Active transportation – what’s that?
September 26, 2023 – Defence Stories
Question: I currently spend forty frustrating minutes driving to and from work in bumper-to-bumper traffic and things are even worse when there are construction and accident-related delays. My neighbour works in the same building and when he runs or cycles to work, it doesn’t take him that much longer to make the trip. He is in great shape and I am thinking of following his example. Could you outline the benefits of using my legs to commute to work?
- Gridlocked Grady
Answer: Dear Grady: Your neighbour practises “active transportation” - a term used to describe all forms of human-powered travel including walking, running, cycling, in-line skating, skateboarding, etc. People’s active transportation options are greatly influenced by where they live. While active transportation doesn’t work for everyone, many Canadians could incorporate some form of human-powered travel into their daily lives and be rewarded with benefits such as:
- Being physically active is important for your mental and physical health. The Canadian 24-Hour Movement Guidelines recommend a minimum of 150 minutes of moderate to vigorous exercise every week, which many Canadians could easily achieve by walking for their daily errands.
- Unable to drive? Try combining different types of active transportation with public transportation – this will increase your mobility. Cycling is well suited to this because buses are often equipped to accommodate bicycles.
- Human-powered transportation will save you money on gym memberships, gas, parking fees, vehicle maintenance and tire wear. The money you save could be used to pay for something special.
- With active transportation, you can help your community by reducing local traffic, providing more opportunities for social interaction and keeping an eye on what is happening in your neighbourhood.
- Using your body to get around can also have a significant environmental impact by reducing air pollution, greenhouse gas emissions and noise pollution and reducing our reliance on fossil fuels.
Active transportation is a very flexible way to approach life. You don’t have to do it every day or for every trip, especially when the weather is bad. On unpleasant days, it might be wise to stay home or use your vehicle to get around. Having said this, regardless of the season, there are many days when human-powered travel will be a very rewarding experience.
Bottom line: as outlined above, active transportation has a lot to offer you and your community. Using human-powered travel can transform your stressful work commutes into an opportunity to blow off some steam, burn some calories, clear your mind, improve your fitness, and help reduce air pollution. If you have a chronic medical condition, see your health care provider to ensure that active transportation is safe for you. Active transportation isn’t for everyone but with a little planning many of us could easily incorporate some form of active mobility into our daily lives.
For more information on this topic see: Active transportation
Dr. Darrell Menard OMM MD, Dip Sport Med
Dr. Menard is the Surgeon General’s specialist advisor in sports medicine and has worked extensively with athletes from multiple sports. As part of the Strengthening the Forces team he works on injury prevention and promoting active living.
Strengthening the Forces is CAF/DND’s healthy lifestyles promotion program providing expert information, skills and tools for promoting and improving CAF members’ health and well-being.