Walking

Walking is the most basic and common mode of transportation and is recommended for a healthy lifestyle, and has numerous environmental benefits. Every transportation trip, whether on a bus, bike, or car, begins and ends with walking.

"Walking is convenient, it needs no special equipment, is self-regulating and inherently safe. Walking is as natural as breathing".
John Butcher, Founder Walk21, 1999

Walking is considered to be a sustainable mode of transport, especially suited for urban use and/or relatively shorter distances. When distances are too great to be convenient, walking can be combined with other modes of transportation, such as cycling, busing and taxis.

For your Health

Physical Fitness

Many people believe that driving is the better way of transportation. While this may the case at times, quite often it is not. What is true, however, is the impact that the automobile has in creating more sedentary habits in Canadians.

Did you know that nearly 2/3 of Canadians do not get the recommended amount of daily physical activity that they need?

Physical activity reduces your:

Risk of coronary heart disease and diabetes
Risk of colon, breast and lung cancer
Stress, anxiety and insomnia
Back problems
High blood pressure
Risk of osteoporosis
Signs of aging
It only takes an accumulation of 30 minutes of moderate daily activity to achieve these benefits! Consider a cycle to work, a brisk walk to the grocery store or a scooter-ride to the gym!

Beyond physical benefits, Health Canada reports that:

• Regular physical activity and higher levels of fitness allow daily tasks to be accomplished with greater ease and comfort and with less fatigue.
• Leisure-time physical activity provides balance to the demands of family time and work.
• Active individuals typically report improvement in energy levels, job attitude, and overall morale.
  
• Health Canada states that physical activity is essential to healthy growth and development in children. Regular activity will develop cardiovascular fitness, strength, flexibility and bone density.

Active individuals are less vulnerable to the risk factors associated with chronic illness and delays those illnesses until much further on into adulthood. Further studies indicate that youth involved in regular physical activity are less likely to use tobacco or alcohol.

For seniors, active modes of transportation provide weight-bearing activity which is critical to maintaining bone density. A regular fitness schedule promotes strength, flexibility, balance, coordination and importantly can reduce the impact and risk of falls. Overall, physical activity helps prolong good health and independence.

Health Canada states that regular activity can have an empowering effect on those with disabilities by allowing individuals to set their own standards. Over time, individuals will be able to reap the social, emotional, spiritual and physical benefits of choosing their own activities. Active living helps make coping with the everyday challenges of life easier, and can even prevent relapses of certain disabilities. It can also increase the energy a person has to deal with the physical and mental stresses of a disability.

From a health perspective, active living increases mobility, improves posture, and reduces aches and pains that can accompany long periods of sitting. Better circulation reduces the possibility of blood-pooling and swelling in the legs. And maintenance of a healthy weight helps those who use aids to get around more easily.

Respiratory Health

Participation in active and efficient modes of transportation benefits us beyond physical fitness. It provides our bodies with the fresh, clean air required for optimum lung health. Walking, cycling, busing and carpooling helps to improve air quality, by reducing single-occupancy vehicle use.

• 20% or Canadians now have some form of respiratory ailment. Transportation is the main cause of air pollution. By contributing further to smog, poor air quality and climate change (global warming) we will only worsen our lung health.
• Annually, Health Canada estimates that 5,000 Canadians die premature deaths (the Ontario Medical Association estimates 2,000 of these are in Ontario , with approximately 27 of these in the Peterborough area) due to poor air quality.

By inserting regular walking, biking, carpooling and busing habits into our lives can go a long way towards maintaining a healthy body.

Clean Local Environment

Poor Air Quality

Air quality describes the condition of the air we breathe. It is a measure of the chemicals that affect our health and environment.

In Ontario, air quality is measured with the Air Quality Index (AQI). The AQI is based on the measurements of the six most common pollutants: sulphur dioxide, ozone, nitrogen dioxide, total reduced sulphur compounds, carbon monoxide and fine particulate matter.

Poor air quality is the result of too many chemicals being emitted into our atmosphere. Though poor air quality can be present year-round, warmer temperatures make matters worse. When emissions are baked by the hot sun, foul-smelling smog is produced.

Transportation is the largest single human-produced source of outdoor air pollution in Canada. On average, each of the 16.8 million vehicles registered across the country emits approximately five tonnes of air pollutants and gases annually! At the heart of the current air pollution problem is the single occupant vehicle. Single occupant vehicles represent the most inefficient use of transportation energy.

The Smog Primer, Pollution Probe, 2003

Poor air quality can have many effects on our economy, health and environment. The summer of 2005 was the worst on record for poor air quality in Peterborough. We registered 53 smog advisory days!

Our Pocketbooks

Poor air quality costs Ontario more than $1 billion annually in hospital admissions, emergency room visits and absenteeism from work.
According to the Ontario Medical Association, air pollution leads to 13,000 emergency room visits, 9,800 hospital admissions and 47 million sick days in Ontario annually.
Smog and poor air quality causes major damage to crops. In the U.S, $2 billion is lost annually to crop damage.

Our Health

Poor air quality and smog doesn't just affect those with poor health and allergies, it can affect even the most healthy and active people.
In the short-term, exposure to poor air quality can cause headache, dizziness, shortness of breath, tightness in the chest, nausea or confusion.
There are links between poor air quality and rising rates of respiratory illness and lung ailments, such as asthma, emphysema, and lung cancer. Health Canada estimates that 5,000 Canadian deaths annually can be attributed to air pollution, while the Ontario Medical Association estimates 2,030 deaths occur annually in Ontario. According to the Ontario Medical Association, approximately 27 Peterborough area residents die prematurely each year due to poor air quality and smog.
Peterborough experiences much higher levels of smog and poor air quality than other communities similar in size. Situated northwest of the Greater Toronto Area contributes greatly to this fact. Although our community cannot control emissions from elsewhere, it is important to remember that a considerable amount of air pollution is created right here. Peterborough transportation habits are the biggest local contributor to air pollution.

Climate Change

Transportation accounts for 50% of our personal greenhouse gas emissions - the main cause of global climate change. Climate change is the term used to describe both the warming of the earth's temperature (global warming) and the severe and/or unusual weather conditions that are occurring as a result of this warming.

The heat from the sun warms our earth. This heat would escape into space if it wasn't for the greenhouse gases in our atmosphere. These gases trap the sun's heat around our planet. The earth naturally produces the perfect amount of greenhouse gases. When we burn fossil fuels - coal, oil and natural gas - we add more. Fossil fuels are burned for the energy needed to drive our vehicles, heat (and cool) our homes and run our factories. The more greenhouse gases we produce, the thicker our atmospheric blanket gets. This traps excess heat around our planet which increases the average global temperature. The result, global warming, disrupts the earth's finely tuned climate.

While a warmer Canadian climate may seem appealing to many, the reality is that it will cause much more harm than good.

Climate change could challenge the Kawarthas in the following ways:

Our Pocketbooks

Increased taxes, insurance and personal savings will be spent repairing weather-related damage to our homes, infrastructure and environment.
The Kawartha tourism industry and local agriculture will be financially challenged by unpredictable weather.

Our Health

Our elderly and very young will be challenged by heat stress and associated respiratory and cardiac ailments.

Our Quality of Life

By the end of the century, average temperatures in Peterborough could increase by 3 - 8 degrees. This will mean hotter, more humid and unbearable summers and milder, drier winters.
Everything we do relies on our weather being generally predictable. Unpredictable weather could make our daily lives uncomfortable.
An increase in droughts and flooding would effect the quality and quantity of drinking and utility water. Strict water-use rules may become necessary.
Our outdoor recreational activities (skiing, boating, swimming, canoeing, tobogganing) could be affected or impossible to do.

Our Kawartha Lakes Region

The aquatic habitats of the Kawarthas will be drastically altered by decreased water levels and increased temperatures.
The forests of the Kawarthas will be threatened by droughts and forest fires; high temperatures and unpredictable weather could cause extinction of some species.
Wildlife in this area will be stressed by changes to their habitat; species will either adapt, migrate or become extinct.
By reducing our single-occupancy vehicle use, we are making an important contribution to the health of our environment.

Saving Money

Peterborough City and County citizens are driving more than ever before! Money spent on unnecessary driving is emptying our pocketbooks!

According to the Canadian Automobile Association, it will cost $8,442 to drive a typical new Canadian car in 2008. This is based on:

Operating costs - $1,980 (based on a Chevy Cavalier Z-24, traveling 12,000 km). Which change depending on where you live (winter tires, for example), how much you drive and what you spend on service and repairs, gas, oil and tires, maintenance, and, parking. (Fixed costs may vary from place to place and vehicle to vehicle, but change little with type and amount of driving.)
Ownership costs - $6,462 (based on a Chevrolet Cobalt LT). Includes insurance, license and registration fees, taxes, finance costs and depreciation.

For a used car, the Victoria Car Share Co-op states, the cost savings in owning a typical used car (6 years old, $6,000 purchase price with 80% financed) versus a new car ($16,000 with 80% financed) is about $1,600 in the first year. (Used cars cost less in financial charges, depreciation and insurance but more for maintenance and repair).

Better Environmentally Sound Transportation of British Columbia compares these costs to:

Walking $ 150
Cycling $ 280
Transit $ 768
Vanpooling $ 994
Telecommuting $1000
The financial difference between supporting single-occupancy vehicle use and supporting walking, biking, ridesharing and telecommuting use are substantial. For some, owning and operating a vehicle may be debilitating their financial health.

Even if you are not about to give up your car (and most of us aren't) reducing your costs by walking, biking and ridesharing whenever possible can go a long way to improving your financial freedom.