Abstract
Objectives: Commuters leaving a station often choose the stair as a quicker exit than the escalator. This paper models the effects of speed leaving the station and stair width on choice of the stairs or escalator. Methods: Aggregated data from previous studies (n = 82,347) revealed a plateau at about 45% stair use as the number leaving each train rose. Subsequently, the time taken by passengers on the stairs and escalator was measured in a station in Birmingham, UK in 2007 (n = 5848). The resulting transport rates (passengers s - 1) for stairs and escalators at the average commuting traffic were used to estimate the effects of increases in stair width on choice of the stairs. Results: Average transport rates were higher for the escalator (0.93 ± 0.33 passengers s - 1) than the stairs (0.58 ± 0.24 passengers s - 1). Modelling of the effects of transport rate with multiple regression suggested 40.1% of passengers would use the stairs, a figure close to the observed rate. Using similar calculations, a doubling of width of the stairs could result maximally in a 17.2% increase in stair use. Conclusions: Changes to the width of stairs could produce a permanent increase in lifestyle physical activity immune to the effects of time on healthy intentions.
Original language | English |
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Pages (from-to) | 270-272 |
Number of pages | 3 |
Journal | Preventive Medicine |
Volume | 47 |
Issue number | 3 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - Sep 2008 |
Keywords
- Built environment
- Lifestyle physical activity
- Stair climbing
- Stair width