Achieving 10,000 steps: a comparison of public transport users and drivers in a university setting

Abstract

Objective: To compare pedometer steps of university students who used public transport and private motor vehicles to travel to and or from The University of Western Australia (UWA).

Method: 103 undergraduate students in 2006 recruited by e-mail and snowballing wore a pedometer for five consecutive university days, and completed a travel and physical activity diary.

Results: Compared with private motor vehicle users, public transport users performed more daily steps (11443 vs. 10242 steps/day, p=0.04) After adjusting for gender, age group and average daily minutes of self-reported leisure-time physical activity, the odds of achieving 10,000 steps/day was higher in public transport users compared with private motor vehicle users (OR 3.55; 95% CI 1.34-9.38, p=0.01).

Conclusion: Walking associated with public transport use appeared to contribute to university students achieving higher levels of daily steps. Encouraging public transport use could help increase and maintain community physical activity levels.