Wednesday, June 30, 2010

The Mass Transit Diet

In what comes as little surprise to me, since I’ve dropped 20 plus pounds after going car-free:

When cities create or improve light rail public transit systems, citizens' waistlines may benefit, a new study shows. By getting people out of their cars and having them walk to and from transit stations, calories get burned, the researchers noted.

Help the environment, save money and lose weight. What more do you want?

The researchers found that, on average, a typical 5-foot-5 commuter who used the system to get to and from work lost an average of 6.45 pounds over 12 to 18 months. Moreover, people who used the LRT had an 81 percent lower risk of becoming obese than people who did not use the system.

I doubt that my favorite pseudo professor from Long Beach spends much time perusing my little waste of time here. But, in case he does I’ve gone to the great trouble of a several seconds web search to find that the city of Long Beach does have a mass transit system.

Who knows, Don, you might lose some weight along with that hobo look?

2 comments:

  1. I'm also car-free in the city. Boston is a walkable town with the oldest subway system in the country. I have air, rail, bus, and water transportation within 10 minutes from where I live.

    My feet are the #1 transport and a rental or a friend's car is the transportation of last resort.

    Yesterday I had a pleasant walk from Boston University to Boston Harbor (5 to 6 miles) that took a little more than an hour and a half, with stops along the way to listen to free music by ssstreet musicians in the Public Gardens and on the Common.

    Have a pleasant 4th.

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  2. Hi Shaw, Boston must be great for going car-free. Glens Falls isn't too bad. It's very walkable and has adequate bus service. I use Enterprise to go out of town.

    As the petro becomes more scarce I think we are going to have make some radical changes in city planning. Suburbs are out! That's for my post baking career.

    Thanks for the visit. I lurk at your place often. Great video clip you had up yesterday.

    Great 4th to you. I'm sure it will be in the home of those original DFH's.

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