ArticleThe international journal of behavioral nutrition and physical activity2015
Changes in mode of travel to work: a natural experimental study of new transport infrastructure.
Article in The international journal of behavioral nutrition and physical activity, 2015. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 25 papers, 3 of them syntheses that pooled it.
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
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Who cites it
25 citing papers in PubMed, 3 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- Effects of active travel interventions in the UK on disadvantaged population groups and their potential to reduce health inequalities: systematic review.Journal of epidemiology and community health · 2026Pooled it
- Effects of the built environment on physical activity: a systematic review of longitudinal studies taking sex/gender into account.Environmental health and preventive medicine · 2020Pooled it
- A systematic review of empirical and simulation studies evaluating the health impact of transportation interventions.Environmental research · 2020Pooled it
- Socio-Ecological Natural Experiment with Randomized Controlled Trial to Promote Active Commuting to Work: Process Evaluation, Behavioral Impacts, and Changes in the Use and Quality of Walking and Cycling Paths.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2019Trial
- Effects of bicycle infrastructure interventions on physical activity in the general population: rapid review.BMC public health · 2026Review
- An Innovative Assessment Framework for Remote Care in Orthopedics.Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Article
- Comprehensive evaluation of global health cities development levels.Frontiers in public health · 2024Article
- Premature Mortality of 2050 High Bike Use Scenarios in 17 Countries.Environmental health perspectives · 2021Article
- Tunneling a crosstown highway: a natural experiment testing the longitudinal effect on physical activity and active transport.The international journal of behavioral nutrition and physical activity · 2021Article
- Metro and elderly health in Hong Kong: protocol for a natural experiment study in a high-density city.BMJ open · 2021Article
- The effects of small-scale physical and social environmental interventions on walking behaviour among Dutch older adults living in deprived neighbourhoods: results from the quasi-experimental NEW.ROADS study.The international journal of behavioral nutrition and physical activity · 2019Article
- Controlled before-after intervention study of suburb-wide street changes to increase walking and cycling: Te Ara Mua-Future Streets study design.BMC public health · 2018Article
- Development of the Impacts of Cycling Tool (ICT): A modelling study and web tool for evaluating health and environmental impacts of cycling uptake.PLoS medicine · 2018Article
- Influence of urban and transport planning and the city environment on cardiovascular disease.Nature reviews. Cardiology · 2018Review
- Community perceptions of the implementation and impact of an intervention to improve the neighbourhood physical environment to promote walking for transport: a qualitative study.BMC public health · 2018Article
- Understanding bicycling in cities using system dynamics modelling.Journal of transport & health · 2017Article
- Does exposure to new transport infrastructure result in modal shifts? Patterns of change in commute mode choices in a four-year quasi-experimental cohort study.Journal of transport & health · 2017Article
- Neighborhood educational disparities in active commuting among women: the effect of distance between the place of residence and the place of work/study (an ACTI-Cités study).BMC public health · 2017Observational
- Cycling provision separated from motor traffic: a systematic review exploring whether stated preferences vary by gender and age.Transport reviews · 2017Article
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Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
4 authors.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundNew transport infrastructure may promote a shift towards active travel, thereby improving population health. The purpose of this study was to determine the effect of a major transport infrastructure project on commuters' mode of travel, trip frequency and distance travelled to work.
methodsQuasi-experimental analysis nested within a cohort study of 470 adults working in Cambridge, UK. The intervention consisted of the opening of a guided busway with a path for walking and cycling in 2011. Exposure to the intervention was defined as the negative of the square root of the shortest distance from home to busway. The outcome measures were changes in commute mode share and number of commute trips - both based on a seven-day travel-to-work record collected before (2009) and after (2012) the intervention - and change in objective commute distance. The mode share outcomes were changes in the proportions of trips (i) involving any active travel, (ii) involving any public transport, and (iii) made entirely by car. Separate multinomial regression models were estimated adjusting for commute and sociodemographic characteristics, residential settlement size and life events.
resultsProximity to the busway predicted an increased likelihood of a large (>30 %) increase in the share of commute trips involving any active travel (relative risk ratio [RRR] 1.80, 95 % CI 1.27, 2.55) and a large decrease in the share of trips made entirely by car (RRR 2.09, 95 % CI 1.35, 3.21), as well as a lower likelihood of a small (<30 %) reduction in the share of trips involving any active travel (RRR 0.47, 95 % CI 0.28, 0.81). It was not associated with changes in the share of commute trips involving any public transport, the number of commute trips, or commute distance.
conclusionsThe new infrastructure promoted an increase in the share of commuting trips involving active travel and a decrease in the share made entirely by car. Further analysis will show the extent to which the changes in commute mode share were translated into an increase in time spent in active commuting and consequent health gain.
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