By the California Department of Public Health ATRC Team
Research shows that active transportation promotes lifelong physical activity by embedding movement into daily routines.1,2 Daily physical activity offers significant health benefits by controlling or preventing chronic disease and promoting positive mental health. Chronic diseases and mental health conditions account for most U.S. healthcare spending, consuming approximately $3.7 to $4.9 trillion annually. Physical inactivity, specifically, contributes to about 1 in 10 premature deaths in the U.S.3
Organizations such as the CDC, the World Health Organization, and the U.S. Department of Transportation recommend sidewalk, bike lane, and other infrastructure improvements to encourage walking and bicycling for everyday trips. Safe Routes to School programs also seek to normalize daily physical activity through encouraging safe biking and walking and instill these habits early in a child’s life. Other active transportation non-infrastructure activities such as community safety campaigns, Open Streets, Demonstration Projects, and community-wide engagement also encourage active transportation.
Daily walking and/or bicycling addresses recommendations in The Health and Human Services Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans. These guidelines recommend that adults engage in at least 150 minutes of moderate-intensity or 75 minutes of vigorous-intensity aerobic activity each week. Children (ages 6-17) should aim for at least 60 minutes of activity daily. Since most car trips are less than 2 miles, running errands by walking or bicycling would help meet this recommendation.
Active Transportation Program projects improve the quality of life in communities through the increase of safe walking and bicycling as viable means of transportation and physical activity, while instilling health-promoting lifetime habits.
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- Jessica Stroope, Alex Garn, Lisa Cadmus-Bertram. Active transportation and self-reported change in physical activity, Journal of Transport & Health, Volume 27, 2022,101528, ISSN 214-1405. Science Direct. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S2214140522002006?via%3Dihub.
- D’Agostino EM, Neshteruk CD, Li T, Davis J, Granados I, Kumar A, Forde J, Hornik CP. Going Places: An Active Transportation Intervention to Increase Youth Physical Activity, Durham, North Carolina, 2023-2024. Am J Public Health. 2025 May;115(5):693-697. https://ajph.aphapublications.org/doi/pdf/10.2105/AJPH.2025.308012
- https://www.cdc.gov/chronic-disease/data-research/facts-stats/index.html