Active Travel: A Cure for the Hurry Virus

Abstract

In occupational science, occupation refers to the everyday things people need, want and are expected to do. One of these things is the act of travelling from one occupation to another. Conventional wisdom in modern societies suggests that the faster we do this, the better: the faster we travel, the further we move and the more productive we become. In this paper, I question this view, exploring a paradox whereby increasing the speed of travel as a strategy to cope with time pressure can lead to a loss of time, money and health. A holistic assessment of the costs of transport reveals that active modes of travel may reduce time pressures and help people rediscover natural connections between themselves and their world. I explain how a culture of speed promotes lifestyles that minimise the chances of children engaging in the healthy occupations of walking and cycling, and leads to a situation where larger numbers of people (adults and children) are engaged in less healthy occupations. In a multitude of ways, some of which have been largely overlooked in research on health or time pressure, active travel can improve the health of individuals, cities and the planet.

Keywords:

• Time pressure
• Speed
• Health
• Active travel
• Children