Relationships among Community Characteristics and Walking and Bicycling for Transportation or Recreation

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Abstract
Purpose.: Compare walking and bicycling for transportation and recreation with the percentage of the community devoted to parklands. Methods.: Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (N = 206,992), Nationwide Personal Transportation Survey (N = 409,025), and Trust for Public Land (N = 55) data were used to estimate recreational walking and bicycling, utilitarian walking and bicycling, and parkland as a percentage of city acreage. Data were linked at the metropolitan statistical area or city level (N = 34). Pearson correlation coefficients were used to assess the associations among recreational and utilitarian walking and bicycling and parkland acreage. Results.: Utilitarian walking and bicycling and parkland acreage were significantly correlated (r = .62, p < .0001). No significant relationships were observed for leisure time walking or bicycling. Discussion.: Communities with more parks had significantly higher levels of walking and bicycling for transportation. Urban design features associated with leisure time physical activity might differ from those associated with transportation-related physical activity. Further studies are needed to articulate the relationships among community attributes and purposes of physical activity.