Modeling the spatial and temporal dimensions of recreational activity participation with a focus on physical activities

Abstract

This study presents a unified framework to understand the weekday recreational activity participation time-use of adults, with an emphasis on the time expended in physically active recreation pursuits by location and by time-of-day. Such an analysis is important for a better understanding of how individuals incorporate physical activity into their daily activities on a typical weekday, and can inform the development of effective policy interventions to facilitate physical activity. Furthermore, such a study of participation and time use in recreational activity episodes contributes to activity-based travel demand modeling, since recreational activity participation comprises a substantial share of individuals' total non-work activity participation.The methodology employed here is the multiple discrete continuous extreme value (MDCEV) model, which provides a unified framework to explicitly and endogenously examine time use by type, location, and timing. The data for the empirical analysis is drawn from the 2000 Bay Area Travel Survey (BATS), supplemented with other secondary sources that provide information on physical environment variables. To our knowledge, this is the first study to jointly address the issues of 'where', 'when' and 'how much' individuals choose to participate in 'what type of (recreational) activity'.

A multivariate hurdle count data model with an endogenous multiple discrete–continuous selection system

“…This has also been found in Farber et al (2011) andCandelaria (2010), who attribute these effects to a higher inclination to participate with young children in joint social and recreation outdoor pursuits as the number of children increase. Interestingly, and unlike some earlier studies (see, for example, Sener andBhat, 2012 andMeloni et al, 2009), we did not find statistically differential effects of the number of children by age category on either time investments or the number of episodes.…”

“…This is consistent with the higher consumption potential of goods and services in higher income earning households (see O'Neill et al, 2012 andDai et al, 2012). However, different from some earlier studies (for example, Sener andBhat, 2012 andPinjari et al, 2009), the results reveal a higher time investment in recreational activity as well as more episodes of recreational activity among low income households relative to high income households. This is interesting, and may be a result of combining active and inactive recreation pursuits under a single aggregate "recreation" category (some earlier studies such as Ferdous et al, 2010 suggest that high income individuals participate more in active recreation, but less in inactive recreation).…”

Modeling Frequency and Duration of Out-of-Home Participation in Physical Activity by School-Age Children

“…Participation in daily physical activities and the use of active transportation during childhood help reduce the risk of a number of serious health problems (1). Transportation researchers are increasingly becoming interested in the study of participation in physical activity and time use because of paradigm shifts toward activity-based travel behavior analysis and the potential association between the built environment and levels of participation in physical activity (2,3).…”

When, where, how long, and with whom are individuals participating in physically active recreational episodes?

“…This is extremely important considering that physical activity (recreational) episodes are often undertaken jointly with other family members. Yet another paper (Sener et al, 2009b) analyzes the spatial and temporal dimensions of recreational activity participation, but does not explicitly consider or model the social context in which these episodes occur. This paper constitutes an attempt to further advance this recent stream of research undertaken by the authors to provide a comprehensive and holistic analysis of physical activity engagement by adults.…”