The Human Activity-Travel Rescheduling Decision Process

Over the past few decades the activity scheduling decision process has become an important topic for transportation researchers, including how people reschedule their daily activities and travel in reaction to change. Rescheduling decisions include modifications/updates to timing, location/route, involved persons, event/mode type, and other attributes of activities/trips, as well as addition and deletion of completely new events. Such decisions occur as part of an ongoing process over time, space and across individuals. This thesis developed and applied a new data collection methodology for exploring the rescheduling decision process. The methodology had four main stages: capturing preplanned schedules; Global Positioning System (GPS) tracking; an internetbased prompted recall diary; and a final open-ended in-depth interview to explore how and why rescheduling decisions were made. A total of 40 subjects participated in the study from the Kitchener/Waterloo area of Ontario, Canada. Results strongly suggest the development of a preplan is an on-going process, wherein tentative decisions on many attributes are often made (leaving them partially elaborated on the preplan), and that certain attributes (end times, involved persons) are more likely to evolve over a longer time period, whereas others (start time, activity/mode type, and location) are planned in advance and not likely to be elaborated upon. With regard to subsequent rescheduling decisions, the methodology was able to elicit a much greater number and variety of activity conflicts and modifications from subjects compared to previous studies. The causes of these rescheduling changes also varied substantially beyond the typical activity “p;conflicts” considered in existing models, particularly interpersonal and personal impetuses of change. Past time-geography concepts are supported by these results, although there are some aspects that are unique to these rescheduling decisions. Previous conceptualizations of the activity scheduling process can also be elaborated upon given these findings. Methodologically, the strengths of this study include the successful capturing of preplans (especially partial elaboration), utilization of GPS technologies to reduce the burden of capturing observed activity-travel patterns, and the ability to fully detail each rescheduling decisions through the open ended final interview

Putting Humpty Dumpty Back Together Again: Lessons Learned From State-Building in Iraq

I was ten years old when the United States invaded Iraq to overthrow a tyrant, eradicate a terrorist organization, and destroy an arsenal of weapons of mass destruction. Thirteen years later there are still United States soldiers fighting in Iraq. The name of the war has changed over the last thirteen years, but the reality is that I have lived more years of my life with U.S. soldiers in Iraq than years without. The failed effort to rebuild Iraq after the 2003 invasion illustrates a larger incoherence of the United States foreign policy after conflict. There are valuable lessons to be learned from this failure because this is surely not the last time the United States finds itself in a it did at the turn of the millennium. The threat of failed and weak states did not end in 2011, nor will it end when the so-called Islamic State is defeated. Failed states pose a threat to the interests and security of the United States. Understanding the shortfalls of Operation Iraqi Freedom can help policymakers to address that threat in the future. This paper will analyze and discuss the reconstruction of Iraq in three components: The first is to emphasize the importance of this analysis by establishing failed and weak states as a threat to the security of the United States. The second is to identify and assess the ends, ways, and means of rebuilding Iraq after the overthrow of Saddam Hussein. Finally, the third facet is to determine what lessons can be learned for that effort, and how they apply to U.S. foreign policy going forward. In short, this paper finds that failed states are in fact a threat to U.S. national security and should be treated as such in strategic planning. Furthermore, the original sin of the Iraq War was a failure to match sufficient ways and means towards the ends established at the beginning of the war. Finally, the lessons learned from the reconstruction in Iraq underline the need for the United States to implement a strategic process for addressing the threats of weak states to international security and stability

Barriers to walking: An investigation of adults in Hamilton

This study investigates perceived barriers to walking using data collected from 179 randomly-selected adults between the ages of 18 and 92 in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. A survey (Hamilton Active Living Study) asked questions about socio-demographics, walking, and barriers to walking. A series of binary logit models are estimated for twenty potential barriers to walking. The results demonstrate that different barriers are associated with different sub-groups of the population. Females, senior citizens, and those with a higher body mass index identify the most barriers to walking, while young adults, parents, driver’s license owners, and bus pass owners identify the fewest barriers. Understanding who is affected by perceived barriers can help policy makers and health promotion agencies target sub-groups of the population in an effort to increase walking

Examining the relationship between active travel, weather, and the built environment: A multilevel approach using a GPS-enhanced dataset

This study examines how the built environment and weather conditions influence the use of walking as a mode of transport. The Halifax Regional Municipality in Nova Scotia, Canada is the study area for this work. Data are derived from three sources: a socio-demographic questionnaire and a GPS-enhanced prompted recall time-use diary collected between April 2007 and May 2008 as part of the Halifax Space-Time Activity Research project, a daily meteorological summary from Environment Canada, and a comprehensive GIS dataset from the regional municipality. Two binary logit multilevel models are estimated to examine how the propensity to use walking is influenced by the built environment and weather while controlling for socio-demographic characteristics. The built environment is measured via five attributes in one model and a walkability index (derived from the five attributes) in the other. Weather conditions are shown to affect walking use in both models. Although the walkability index is significant, the results demonstrate that this significance is driven by specific attributes of the built environment—in the case of this study, population density and to a lesser extent, pedestrian infrastructure

Understanding factors associated with children achieving recommended amount of MVPA on weekdays and weekend days

Low levels of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) are consistently reported for children from industrialized countries. Perennially inadequate levels of MVPA have been linked to increased chronic disease risks. Very few studies have compared physical activity levels among children from geographically diverse places, and how they differ on weekdays versus weekends. The purpose of this research is to examine the factors that influence whether children achieve 60 min of MVPA on weekdays compared to weekend days. Data were analyzed on children (n = 532) aged 8–14 years from communities in Southern and Northern Ontario, Canada that participated in the study between 2009 and 2016. Children\u27s MVPA was measured using an Actical accelerometer, environmental features measured with a geographic information system, and demographic data came from child/parent surveys. Variables were selected using a least absolute shrinkage and selection operator. The variables were entered into logistic regression models to assess the relationship between children meeting the MVPA guidelines. During the week, boys were more active than girls (OR = 4.652 p \u3c 0.001) and as age increased children were less likely to reach the MVPA guidelines (OR = 0.758 p = 0.013). On weekends boys were still more likely to meet the guidelines (OR = 1.683 p = 0.014) and children living in rural Northern Ontario were more likely to reach the MVPA guidelines compared to all groups in Southern Ontario. The findings indicate that different variables influence whether children meet the MVPA guidelines on weekdays compared to weekends. Comparing weekdays and weekends provides more useful information for creating effective MVPA interventions

Shortening the trip to school: Examining how children’s active school travel is influenced by shortcuts in London, Canada

For children and youth, the journey to and from school represents a significant opportunity to increase daily levels of physical activity by using non-motorized modes of travel, such as walking and biking. Studies of active school travel have demonstrated that the likelihood a child will walk or bike is significantly influenced by the distance they must travel between home and school, which in turn, is influenced by built environment characteristics such as the configuration of the local road network. This study examines how shortcuts can facilitate active school travel by decreasing the distance children must travel to get to and from school. A geographic information system was used to compare shortest route distances along road networks with and without shortcuts in 32 elementary school zones in London, Ontario, Canada and provide evidence on the effectiveness of shortcuts to facilitate active school travel. This study contributes two key findings: (1) shortcuts have a greater impact in areas with low street connectivity and low population density and (2) children living farther from school are more likely to benefit from shortcuts. The findings suggest that planners should consider the location and maintenance of shortcuts in school neighbourhoods in order to promote increased physical activity, health and well-being among students

Built environment influences of children’s physical activity: Examining differences by neighbourhood size and sex

Neighbourhoods can facilitate or constrain moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) among children by providing or restricting opportunities for MVPA. However, there is no consensus on how to define a child’s neighbourhood. This study examines the influence of the neighbourhood built environment on objectively measured MVPA among 435 children (aged 9–14 years) in London (ON, Canada). As there is no consensus on how to delineate a child’s neighbourhood, a geographic information system was used to generate measures of the neighbourhood built environment at two buffer sizes (500 m and 800 m) around each child’s home. Linear regression models with robust standard errors (cluster) were used to analyze the relationship between built environment characteristics and average daily MVPA during non-school hours on weekdays. Sex-stratified models assessed sex-specific relationships. When accounting for individual and neighbourhood socio-demographic variables, park space and multi-use path space were found to influence children’s MVPA. Sex-stratified models found significant associations between MVPA and park space, with the 800 m buffer best explaining boys’ MVPA and the 500 m buffer best explaining girls’ MVPA. Findings emphasize that, when designing built environments, programs, and policies to facilitate physical activity, it is important to consider that the size of the neighbourhood influencing a child’s physical activity may differ according to sex

Convenience sampling of children presenting to hospital-based outpatient clinics to estimate childhood obesity levels in local surroundings

Childhood obesity is a critical public health matter associated with numerous pediatric comorbidities. Local-level data are required to monitor obesity and to help administer prevention efforts when and where they are most needed. We hypothesized that samples of children visiting hospital clinics could provide representative local population estimates of childhood obesity using data from 2007 to 2013. Such data might provide more accurate, timely, and cost-effective obesity estimates than national surveys. Results revealed that our hospital-based sample could not serve as a population surrogate. Further research is needed to confirm this finding