Luisa Soares-Miranda et al. Circulation. 2016;133: Copyright American Heart Association, Inc. All rights reserved.

FUNCTION OF: Walking pace < 3 km/h to > 4.8 km/h Walking distance 0 blocks/wk to > 49 blocks/wk Luisa Soares-Miranda et al. Circulation. 2016;133:147-155 Copyright American Heart Association, Inc. All rights reserved.

Purpose To examine work-related physical and mental health amongst Active Commuters to the U of L

Increased wellness amongst Active Commuters to a newly urban university campus in Alberta Suzanne McIntosh 1 Sue Kovach 2,1 Shelby Schumaker 3,1 Olu Awosoga 4 Jon Doan 3,1 1 HR - Wellness and Recognition 2 Finance Scholarships and Finance 3 Kinesiology and Phys Ed - Engineering and Human Performance Lab 4 Faculty of Health Sciences University of Lethbridge

Purpose To examine work-related physical and mental health amongst Active Commuters to the U of L Hypothesis Active Commuters would have increased physical and mental health, plus higher job satisfaction

Participants Targeted sample of active commuters (AC-L) - bike rack recruiting - packages available with towels at FitC

Participants Targeted sample of active commuters (AC-L) - bike rack recruiting - packages available with towels at FitC Targeted sample of conventional commuters (CC-L) - parking lot recruiting - packages available with handbooks at FacO

Participants - No differences in age or commute time - All AC-L started commute in West Lethbridge - 94% of CC-L commuted in personal vehicle - 81% of CC-L commuted alone

Measures Work Ability Index (Tuomi et al., 1998) - self-report on work-related physical and mental health - target is early identification and intervention - modified for this use - health conditions with unclear association with work were dropped Job in General Scale, abridged (Ironson et al., 1989) - self-report on satisfaction with job - target is organizational prosperity - satisfaction is cause, correlate, and effect of organizational success

Results - WAI

Results - WAI Prescribed action (Tuomi et al. 1996) MAINTAIN SEEK SUPPORT IMPROVE

Results - WAI - Very good WAI TOTAL amongst AC- L was result of cumulative small increase on multiple WAI FACTORS

Results - JIG

Conclusion There is current and future value to Active Commuting at U of L - associated with higher work ability, lower frequency illness and absence, and increased job satisfaction

Discussion There is growing interest in Active Commuting What, if anything, would you like to do in the next year to improve or maintain your health and wellness? U of L Employee Health and Wellness Surveys, 2012 & 2015 ACTIVELY COMMUTE TO WORK (walk, bike, run) POSITIVE RESPONSE RATE 21% 33% 2012 2015 YEAR

A challenge and an opportunity Active Commuting Suburban-to-Urban Campus

Active Commuting Personal & work and local & global benefits Increased physical activity (Sisson & Tudor-Locke, 2008) Decreased sick days (Hendriksen et al., 2010) Decreased traffic (and environmental) load (Charles-Edwards et al., 2015) Universities are prime target Workplace explicitly and implicitly affects AC (Wen et al., 2010) Staff and student commuters are universities largest environmental impact (Tolley, 1996) Academia s role as leaders and advocates (Shannon et al., 2006)

Suburban Campus Academic growth model for UK + Canada, post WWII New vision of academic campus as radical, diffuse, non-residential, vocational versus ancient, enclosed, exclusive, educational (Abercrombie, 1974) U of L the epitome of this phenomenon in Canada

University of Lethbridge [1967-] U of L looking west, 1972

1969

1972 University Hall opens

1981 first private home on west side built in 1974

1986 - <8000 people live on west side

1990 South res. + Whoop-Up overpass complete

1999 - ~15000 people live on west side

2001 University Library completed

2003 - ~20000 people live on west side

2007 1 st Choice Fitness Centre opens

2008 First secondary schools open on west side

2010 Campus Daycare, Community Stadium open

2014 - >35000 people (40% of Lethbridge population) live on west side Thanks to U of L Archives for slide sequence!

To successfully integrate with this urbanization, important for U of L to: 1) Identify the current & future value of Active Commuting 1969 2014

To successfully integrate with this urbanization, important for U of L to: 1) Identify the current & future value of Active Commuting 2) If 1) is positive, champion Active Commuting behaviour and infrastructure 1969 2014

2016

WALK external access is possible to all parts of the campus by means of walks and walkways a great variety of alternate routes with differing aspects and views are available. U of L Development Plan [Erickson & Massey, 1969]

WALK external access is possible to all parts of the campus by means of walks and walkways a great variety of alternate routes with differing aspects and views are available. [Erickson & Massey, 1969] U of L Development Plan [Erickson & Massey, 1969]

WALK walking as a primary means of movement on campus should be encouraged bikes should be encouraged on campus. [U of L CMP, 2012] U of L Campus Master Plan [2012] BIKE

stadium entry_point_centre

Next steps Need to push, pull, and nudge open those gates that will connect Active Commuters to their campus

PUSH

SCHED. TEAMS COMP. THEME PULL REWARDS Real Virtual

NUDGE

Excessive parking causes dangerous driving (McCahill et al., 2016)

Parking causes driving (McCahill et al., 2016)

Parking causes driving (McCahill et al., 2016) TIME ORDER

Parking causes driving (McCahill et al., 2016)

Parking causes driving (McCahill et al., 2016) City centers, 1980

Parking causes driving (McCahill et al., 2016) City centers, 1980 STRENGTH

Parklets

Commuting at University of Guelph 2500 campus bicycle rack slots 2147 parking passes! 20 covered bike shelters 4 bike repair stations 900 buses come to campus daily 2.3 million people took a bus to or from U of G in 2014

When discussing more urban biking, I often hear We re not Copenhagen or Amsterdam!.. Brent Toderian, Vancouver city planner

When discussing more urban ACTIVE COMMUTING biking, I often hear We re not Copenhagen or Amsterdam!.. Brent Toderian, Vancouver city planner

When discussing more urban ACTIVE COMMUTING biking, I often hear We re not Copenhagen or Amsterdam!. Decades ago, neither were Copenhagen or Amsterdam. Brent Toderian, Vancouver city planner

When discussing more urban ACTIVE COMMUTING biking, I often hear We re not Copenhagen or Amsterdam!. Decades ago, neither were Copenhagen or Amsterdam. Brent Toderian, Vancouver city planner Copenhagen, 2015

Personally What can we do identify some purposeful walks & rides around your neighbourhood then do them! start with 1 different commute to work per week recognise (and embrace) push/pull/nudge effects

Institutionally What can we do be thoughtful about push/pull/nudge opportunities internally support active commuting find a way to meet our new neighbourhood

Thank you