GRA
Well-known member
http://www.greencarcongress.com/2018/08/20180814-cycling.html
. . . The study formed part of the EU funded PASTA (Physical Activity Through Sustainable Transport Approaches) project and was carried out in seven European cities: Antwerp, Barcelona, London, Örebro, Rome, Vienna and Zurich.
A baseline questionnaire was completed by more than 8,800 people, 3,500 of whom also completed a final survey, on transport and health that included questions about what transport modes they used, how often they used the different transport modes, and how they perceived their general health.
The mental-health section of the survey focused on the four major dimensions of mental health (anxiety, depression, loss of emotional control, and psychological well-being), vitality (energy level and fatigue) and perceived stress. The survey also asked about participants’ social relations, including questions about loneliness and contact with friends and/or family.
The transport modes assessed in the study were car, motorbike, public transport, bicycle, electric bicycle and walking. The effects of these transport modes were analysed using both single- and multiple-mode models.
The findings, published in Environment International, show that cycling yielded the best results in every analysis. Bicycles were associated with better self-perceived general health, better mental health, greater vitality, lower self-perceived stress and fewer feelings of loneliness. The second most beneficial transport mode, walking, was associated with good self-perceived general health, greater vitality, and more contact with friends and/or family. . . .
The study’s conclusions regarding transport modes other than cycling and walking were not entirely conclusive.
- Driving and public-transport use were associated with poor self-perceived general health when the transport modes were analyzed separately, but this effect disappeared in the multiple-mode analyses.
—Ione Ávila Palencia
Cars were also associated with fewer feelings of loneliness in all of the analyses.
The study’s conclusions regarding transport modes other than cycling and walking were not entirely conclusive.
- Driving and public-transport use were associated with poor self-perceived general health when the transport modes were analyzed separately, but this effect disappeared in the multiple-mode analyses.
—Ione Ávila Palencia. . . .
Other studies conducted as part of the PASTA Project have also highlighted the health benefits of cycling. One study found that cyclists have a lower body mass index than non-cyclists and another suggested that as many as 10,000 deaths could be prevented by expanding cycling networks in European cities.