The idea here is very simple. We should each be engaged in at least 30 minutes of moderate physical activity. Those who use public transit walk or ride a bicycle to and from transit stops while those who drive do not.
“The idea of needing to go to the gym to get your daily dose of exercise is a misperception,” says University of British Columbia Professor Lawrence Frank. “These short walks throughout our day are historically how we have gotten our activity. Unfortunately, we’ve engineered this activity out of our daily lives. This should be appealing to policy makers because it’s easier to promote transit incentives – such as employer-sponsored passes or discount fares – than to restructure existing neighbourhoods.”
Well, of course that would be the logical conclusion, but what are the chances that more employers and maybe larger government entities will join Washington University, Barnes-Jewish Healthcare and others in subsidizing passes or handing them out for free? With enough people on board we could be looking at enough funding to create a fare-free system.
