When people have access to showers and changing rooms, are they more likely to ride a bicycle or walk to work? A research team headed by Biswas analyzed data collected from more than 53,000 people who answered questions on the 2007 – 2008 Canadian Community Health Survey, and determined that “Compared with younger ages, workers 50 to 75 years old were more likely to cycle to work if WS/CR [showers and changing rooms] were available.”
So, older individuals were more likely to ride their bicycles to work when WS/CR were available, but people 49 years old or younger were not more likely to ride a bike to work if WS/CR were available. The likelihood of workers of any age walking to work was not significantly affected by the presence of WS/CR. Statistical techniques were used to eliminate living in an urban or rural area as an explanation for the effects seen. Depending on worker/space user demographic profiles and organizational goals, devoting space to WS/CR may or may not be a good use of resources.
Aviroop Biswas, Peter Smith, and Monique Gignac. “Access to Showers and Change Rooms at Work Associated With Active Commuting Among Older Workers: Findings from a National Population Survey.” Journal of Applied Gerontology, in press.
Sally Augustin, PhD, a cognitive scientist, is the editor of Research Design Connections (www.researchdesignconnections.com), a monthly subscription newsletter and free daily blog, where recent and classic research in the social, design, and physical sciences that can inform designers’ work are presented in straightforward language. Readers learn about the latest research findings immediately, before they’re available elsewhere. Sally, who is a Fellow of the American Psychological Association, is also the author of Place Advantage: Applied Psychology for Interior Architecture (Wiley, 2009) and, with Cindy Coleman, The Designer’s Guide to Doing Research: Applying Knowledge to Inform Design (Wiley, 2012). She is a principal at Design With Science (www.designwithscience.com) and can be reached at sallyaugustin@designwithscience.com.