Free bus travel for teens curbs road traffic injuries and benefits environment

And boosts number of short trips taken by bus which might otherwise have been cycled or walked

2013-06-13

(Press-News.org) But it also seems to boost the number of short journeys taken by bus, which might otherwise have been cycled or walked, the findings show.

The researchers wanted to assess the public health impact of giving teens in London free bus travel. The scheme was introduced for 12 to 16 year olds in 2005, and for 17 year olds in 2006.

They therefore used data from the London Area Transport Survey and London Travel Demand Surveys to calculate the number of journeys made in London—as well as distance and principal mode of travel—before (2001-4) and after (2005-9) the scheme was introduced.

And they looked at official data on traffic injuries and hospital admissions to see if the scheme had any noticeable effects on personal safety.

The analysis showed that the proportion of short journeys teens took by bus doubled from 2% to 5%, although the overall number of journeys they took did not increase.

The number of short trips walked also fell in tandem with an increase in this length of journey taken by bus, although there was no appreciable impact on total distance walked.

But there was clear evidence of a fall in the number of short journeys cycled and in distances cycled by young people, although this mode of travel was not hugely popular among this age group before the introduction of the scheme.

Rates of road traffic casualties had started falling before the introduction of the scheme, and continued to fall afterwards, but at a greater rate in young people, largely among passengers and cyclists. Pedestrian casualty rates remained the same.

Hospital admission rates for assaults had been rising among teens before 2005, but were higher among this age group after the scheme's introduction.

The number of daily car journeys taken by young people and adults fell, and the average distance travelled by car also shrank, suggesting that free bus travel prompts a shift away from car use and may therefore be a greener option.

There didn't seem to be any fall in the use of buses by older people after the scheme's introduction either.

"The findings suggest, unsurprisingly, a good uptake in use of buses for fulfilling travel needs, including for short journeys," write the authors.

"One disadvantage appears to be some reduction in the proportion of short trips by walking, and in the (already) low level of cycling; these might be detrimental to the establishment of future travel habits bringing regular physical activity," they suggest.

"On the other hand, the increase in the use of public transport may help to establish travel behaviour for later life that entails some physical activity, as well as helping to reduce car use," they say.

### END

ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:

Chalking up a marine blooming alga: Genome fills a gap in the tree of life

2013-06-13

To World War II soldiers, "The White Cliffs of Dover" was a morale-boosting song that lifted spirits in dark times. To geographers, the white cliffs mark the point at which England is closest to continental Europe. To scientists, the white cliffs are towering structures made of the chalky, white shells that envelop the single-celled photosynthetic alga known as Emiliania huxleyi. "Ehux" is a coccolithophore, with an exoskeleton made of calcium carbonate. Even though the process by which the alga's "armor" forms releases carbon dioxide, Ehux can trap as much as 20 percent ...

Doubling of deaths among sick mums-to-be amid poor evidence on drug safety in pregnancy

2013-06-13

The lack of hard data on the safety and effectiveness of a wide range of drugs in pregnancy has hindered the treatment of pregnant women, contributing to a doubling of deaths amongst mums-to-be with an underlying health problem over the past 20 years, argues an editorial in the Drug and Therapeutics Bulletin (DTB). It's time to include pregnant women in drug trials so that they can get the medical treatment they need, says DTB. In the absence of reliable information on the pros and cons of treatment during pregnancy, and haunted by the spectre of thalidomide, doctors ...

Does altitude affect the way language is spoken?

2013-06-13

AUDIO: Dr. Caleb Everett talks about, and gives examples of, ejective sounds used in speech at higher altitudes. Click here for more information. CORAL GABLES, FL (June 12, 2013) -- Language is formed by giving meaning to sounds and stringing together these meaningful expressions to communicate feelings and ideas. Until recently most linguists believed that the relationship between the structure of language and the natural world was mainly the influence of the environment ...

Deep biosphere harbors active, growing communities of microorganisms

2013-06-13

The deep biosphere—the realm of sediments far below the seafloor—harbors a vast ecosystem of bacteria, archaea, and fungi that are actively metabolizing, proliferating, and moving, according a new study by scientists at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) and the University of Delaware (UD). "This is the first molecular evidence for active cell division in the deep biosphere," says Orsi. Previous studies and models had suggested cells were alive, but whether the cells were actually dividing or not had remained elusive. The finding of so much activity in the ...

More A&E visits where access to GPs is worse

2013-06-13

Patients with more timely access to GP appointments make fewer visits to accident and emergency departments, suggests a study published today. In the largest analysis of its kind to date, researchers at Imperial College London related A&E attendance figures in England to responses from a national survey of patients' experience of GP practices in 2010-11. One question of this survey asked patients whether they had been able to see a GP within two weekdays when they had last tried. GP practices whose patients reported more timely access to appointments had lower rates ...

4-fold rise in children treated for obesity-related conditions

2013-06-13

The number of children admitted to hospital for problems related to obesity in England and Wales quadrupled between 2000 and 2009, a study has found. Nearly three quarters of these admissions were to deal with problems complicated by obesity such as asthma, breathing difficulties during sleep, and complications of pregnancy, rather than obesity itself being the primary reason. Researchers at Imperial College London looked at NHS statistics for children and young people aged five to 19 where obesity was recorded in the diagnosis. In 2009 there were 3,806 children admitted ...

Scan predicts whether therapy or meds will best lift depression

2013-06-13

Pre-treatment scans of brain activity predicted whether depressed patients would best achieve remission with an antidepressant medication or psychotherapy, in a study funded by the National Institutes of Health. "Our goal is to develop reliable biomarkers that match an individual patient to the treatment option most likely to be successful, while also avoiding those that will be ineffective," explained Helen Mayberg, M.D., of Emory University, Atlanta, a grantee of the NIH's National Institute of Mental Health. Mayberg and colleagues report on their findings in JAMA ...

Genetic maps of ocean algae show bacteria-like flexibility

2013-06-13

Smaller than a speck of dust, Emiliania huxleyi plays an outsized role in the world's seas. Ranging from the polar oceans to the tropics, these free-floating photosynthetic algae remove carbon dioxide from the air, help supply the oxygen that we breathe, and form the base of marine food chains. When they proliferate, their massive turquoise blooms are visible from space. Now scientists have discovered one of the keys to E. huxleyi's success. A seven-year effort by 75 researchers from 12 countries to map its genome has revealed a set of core genes that mix and match with ...

Alzheimer's brain change measured in humans

2013-06-13

Scientists at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have measured a significant and potentially pivotal difference between the brains of patients with an inherited form of Alzheimer's disease and healthy family members who do not carry a mutation for the disease. Researchers have known that amyloid beta, a protein fragment, builds up into plaques in the brains of Alzheimer's patients. They believe the plaques cause the memory loss and other cognitive problems that characterize the disease. Normal brain metabolism produces different forms of amyloid beta. The ...

Water is no lubricant

2013-06-13

Water in the Earth's crust and upper mantle may not play such an important role as a lubricant of plate tectonics as previously assumed. This is a result geoscientists present in the current issue of the scientific journal Nature (13/06/2013) after the examination of water in the mineral olivine. Laboratory experiments over the past three decades have suggested the presence of water greatly weakens the mechanical strength of the mineral olivine, a key component of the Earth's upper mantle. In a recent study led by the Bayerisches Geoinstitut in Bayreuth, the Secondary ...

LAST 30 PRESS RELEASES:

New drug-eluting balloon may be as safe and effective as conventional metal stents for repeat percutaneous coronary interventions

Effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of automated external defibrillators in private homes

University of Phoenix College of Social and Behavioral Sciences leadership publishes white paper on trauma-informed education

Identifying the best high-biomass sorghum hybrids based on biomass yield potential and feedstock quality affected by nitrogen fertility management under various environments