education, and being the only child of the family have the highest impact on using a private car. These variables had no significant influence on students' mode choice to university before the COVID-19 pandemic, when students' mode choice was only a function of their residence location. However, the pandemic has affected priorities for mode choice. For instance, hygiene and social distancing, which were previously insignificant to students, are now among their top criteria, and travel time and cost are less important for students than in the past. As a result, subway use has significantly decreased. Based on the results of the research, when making relevant policies, more attention should be paid to the groups of women, undergraduate students and single children that are more likely to use private cars.

Impact of COVID-19 on mode choice behavior: A case study for Dhaka, Bangladesh

To ensure safety against the COVID-19, along with all other countries, Bangladesh as a least-developed country needs to deal with the changes in travel behavior, particularly changes in mode choice behavior. As Dhaka has been marked as a hotspot for the virus contagion, this paper has focused on the changes in mode choice behavior of Dhaka people due to the COVID-19 pandemic while they are on the road. A web-based questionnaire survey was conducted to capture the information on mode preferences and perspectives on travel characteristics for commute and discretionary trips before and during COVID-19. Multinomial Logit (MNL) model based on a utility function has been used to investigate the significance of the socio-demographic attributes and travel characteristics of the trips on the mode choice behavior and to calculate the maximum utility of the mode choice. This study highlighted some noticeable changes in perspective towards mode choice. People prefer walking, private cars, and rickshaw more during the pandemic as they feel these modes are more reliable, available, and cost-effective in this crucial time. Usage of public transportation dropped drastically for discretionary purposes. Additionally, usage of the on-demand vehicle increased during the pandemic as a large portion of commuters shifted to on-demand vehicles from public transportation. Furthermore, this paper suggested some viable policy-making implications to cope with the current pandemic and relatable future national and global crises. Finally, the paper concludes by suggesting some future research insights.

Can continued anti-epidemic measures help post-COVID-19 public transport recovery? Evidence from Taiwan

Introduction and objective

COVID-19 has transformed economic activities and travel behavior, especially for public transport use. When a pandemic ebbs, clarifying travel behavior changes and whether to continue public transport anti-epidemic measures is essential for a post-COVID-19 public transport renaissance. Therefore, this study investigated citizens' metro use behavior across the pre-, in-, and post-COVID-19 phases and post-COVID-19 mode choice in transit service and anti-epidemic policies.

Methods

Through face-to-face interviews, 235 citizens were systematically sampled in proportion to district populations in Kaohsiung, Taiwan, as respondents to conduct analysis of variance for metro use changes and mixed logit modeling for mode choice.

Results

Analysis of variance indicated an overall decrease in metro use from the pre- to in-COVID-19 phase and, for loyal-metro-user citizens, a recovery after entering the post-COVID-19 phase. Moreover, a mixed logit model illustrated that post-COVID-19 metro use was facilitated by mandatory mask wearing in the metro system, rather than transit service levels, and affected by age, number of household children, and pre-COVID-19 travel habits.

Conclusions

Continuing mandatory mask wearing within public transport in an early post-pandemic time and fostering transit use habits in non-pandemic times can help recover post-COVID-19 transit ridership. Moreover, a transit use promotion scheme may not need to target loyal users with original use before and no complete suspension after COVID-19.

Mobility in pandemic times: Exploring changes and long-term effects of COVID-19 on urban mobility behavior

The COVID-19 pandemic marked a global disruption of unprecedented scale which was closely associated with human mobility. Since mobility acts as a facilitator for spreading the virus, individuals were forced to reconsider their respective behaviors. Despite numerous studies having detected behavioral changes during the first lockdown period (spring 2020), there is a lack of longitudinal perspectives that can provide insights into the intra-pandemic dynamics and potential long-term effects. This article investigates COVID-19-induced mobility-behavioral transformations by analyzing travel patterns of Berlin residents during a 20-month pandemic period and comparing them to the pre-pandemic situation. Based on quantitative analysis of almost 800,000 recorded trips, our longitudinal examination revealed individuals having reduced average monthly travel distances by ∼20%, trip frequencies by ∼11%, and having switched to individual modes. Public transportation has suffered a continual regression, with trip frequencies experiencing a relative long-term reduction of ∼50%, and a respective decrease of traveled distances by ∼43%. In contrast, the bicycle (rather than the car) was the central beneficiary, indicated by bicycle-related trip frequencies experiencing a relative long-term increase of ∼53%, and travel distances increasing by ∼117%. Comparing behavioral responses to three pandemic waves, our analysis revealed each wave to have created unique response patterns, which show a gradual softening of individuals' mobility related self-restrictions. Our findings contribute to retracing and quantifying individuals' changing mobility behaviors induced by the pandemic, and to detecting possible long-term effects that may constitute a "new normal" of an entirely altered urban mobility landscape.

Evaluating the effects of the COVID-19 outbreak on the older adults' travel mode choices

BACKGROUND AND AIMS

To increase the older adults' mobility during the COVID-19 outbreak, providing appropriate conditions for using different transportation modes and organizing transportation facilities for the older adults are essential. Hence, this study aims to evaluate and compare factors affecting the older adults' travel mode choice to investigate transportation policies for increasing their independent mobility in the post-outbreak that has not been addressed in previous research.

METHODOLOGY

The population of this cross-sectional study consisted of Isfahan citizens aged 60 years and over. For interviews based on a structured questionnaire, 453 participants were randomly selected in 15 municipality districts of Isfahan. Multinomial logistic models were used to analyze the data.

FINDINGS

The results show that despite the decrease in the average frequency of travels per week, the increase in the share of walking and cycling modes, making shopping and recreational travels on foot, and cycling can indicate the resilience of walking and cycling in critical situations. The results also reveal that active modes have effective roles in the older adults' mobility in the post-outbreak because they are not subject to traffic restrictions like private vehicles and social constraints and crowd avoidance like public transportation.

DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION

Policies such as the proper location of facilities, increasing density and mixing of land uses, landscaping, traffic reduction, increasing ownership of bicycle and tricycle (to eliminate the problems of falling in getting on and off the bicycles), driving training courses for the safe driving, and intersections safety improvement are essential to maintain the older adults' mobility after the outbreak. With more capacity and low occupancy, the public transportation system, high-quality accessibility, and safe routes will also attract the older adults' travels in the crisis.

A data-driven analysis of the potential of public transport for German commuters using accessibility indicators

Background

A significant mode shift will be required in order to meet the ambitious greenhouse gas emissions reduction targets in Germany and elsewhere. Such a mode shift can only be achieved by a combination of drastic push and pull measures. Getting commuters to switch modes might be particularly difficult and have a negative impact on their access to employment and welfare.

Methodology

We investigate the potential for a mode shift from car to public transport for German commuters using a data-driven approach based mainly on open data sources that avoids complex transport model runs. Different datasets on the home and workplace location of all employees in Germany are consolidated to create an origin-destination commuter matrix at traffic analysis zone level. The commuter matrix is merged with travel time data for car and public transport to calculate a spatially disaggregated and mode-specific measure of accessibility. The comparison of accessibility by car and public transport is used to derive the potential for a mode shift and identify potential challenges and barriers.

Results

Public transport accessibility to workplaces is poorer across the country compared to access by car. On average, public transport travel times are almost three times higher than the corresponding car travel times. The differences in accessibility are largely independent of the region type. Results are validated by an independent dataset from a household travel survey. Based on these results, the potential for a mode shift appears to be very low.

Impact of COVID-19: A radical modal shift from public to private transport mode

The unprecedented shock triggered by the COVID-19 pandemic has caused significant impact on public transportation services, travel behavior and mode choice preferences. Increasing risk of virus contagion in shared travel modes might result in a systemic shift from public transport to car commute. Such a shift causes increased congestions, emissions with a burden on the existing infrastructure. Given the urgent need of reconsideration of transport in a post-COVID world, this study presents insights into the possible shift from public transport to car commute due to the coronavirus crisis, potential factors influencing the mode shift, with emphasis being also laid on suitable strategies for promoting public transport use in the future world. Based on an online questionnaire survey conducted in India, results of logistic regression model indicate that commuters' socio-economic characteristics such as age, gender and monthly income tend to significantly influence mode switch preferences. In addition, trip characteristics including travel time, overcrowding and hygiene are strongly associated with mode shift preferences from public transport to car use. Commuters' perceptions on several strategies for promoting public transport have also been assessed, which will indeed pave the way for the formulation of post-COVID transport policies. In essence, efforts need to be directed towards restoring users' confidence and trust by providing a safe, secure and healthy environment to the public transport users.

Perceived risk of using shared mobility services during the COVID-19 pandemic

The COVID-19 pandemic has caused our daily routines to change quickly. The pandemic provokes public fear, resulting in changes in what modes of transport people use to perform their daily activities. It is imperative for transportation authorities to properly identify the different degrees of behavioral change among various social groups. A major factor that can substantially explain individuals' behavioral changes is the personal risk perceptions toward using shared mobility solutions. Thus, this study explores the risk that individuals perceive while using public transit and ridesharing services (as the most widespread forms of shared mobility) during the COVID-19 pandemic. To do so, we designed and implemented a multidimensional travel-behavior survey in the Chicago metropolitan area that comprises socio-demographic information and retrospective questions related to attitudes and travel behavior before and during the pandemic. Utilizing a bivariate ordered probit modeling approach to better account for the potential correlation between unobserved factors, we simultaneously modeled the perceived risk of exposure to the novel coronavirus in case of riding transit and using ridesharing services. A wide range of factors is found to be influential on the perceived risk of using shared mobility services, including the socio-demographic attributes, built environment settings, and the virus spread. Further, our results indicate that the mitigation strategies to increase the ridership of shared mobility services should be adaptive considering the spatial variations.

Measuring changes in travel behavior pattern due to COVID-19 in a developing country: A case study of Pakistan

Travel behavior has been affected around the world since the eruption of corona virus disease (COVID-19). Several industries including transportation industry have been hard hit by the pandemic. As the virus is transmitted through close contact with infected people, number of outdoor trips has reduced causing roads and public transport to be less crowded than before. In order to develop transport-related policies for the post COVID-19 world, it is necessary to explore how the pandemic has affected the travel behavior pattern. This study explored the influence of the COVID-19 pandemic on travel pattern and mode preferences in Pakistan using a questionnaire survey. The results showed significant shift in primary traveling purpose from work and studying to shopping during the pandemic. Number of trips performed for non-commuting purposes were also significantly different before and during the pandemic. A significant modal shift from motorbike to non-motorized modes of travel was found for distances less than 5 km. For longer distances, people shifted from public transport to private car. These findings suggest that past policies regarding different modes may be revisited in the post COVID-19 world. The statistical tests performed on the factors affecting mode choices indicated that the respondents put more priority on pandemic-related items such as infection concern, social distance, hand sanitizers' availability, and cleanliness, etc., during the pandemic. The findings of this study will certainly help in shaping up the policies for the post COVID-19 world especially in the developing countries.

COVID-19 lockdown measures and travel behavior: The case of Thessaloniki, Greece

In this paper, we investigate the travel behavior changes in Thessaloniki, Greece aiming to understand them and explore the factors that affect them under the COVID-19 mobility restriction measures. Socioeconomic and mobility data from two questionnaire surveys, one year before and during the COVID-19 lockdown of April 2020 (with 1462 and 196 responses respectively), were compared by utilizing a wide variety of inductive statistical tests. Ordinary Least-Squares regression models and Cox proportional hazards duration models were employed to explore any concurrent socioeconomic effect on travel behavior patterns. Results showed that the number of daily trips per person was on average decreased by 50% during the lockdown. This decrease was much greater for the non-commuting trips. Trips on foot were increased, private car was mainly used for commuting and public transport modal shares were heavily reduced. Trip durations were generally increased, as travelling was considered a recreational activity per se. The starting times of the first trips of the day were more evenly distributed throughout the day and many travelers only started their first trips late in the afternoon. Older travelers generally maintained their mobility behavior patterns despite their higher vulnerability to COVID-19 disease. Lower-income travelers were likely to make more daily trips. Male travelers tended to make higher-duration trips compared to their female counterparts. Since pandemics may become recurring events in the future, our findings provide for a better understanding of their influence on mobility and support the design of customized policies to fulfill sustainable mobility objectives during lockdown circumstances.

Impacts of Pokémon GO on route and mode choice decisions: exploring the potential for integrating augmented reality, gamification, and social components in mobile apps to influence travel decisions

This study aims to understand the impacts of Pokémon GO, a popular location-based augmented reality (AR) mobile gaming app, on route and mode choices. Pokémon GO leverages AR to introduce virtual objects at fixed and dynamic locations that translate through the app interface to incentives in the real world that potentially influence users' route and mode choices. Its gaming nature and social components can possibly enhance long-term user engagement through applying the characteristics of game elements and providing opportunities for competition, collaboration, companionship, and social reinforcement. An online survey is conducted to collect the self-reported behavior of a group of Pokémon GO users to explore its impacts on the following aspects of travel behavior: (1) the frequency of changing the route to interact with virtual objects; (2) the likelihood of carpooling more instead of driving alone for more in-app collaboration; and (3) the likelihood of shifting mode from drive alone to public transit, walking, and cycling if provided with additional incentives. The ordered survey responses including frequency and likelihood are analyzed using random parameters ordered probit models to account for the unobserved heterogeneity across users and identify subpopulations of travelers who are more susceptible to the influence of Pokémon GO. The modeling results identify four types of variables (attitude and perceptions related to Pokémon GO, app engagement, play style, and sociodemographic characteristics) that affect users' travel behavior. The results illustrate that such apps with integrated AR, gamification, and social components can be used by policymakers to influence various aspects of travel behavior. The study findings and insights can provide valuable feedback to system operators for designing such apps to dynamically manage traffic in real-time and promote long-term sustainable mode shifts.

Associations of mode and distance of commuting to school with cardiorespiratory fitness in Slovenian schoolchildren: a nationwide cross-sectional study

Background

It is unclear whether active commuting has the potential to improve children’s health. This study examined the association of commuting mode and distance with children’s cardiorespiratory fitness (CRF).

Methods

We conducted a cross-sectional study, including 713 Slovenian schoolchildren aged 12 to 15 years. Commuting modes were self-reported, and four commuting groups were constructed, while CRF was determined with a 20-m shuttle run test. The distance from home to school was calculated using the Geographic Information System. Effects of commuting mode and distance, controlling for age, gender and amount of total physical activity, were evaluated using general two linear models (one for each direction of commuting to/from school).

Results

The main effect of commuting group on CRF and its interaction with distance were significant in the direction from school to home (P = 0.013 and P = 0.028, respectively), but not in the opposite direction. Predicted differences in CRF between commuting groups were moderate and generally higher in males than in females. When comparing commuting group median distance from home to school, males driven by car had around 4 ml/min/kg lower predicted CRF than those who walked (P = 0.01) or used wheels commuting (e.g., bicycle, skateboard).

Conclusions

The distance of commuting had a small effect on CRF, except in the Car group where children who live close to school had significantly lower CRF than those living further away. Children driven by car who live within wheels or walk distance from school should be targeted by interventions promoting active transport.

Impact of SARS-CoV-2 on the mobility behaviour in Germany

Background

The COVID-19 pandemic and the measures taken to combat it led to severe constraints for various areas of life, including mobility. To study the effects of this disruptive situation on the mobility behaviour of entire subgroups, and how they shape their mobility in reaction to the special circumstances, can help to better understand, how people react to external changes.

Methodology

Aim of the study presented in this article was to investigate to what extent, how and in what areas mobility behaviour has changed during the outbreak of SARS-CoV-2 in Germany. In addition, a focus was put on the comparison of federal states with and without lockdown in order to investigate a possible contribution of this measure to changes in mobility. We asked respondents via an online survey about their trip purposes and trip frequency, their choice of transport mode and the reasons for choosing it in the context of the COVID-19 crisis. For the analyses presented in this paper, we used the data of 4157survey participants (2512 without lockdown, 1645 with lockdown).

Results

The data confirmed a profound impact on the mobility behaviour with a shift away from public transport and increases in car usage, walking and cycling. Comparisons of federal states with and without lockdown revealed only isolated differences. It seems that, even if the lockdown had some minor effects, its role in the observed behavioural changes was minimal.

Exploring the impacts of COVID-19 on travel behavior and mode preferences

Various measures were recommended or imposed by the governments to control the spread of COVID-19. Travel behaviors are significantly influenced due to such measures. However, people have various travel needs ranging from grocery shopping to work. This study examines the changes that occurred in travel behavior due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Data were collected through an online questionnaire survey that included questions on trip purpose, mode choice, distance traveled, and frequency of trips before and during COVID-19. 1203 responses were collected from various countries around the world. Results explained that trip purpose, mode choice, distance traveled, and frequency of trips for the primary travel were significantly different before and during the pandemic. Further, the majority of trips were made for shopping during the pandemic. There was a significant shift from public transport to private transport and non-motorized modes. People placed a higher priority on the pandemic related concerns while choosing a mode during the pandemic as compared to the general concerns. Gender, car ownership, employment status, travel distance, the primary purpose of traveling, and pandemic-related underlying factors during COVID-19 were found to be significant predictors of mode choice during the pandemic. Outcomes of this study could be useful in transport planning and policymaking during pandemics based on the travel needs of people. In particular, government authorities could utilize such knowledge for planning smart and partial lockdowns. Service providers, e.g., taxi companies and retailers, could use such information to better plan their services and operations.

Impact of physical distancing due to novel coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) on daily travel for work during transition to lockdown

The outbreak of COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in change in both commute and personal travel patterns. Though, in India, lockdown was implemented from 25th March 2020, due to self-awareness and pandemic risk perception, change in commuter behavior was observed from the beginning of March 2020. The period from 15th to 24th March 2020 is considered as the transition phase of COVID-19 outbreak in India (i.e., between no lockdown and lockdown period). This study attempts to use a decision tree approach to investigate the modal preference of 1542 commuters in association with socio-economic and travel characteristics, and safety perceptions with respect to public and private modes during transition to lockdown due to COVID-19 in India. About 41% of commuters stopped traveling during the transition to lockdown phase, 51.3% were using the same mode of transport and 5.3% of commuters shifted from public to private mode. The study findings reported different interactions of factors influencing the decision to use public or private modes of transport for daily commuting during pandemic situations like COVID-19. Interestingly, safety perceptions (associated with personal health) of commuters did not play a significant role in their mode choice behavior during the transition phase. Though people perceived public transportation as unsafe over personal vehicle use, the actual commute patterns did not validate this due to a possible reason that commuters do not have enough alternative modes. Given the uncertainties in the decision making of the commuters regarding their travel behavior due to physical distancing, the insights from this study are important to policymakers and local transport authorities to understand the change in travel patterns.

Telework and daily travel: New evidence from Sweden

Telework, long promoted as a way to reduce daily travel and address congestion problems, has been extensively studied in transport research. Empirical consensus has long held that telework reduces overall travel, but several updated studies now suggest the opposite. Meanwhile, telework has steadily increased in many countries, and few studies have examined contexts where regular teleworkers have grown to form an early majority. We study how telework influences daily travel in such a context, namely, Sweden from 2011 to 2016. Using representative micro-data from the Swedish National Travel Survey, this study also captures travel behaviour during the defined period when the telework was actually practiced, distinguishing different telework arrangements and analysing a range of travel behavioral outcomes. We conclude that telework leads to reduced travel demand, more use of active transport modes, and congestion relief. Important differences between full- and part-day teleworkers are also highlighted, stressing the importance of understanding telework as a diversified coping strategy for organizing the spatiotemporality of everyday life.

U.S. active school travel in 2017: Prevalence and correlates

Active transportation to school (ATS), denoting walking and biking, is crucial to promote physical activity for youth. This study uses data from the 2017 National Household Travel Survey (NHTS) to report on the most recent and nationally representative school transportation patterns. Binary logit modeling determines significant factors associated with school travel mode choices. Spatial differences on school mode choices across the US are explored. In 2017 9.6% of the students of 5–17 years old usually walked and 1.1% biked to school. For students who usually walk to school, 77.5% of their school trips were less than one mile and, among usual bikers to school, 82.8% of trips were less than two miles. Student rates of walking to school decreased as the distance to school increased and biking rates peaked when distance to school was between 0.5 and 1 miles. When distance to school was <0.5 miles, walking was the most common mode for urban and rural regions. When the trip was shorter than or equal to one mile, factors such child's school grade, household vehicles per driver, and household income were associated with the decision to walk or bike to school. Other demographic characteristics like race and gender were not significantly related to ATS. While comparison across NHTS years should be viewed with caution due to changes in survey methodology, the decline of ATS rates indicate that more effective and higher reaching efforts for local, regional, and national interventions should be prioritized.

Predictors of healthier and more sustainable school travel mode profiles among Hong Kong adolescents

BACKGROUND

Adolescent travel mode choices to/from school vary in their physical activity (PA) component and environmental sustainability. Research has typically focussed on correlates of active travel, the most healthy and sustainable mode, in comparison to other modes combined. Under the premise that a small shift from less to more healthy/sustainable modes may be a more feasible than a shift to 'pure' active travel (e.g., walking), we examined potential correlates of the odds of undertaking more vs. less healthy/sustainable modes.

METHODS

Hong Kong adolescents attending secondary school and a parent/caregiver (n = 1299 dyads) participated in this cross-sectional study. Latent profile analyses identified groups of adolescents with different transport mode profiles to/from school. Profiles were ranked based on relative PA/sustainability outcomes. Multilevel logistic regression identified environmental, social and psychological factors associated with more vs. less PA/sustainable transport mode profiles to/from school.

RESULTS

Most frequent transport modes were walking and public transport. Latent profile analysis resulted in a 7-profile model (walk (n = 430); walk & public transport (n = 93); public transport (n = 486); bicycle, car & taxi (n = 60); school bus to & public transport from school (n = 54); school bus (n = 106); car to & car/public transport from school (n = 70)). All profile comparisons were associated with at least one environmental variable. School proximity, access to services and parent transport-related PA were generally associated with higher odds of healthier-more sustainable transport modes. Adolescent-perceived distance and effort barriers to walking and cycling were generally associated with lower odds of more healthy/sustainable modes.

DISCUSSION

Most adolescents engaged in relatively healthy/sustainable travel modes to/from school. Public transport to walking and school bus to public transport mode shifts are likely to have the biggest impact towards more healthy/sustainable modes. Encouraging parent-related transport PA may positively influence adolescent mode choice. Relatively dense, destination-rich neighbourhoods may encourage more healthy/sustainable transport modes to/from school by providing easy access to schools and services.

CONCLUSION

Government policy encouraging enrolment in the closest local school and private school encouragement of public transport rather than school buses may have the greatest impact on shifts to more healthy/sustainable transport modes to/from school in Hong Kong adolescents.