Active commuting between home and place of work or study is often cited as an interesting source of physical activity in a public health perspective. However, knowledge about these behaviors is meager. This was therefore studied in adult active commuters (n = 1872) in Greater Stockholm, Sweden, a Nordic metropolitan setting. They received questionnaires and individually adjusted maps to draw their normal commuting route. Three different modality groups were identified in men and women: single-mode cyclists and pedestrians (those who only cycle or walk, respectively) and dual-mode commuters (those who alternately walk or cycle). Some gender differences were observed in trip distances, frequencies, and velocities. A large majority of the commuting trip durations met the minimum health recommendation of at least 10-minute-long activity bouts. The median single-mode pedestrians and dual-mode commuters met or were close to the recommended weekly physical activity levels of at least 150 minutes most of the year, whereas the single-mode cyclists did so only during spring-mid-fall. A high total number of trips per year (range of medians: 230-390) adds to the value in a health perspective. To fully grasp active commuting behaviors in future studies, both walking and cycling should be assessed over different seasons and ideally over the whole year.
Keywords: bicycling; commuting; distance; duration; frequency; modality; seasonality; velocity; walking.