Statewide Analysis of Individuals’ Exposure to Business Establishments and Active Travel Behavior

Abstract

This study analyzes the association between exposure to various economic establishments, such as retail stores and schools, and walking and cycling at the individual level. Instead of using a land use mix indicator applied in many previous studies, 17 types of establishments were investigated, based on the North American Industrial Classification System, located within individuals’ activity spaces. The 2017 Wisconsin Add-On to the National Household Travel Survey was used to compute the density of establishments for two different activity space measurements: (1) time-weighted one standard deviational ellipses, and (2) convex hulls. Among the significant results agreed on by both activity space measurements, walking and cycling are positively associated with exposure to educational services and public administration establishments, and negatively associated with exposure to finance and insurance establishments. The results indicate a possible strategy: active travel promotion could leverage the potential for schools and local government offices to serve as anchor institutions for health-promoting travel behavior. In addition to strategies for the built environment, the research also suggests that physical activity encouragement could target individuals, such as workers, who probably have exposure to establishments with a negative association with active travel, such as in the finance and insurance sector.