Abstract

FARINOLA, Martín Gustavo. SHORT TRIPS, PHYSICAL ACTIVITY AND VEHICLE EMISSIONS IN THE CITY OF BUENOS AIRES. Hacia promoc. Salud [online]. 2015, vol.20, n.2, pp.43-58. ISSN 0121-7577.  https://doi.org/10.17151/hpsal.2015.20.2.4.

Objective: To estimate the potential for physical activity increase and vehicle emissions reduction shifting to active modes those short trips done on motorized transportation in the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires. Materials and Methods: Descriptive, cross-sectional study. In October 2012 an origin/destination survey was conducted to a random sample of adult inhabitants of the Commune 7 of Buenos Aires (n = 302) with face to face interviewer. Information of people and trips they made the day before the interview was collected. Short trips were those whose distances were at or below the 85th percentile of distances actually walked and cycled. Results: distance of the trip was the variable mostly associated with active modes of transportation. Males used bicycle more than women and women walked more trips than men. None of the short trips based on work was made by bicycle. If these were changed to active modes, the short trips of walkable distance done in motorized modes, the amount of participants that would follow the daily recommendations of physical activity for health would be 7% and vehicle emissions would reduce between 3.1% and 9.1% depending on the type of pollutant. In the case of bikeable distance short trips, 36.6% of participants would achieve daily physical activity recommendations and between 27.7% and 50.5% of vehicle emissions would be avoided. Conclusions: In comparison with the improvement potential of other actions, it can be concluded that there is a substantial potential for increased physical activity and reduced vehicle emissions in Buenos Aires shifting short trips made on motorized modes to active modes, especially for bikeable distance short trips. It is necessary to study which portion of short trips is feasible to switch to active transportation modes.

Keywords : Physical activity; environmental pollutants; primary prevention; chronic disease; urban health.

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