Our lab is interested in learning about the things that influence how people travel
The Physical Activity and Public Health lab has a focus on active travel (walking and biking). We take a multi level approach to learn about what things influence the way that people opt to travel. Specifically we’re learning about how attitudes, beliefs, social interactions, workplace supports, community, environment and policy can impact people’s travel choice. Regular active travel is associated with improved health, decreased risk of chronic disease, improved air quality and positive economic benefits for the individual and the community.
A Focus on Equity
Our lab has sought to address some of the community, environmental, and policy related factors that impact active travel in diverse populations. Several studies have aimed to understand rates of participation among underserved and under resourced populations and communities. Here are some of our published articles and reports:
Planning for everyone? An examination of state bike plans for equity related content.
Survey of North American traffic gardens report
Survey of state bike/ped coordinators report
United States’ universities are forgetting about equitable bicycle programming on campus
Breaking down race-related barriers to recreational cycling: experiences from diverse cycling groups
Increasing bicycling for transportation: a systematic review of the literature
Research focused on Penn State active travel
We have done extensive research examining active travel to Penn State’s campus. You can read a report about it here: Active Travel at Penn State_April 2016 report. We also launched the Active Lions project to promote active travel to campus. Read about these projects here:
An examination of active travel trends before and after college graduation
Seasonal Differences in Active Transport among College Students
Examining influences on active travel by sex among college students
An examination of workplace influences on active commuting in a sample of university employees
Dr. Bopp co-authored a book on biking:
Biking for Transportation: A Public Health and Behavior Perspective examines the individual and societal factors of active transportation and biking behavior. The book uses an Interdisciplinary approach to provide a comprehensive overview of bicycling for transportation research. It examines the variability in biking participation among different demographic groups and the multiple levels of influence on biking to better inform researchers and practitioners on the effective use of community resources, programming and policymaking. It is an ideal resource for public health professionals trying to encourage physical activity through biking. In addition, it makes the case for new infrastructure that supports these initiatives.
The Penn State Active Lions Project kicked off in Fall 2014.
Learn more about the project outcomes here and about development of our app here. Our social media outcomes are published here. Other project outcomes included information about people’s perception on travel to work. Read an article in the New York Times about our findings.
This project was funded by the Penn State Sustainability Institute as a Reinvention Fund Project http://sustainability.psu.edu/reinvention/active-transportation
