Relations between transport choices and active behaviour

Abstract

Unhealthy lifestyle choices and passive behaviour are a significant problem for many developed countries. They lead to a decrease in public health in the form of diseases related to contemporary civilization, such as: cardiovascular diseases, type II diabetes and obesity. This increases the costs generated in the healthcare system. The share of costs resulting from combating these diseases increases every year.
The choice of a transport mode used when commuting is often perceived as one of the factors leading to more proactive behaviour and thus decreasing the externalities not only connected directly with transport such as pollution, noise, congestion and accidents, but also those connected with public health.
The paper shows the results of a study performed in Poland, which was meant to identify and measure the relations between the transport choices and other proactive choices of commuters. A logistic regression model was estimated to identify the occurrence and intensity of these relations.

The goal of the article is, therefore, to assess whether the choice of a transport mode used when commuting is connected with other types of proactive behaviour of citizens. In particular, the author
wishes to determine if people choosing a car as their mode of transport tend to be generally less active than people choosing public transport or those who commute actively.