Urban quality of life: walking to work TravelSmart walking to work pedometer project

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1 Paper presented to Walk21-V Cities for People, The Fifth International Conference on Walking in the 21 st Century, June , Copenhagen, Denmark Urban quality of life: walking to work TravelSmart walking to work pedometer project Sally Semmens, Department of Infrastructure, Victoria, Australia Contact details: Sally Semmens Integrated Transport Strategies - Walking Department of Infrastructure L10, Nauru House, 80 Collins St. Melbourne. Australia Phone: Fax: sally.semmens@doi.vic.gov.au Abstract TravelSmart forms part of a worldwide effort to address the issue of car dependency and the related concerns of air pollution, community health and access to transport. The Commonwealth, State and local governments of Australia are working with households, schools, retail destinations and workplaces to identify and promote sustainable travel options wherever possible. TravelSmart is a voluntary travel behaviour change program aimed at encouraging people to reduce private vehicle travel in favour of more sustainable modes such as walking, cycling, public transport and car sharing. The TravelSmart Walking to Work Pedometer Program has distributed 1000 pedometers to workplace participants in return for them committing to walking all or part of the way to work. For 12 months participants will log their daily steps into a website or logbook to record their activity. The program started in October 2003 and we have the first survey results being compiled at present. Participants are being encouraged to reach 10,000 steps per day as a means of reducing chronic disease risk factors. Basic data being collected is workplace, age, gender, BMI (body mass index) and baseline steps. This is the largest pedometer program that Catrine Tudor-Locke (Canada pedometer expert) has heard of. The reference group, made up of key health, physical activity and heart health experts in Australia is keen for information about and results of the project to be shared with wider audiences.

2 Biography Five years as Head of Strategic Marketing NSW Health managing statewide health promotion campaigns, 5 years at DHS Public Health, Health Development around physical activity, walking, obesity/diabetes prevention. Currently at the Department of Infrastructure, Integrated Transport Strategies working around TravelSmart, Travel Demand Management, behaviour change (mobility management), local government mobility plans, walking and the links between health and transport. Currently undertaking a Masters in Urban Planning, Environment and Design at RMIT (Vic).

3 Urban quality of life: walking to work TravelSmart walking to work pedometer project Sally Semmens, Department of Infrastructure, Victoria, Australia Introduction and context Melbourne, Australia is fast becoming a city suffering from traffic congestion, particularly during peak commuting periods. Its population of 3.5 million is expected to grow by 1 million in the next twenty-five to thirty years. 1 Australia has the second fattest population in the world, only surpassed by that of the USA. The AusDiab study (2000) found that 60.7% of Australians are overweight or obese. Escalating rates of adult diabetes Type 2 and childhood obesity over the last two decades are cause for alarm and show no signs of slowing down. 2 Physical inactivity is a major cause of obesity and a leading risk factor in other chronic diseases i.e. Heart disease and stroke, diabetes Type 2, some cancers, injuries and osteoporosis. Over 50% of the population do less than the required amount of physical activity (30 mins a day) for sustained benefit to health. Substantial morbidity can be attributed to levels of inactivity. Inactivity is responsible for about deaths per year and huge direct and indirect costs to health. 3 As a city Melbourne has a mixture of old European-influenced suburbs surrounded by many kilometres of suburban sprawl. It has a radial rail system, trams which service the inner suburbs and buses which service the middle to outer areas and across town, although services to outer areas and across town are uneven and limited at weekends. Car travel is the dominant mode of travel for individuals and families. Transport contributes 17% to Victoria s greenhouse emissions and is one of the fastest growing sectors; 60% of this comes from car use. 4 So, not only is congestion clogging up the space but it is clogging up the air and affecting the delicate balance of our ecosystems as well. Melbourne s roads and freeways also carry a large percentage of freight for local and regional deliveries as well as moving produce and goods from the point of manufacture to the airport or port. Traffic congestion is a significant issue for freight which is expected to grow in volume by 70% by The freight and logistics sector is the third largest industry sector, and represents 13% of the Victorian gross domestic product (GDP). 5 Melbourne s current patronage level of public transport is approximately 9%. It is predicted that travel in Melbourne taken on public transport will need to increase from 9% to 20% by the year 2020 (referred to as 20/2020). 6 To help achieve this, the State 1.Melbourne 2030, Department of Infrastructure, 2002 Incl Draft Implementation Plans 2 Dalton, M, et al The Australian Diabetes, Obesity and Lifestyle Study (AusDiab) P21 23 Report on the Recent trends in physical activity in Australia (AIHW national and state surveys) Getting Australia Active by Adrian Bauman et al. National Health Partnership VGS Progress Report DOI Corporate Plan Growing and Linking Victoria 2001

4 Government has committed $5million to TravelSmart over the next two years (2004/06). TravelSmart is also supported by the Sustainable Energy Authority. The current trends and travel patterns in Melbourne are not sustainable for economic, environmental, health or social reasons. If Melbourne is to remain a liveable city then it must avoid a transport and health crisis by developing significant changes in travel patterns, for much of its population, across all transport options and in the provision of transport infrastructure and service provision. One of the key changes required is to encourage more of the population to walk, cycle and catch public transport rather than use the car as their first choice of travel. Walking is one of the most efficacious ways of protecting against risk factors associated with chronic disease. It is cheap, accessible and environmentally friendly. Walking is a primary means of travel for much of the population especially the young, the elderly and the disabled. As a travel mode it forms part of most trips as people walk to/from the car, the bus, the tram or the train. The Department of Infrastructure (i.e. Transport), under the branding of TravelSmart, is implementing a range of voluntary travel behaviour change programs which aim to encourage people to reduce private vehicle travel in favour of more sustainable modes such as walking, cycling, public transport and car sharing. TravelSmart programs fall into 3 categories: schools and universities, communities, and workplaces. Each of these programs specifically targets their audiences with tailor made programs, tools, maps and incentives which are monitored and evaluated regularly. The Pedometer Program The Pedometer Program is a pilot program established in three local government areas Frankston, Moreland and Darebin. They were chosen to reflect a range of walking environments, with from good to poor infrastructure provision. Each municipal area includes a mix of public and private sector workplaces which were coordinated by the local council. Nearly 1000 pedometers have been distributed to workplace participants in return for them committing to walking all or part of the way to work. For 12 months participants are logging their daily steps into a website or logbook to record their activity. The objective is to target workers who live within a 3 5 km radius of work. The program started in October 2003.Participants were recruited via expressions of interest in response to a broadcast from their workplace coordinator three weeks prior to the commencement date. They were then given a kit containing: an information brochure a Yamax pedometer a logbook a local map a TravelSmart baseline survey and a password to the specifically designed website.

5 Yamax SW200 or SW700 pedometers are used because of their superior design, technical and electronic reliability. Participants are encouraged to reach steps per day as a means of reducing chronic disease risk factors. They have the choice of entering data on the website via a daily reminder or by transferring information from the logbook retrospectively at intervals of their own choosing. Basic data being collected are workplace, age, gender, BMI (body mass index) and baseline steps. Only the TravelSmart program administrator and the technical support can access this information. Participants were guaranteed that data were only to be used for TravelSmart research and were not for use by individual workplaces. Whilst participants were encouraged to have a medical check before starting the program, to track their blood glucose levels and cholesterol levels again in a year, most of them reported that they did not do this. Some had already been told by their doctors that they needed to improve their weight and cholesterol levels and had been recommended building walking into their daily routines to improve their health status. The participants can track their progress on individual graphs; the administrator can track progress by individual, workplace or region. Monthly pedometer update bulletins are broadcast to provide motivation and preparation for seasonal changes, encourage goal setting, variety in activity, healthy eating, and so on. The website is linked to the websites of Better Health Channel and National Heart Foundation for additional health information, VicFit, and to transport information websites including Bicycle Victoria. Broadcast s are used to keep participants informed of aggregate responses and results to the program, by region and overall. They are also used to deliver the quarterly TravelSmart surveys which record how people are travelling to work. An example of a broadcast bulletin is quoted below. Now is the time to start planning for seasonal changes - daylight saving will stop at the end of the month; Easter holidays will interrupt daily routines and signal the approach of cooler weather. Take some time to think how you will maintain your walking and what you will need to equip yourself with to cope with these changes. Remember set yourself goals and reward yourself each week/fortnight or month when you have achieved them. Remember also, don't give yourself a hard time if you haven't achieved them in one week; just pick up again the next week and continue from there. There were a few initial hiccoughs in getting the program established. Depending on the facility of the participants with using technology some of them found the pedometer confusing and the website capacity limited. Most of these issues were sorted out by individual technical support, adding a FAQ (frequently asked questions) section to the website or by the monthly group broadcast . Feedback on the materials indicated that they were well designed and the information well targeted. The logbook had overwhelming support as a useful recording tool for its size and portability allowing people to record their steps and enter them to the website later. It was particularly useful for recording steps across the weekends and maintaining data over holidays. In some cases personal diaries were used as an alternative.

6 The graph profile is an accurate guide to plotting progress based on data entered but many people don t bother to use it. They don t use it because it requires going into the website, it is slow to load or it feels too clinical. Some indicated the graph made them feel personal frustration for not achieving more. Results to date In October 2003 the baseline average number of steps was around per day. Following daylight saving it was steps p/d and by mid January the average number of steps per user was By early March the daily average number of steps across all participants was steadily around steps per day. The average daily response rates have gone from 41% in December to 37% in February and have now settled at around 31% daily. The results of the March/April TravelSmart survey show a 25% decrease in the average number of people driving to work alone. The pedometer graphs are now becoming more consistent and achieving approximately steps per day. There are minor variations which happen over holiday periods and other external factors but generally the level is being held well across all regions. At this stage daylight saving and colder weather have not influenced the graphs negatively. Over the holiday period the response rates dropped slightly. The latest pedometer research in Canada (Tudor-Locke and Bassett) recommends: Based on currently available evidence, we propose the following preliminary indices be used to classify pedometer-determined physical activity in healthy adults: 1) <5000 steps/day may be used as a sedentary lifestyle index, 2) 5,000-7,499 steps/day is typical of daily activity excluding sports/exercise and might be considered low active ; 3) 7,500-9,999 likely includes some volitional activities (and/or elevated occupational activity demands) and might be considered somewhat active ; and 4) >10,000 steps/day indicates the point that should be used to classify individuals as active. Individuals who take >12,500steps/day are likely to be classified as highly active. On 23/1/04 Catrine Tudor- Locke sent an saying the data coming out of Australia (yours and others) indicates at baseline you take approximately more steps/day than Americans! (Catrine Tudor-Locke Catrine.Tudor-Locke@asu.edu) Since the program started many participants acknowledge they feel healthier and have more energy but it is too early yet to measure lasting health benefits. People with high fitness levels report walking daily helps to maintain fitness. Those with additional weight report that the regular walking is an additional tool to helping them to lose weight. Most people report being more aware of their eating habits and their general physical activity levels. Some report using the car less particularly for short trips to local shops. Other feedback relates to participants being conscious of how sedentary their jobs are and wanting to do something about the inactivity levels at work, being more aware of their walking environment and its limitations, such as poor lighting, placement of bus stops and

7 general levels of amenity and attractiveness of the public realm. There were a few who reported having fewer asthma attacks. Most participants claim they are enjoying the program and that they are benefiting from walking daily. A few are irritated by the limitations of the program or the website capabilities. One participant said, I have experienced many improvements peace of mind, calmness, fitness, clarity when arriving at work, familiarity with environment, awareness of community and more aware of what is going on around me as I walk. I am more inclined to talk and smile at people as I go. Suggestions for the future Participants have been actively engaging with the program by recommending improvements for consideration in the future. Some of these include: an improved interactive website; better graphs, possibility of publicly available access to website program individual weekly step tallies to be included on the homepage a participant chat room mobile phone text links to enter steps personal coaching from pedometer administration weekly health/nutrition tips and goals design improvements to the pedometer itself which have been fed back to the Yamax Corporation in Japan Conclusion TravelSmart can help to reduce the negative impacts of car travel through a reduction in vehicle trips and kilometres travelled by individuals, households and organisations towards more sustainable travel and activity choices. By reducing the number of people driving in congested traffic conditions and increasing the use of public transport, being a TravelSmartie will help reduce greenhouse gas production, local air pollution and traffic congestion. Pedometers are a good motivational tool to encourage walking. Active commuting such as walking with the pedometer program: reduces vehicle trips and kilometres travelled keeps individuals fit and healthy is better for the environment increases their individual sense of pleasure For further information contact:

8 References 1. Litman T (2003), Non motorised Transportation Demand Management Ch43 in Tolley R (2003 ed) Sustainable Transport Planning for Walking and Cycling in Urban Environments, Cambridge UK 2. Geurs K, Van Wee B (2003) The Role of Non Motorised Modes in an Environmentally Sustainable Tranpsort System, Ch3 in Tolley R (2003 ed) op cit. 3. Tolley R, Bickerstaff K, Lumsdon L (2003) Social and Cultural Influences on the Future of Walking The Experts Opinion. Ch 18 in Tolley R (2003 ed) op cit. 4. Whitelegg J (1997), Critical Mass. Transport, Environment and society in the Twenty first Century. London UK Ch 10 Traffic and Health 5. World Health Organisation (1998), Walking and Cycling in the City. Local Authorities, Health and Envrionment Briefing Pamphlet n35, Copenhagen, Denmark 6. Prof. Tord Kjellstrom and Dr Sarah Hill, December 2002, New Zealand Evidence for Health Impacts of Transport A background paper for the Public Health Advisory Committee 7. Low N (2002) Melbourne 2030: from MOTLUC to Active City. Planning News V28. N11.