Learn more about the measures of active travel across selected CLOSER studies
See the ‘Active travel’ section for background detail on this domain of physical activity.
Active travel was measured many times across the longitudinal studies from ages 4y to 60-64y, with data collected in ALPAC, MCS, BCS70, NCDS, and NSHD (see the tables in the page below). Largely, there were three different themes of active travel including (1) travel to school/ childcare/ and college, (2) travel to work, and (3) general and/or other nonspecific travel. Typically, active travel responses were either in walking or cycling, but in one case (ALSPAC age 13y) responses of skateboarding and scooter were also provided.
Click to see the cross-study data availability and comparability for each active travel subdomain:
Travel to school
ALSPAC 6y, 8y, 13y, 16y and MCS 5y, 7y, and 14y ask identical questions on travel to school (“how does [cohort member] get to school and back”), and the method of active travel (walking or cycling) can be compared across all measures. Additionally, responses in duration (minutes) can be compared in MCS 14y and ALSPAC 13y and 16y. These may therefore be comparable in terms of absolute physical activity levels.
BCS70 16y asks specifically about cycling (“use of bicycle in last 2 weeks: a) to go to school”) and may be compared to ALSPAC 13y, 16y and MCS 14y questions on use of cycling.
ALSPAC 16y and MCS 17y ask about travel to school or work but the destination is not specified in the responses so these may not be comparable to school-specific questions, unless combined with variables about whether the cohort member is at school or working.
| Age | Study | Variable name(s) | Question wording | Response scale(s) | Included activities | Timespan of recall |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4 | ALSPAC | kk435 kk436 kk445 kk446 | "How does he get there and back (to school or childcare)? - Walks / Rides bicycle" | Every day / Some days | Cycling , walking | Not specified |
| 5 | ALSPAC | km4190 km4200 km4195 km4205 km4210 km4211 | "How does she get there and back (to school or childcare)? - Walks / Rides bicycle. How far away is it? How long does it take to get there in the morning?" | Every day/ Some days Kilometres Minutes | Cycling , walking | Not specified |
| 5 | MCS | cmtrsc cmtrho cmtrdi | "How does CM usually travel to school? Does CM travel back from school the same way? How does CM travel back from school?" | Public transport, School bus/minibus/coach, Car/taxi, Bicycle (own), Bicycle (someone elses), Walking, Other Yes / No | Cycling , walking | Not specified |
| 6 | ALSPAC | kp1080 kp1090 kp1085 kp1095 kp1100 kp1101 | "How does she get to school and back? - Walks / Rides bicycle. How far away is school? How long does it take to get there in the morning?" | Every day/ Some days Kilometres Minutes | Cycling , walking | Not specified |
| 7 | MCS | dmtrsc dmtrho dmtrdi | "How does CM usually travel to school? Does CM travel back from school the same way? How does CM travel back from school?" | Public transport, School bus/minibus/coach, Car/taxi, Bicycle (own), Bicycle (someone elses), Walking, Other Yes / No | Cycling , walking | Not specified |
| 8 | ALSPAC | kt1010 kt1020 kt1015 kt1025 kt1030 kt1031 | "How does she get to school and back? - Walks / Rides bicycle. How far away is school? How long does it take to get there in the morning?" | Every day/ Some days Kilometres Minutes | Cycling , walking | Not specified |
| 13 | ALSPAC | ccp210 ccp211 ccp215 ccp217 ccp200 ccp201 | "How do you get to and from school? How long does your journey to and from school usually take?" | Walk all the way, Walk part of the way, By bicycle, Skateboard or scooter Minutes | Cycling, walking, skateboard, scooter | Not specified |
| 14 | MCS | FPTRSC FPTRHO FPTRDI FPTRTI | "How does CM usually travel to school? Does CM travel back from school the same way? How does CM travel back from school? On a typical day, how long sode sit take CM to get from home to school, one way?" | Public transport, School bus/minibus/coach, Car/taxi, Bicycle, Walking, Other Yes / No Minutes | Cycling , walking | Not specified |
| 16 | ALSPAC | ccs7000 ccs7010 ccs7011 ccs7015 ccs7030 ccs7040 ccs7041 ccs7045 | "Your trip to school/college/work (this morning, or the last time you went to school/college/work) - How long did it take you to get there? How did you get to school/college/work? How long did your trip home take? How did you go home from school/college/work?" | Minutes Walked all the way, Walked part of the way, By bicycle | Cycling , walking | Today / last time journey was made |
| 16 | BCS70 | f9a1 | "Use of bicycle in last 2 weeks: a)to go to school" | Yes / no | Cycling | Past 2 weeks |
| 17 | MCS | GCTRSC00 | "Thinking about getting to the place you study or work. How do you usually travel? Please tell us which method you use for the longest part of your usual journey" | Public transport, bus, car, bicycle, walking | Not specified |
Note. For the named items in the table above, links are provided (where applicable) to their corresponding content on CLOSER Discovery. Where a variable range is provided, full variable lists can be accessed through the ‘Variable Groups’ tab on the linked Discovery page.
Active travel to work
ALSPAC 16y and MCS 17y ask about travel to school or work (with the destination not specified in the responses) so may need to be combined with other variables determining work or education status to be comparable with other work-specific questions.
NSHD 36y and NCDS 44y ask similar questions on travel to work (NSHD: a) “Do you normally use a bike on your way to work, or for part of the way?” b) “On your way to work do you normally walk for five minutes of more on each journey?”; NCDS: “How do you usually travel to work?”), and activity engaged in (cycling or walking) is comparable across measures.
NSHD 36y and NCDS 44y both measure duration, although response options are in different units (NSHD: minutes; NCDS: miles). However these could potentially be converted (e.g. using the average minutes per mile) to derive a common measure of duration.
Although further apart in age, NCDS 44y and NSHD 60-64y both include a measure of distance walked or cycled. However, the NCDS continuous responses would need to be categorised to be comparable with the response categories in NSHD.
The birth cohort COVID-19 survey asked questions regarding travelling to work which is identical across MCS 19y, BCS70 50y, NCDS 62y, and NSHD 74y. In Wave 1, a question was asked about the number of hours spent travelling to work on a typical weekday since the COVID-19 pandemic began, and Wave 2 asked the same question but covering the last two weeks.
| Age | Study | Variable name(s) | Question wording | Response scale(s) | Included activities | Timespan of recall |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 17 | MCS | GCTRSC00 | "Thinking about getting to the place you study or work. How do you usually travel? Please tell us which method you use for the longest part of your usual journey" | Public transport, School or local authority bus, minibus or coach, Car or other vehicle, Bicycle, Walking, Other | Not specified | |
| 19 | MCS | CW1_Timeuse1_12_1 | "How many hours have you been spending doing each of the following activities on a typical weekday since the Coronavirus outbreak began?" | Hours (to the nearest hour) | Travelling for work | Since the pandemic began |
| 19 | MCS | CW2_Timeuse_12 | "How many hours have you been spending doing each of the following activities on a typical weekday in the last two weeks?" | Hours (to the nearest hour or half hour) | Travelling for work | Past 2 weeks |
| 36 | NSHD | BIKE82 BIKED82 BIKEL82 | "Do you normally use a bike on your way to work, or for part of the way?" | Minutes; Days per week | Cycling | Not specified |
| 36 | NSHD | WALKW82 WALKWT82 | "On your way to work do you normally walk for five minutes or more on each journey?" | Minutes | Walking | Not specified |
| 44 | NCDS | wkbike wkwalk wkmiles wktrips | "How do you usually travel to work? | Miles | Cycling & walking | Not specified |
| 46 | BCS70 | B10Q24C B10Q24D | "How often do you use each of the following methods of transport to travel to your job?" | Always, usually, occasionally, never | Bicycle, walking | Not specified |
| 46 | BCS70 | B10Q23 | "How many times a week do you travel from your home to your job?" | Days per week | Not specified | |
| 46 | BCS70 | B10Q22 | "Roughly how many miles is it from home to your job" | Miles | Not specified | |
| 50 | BCS70 | CW1_Timeuse1_12_1 | "How many hours have you been spending doing each of the following activities on a typical weekday since the Coronavirus outbreak began?" | Hours (to the nearest hour) | Travelling for work | Since the pandemic began |
| 50 | BCS70 | CW2_Timeuse_12 | "How many hours have you been spending doing each of the following activities on a typical weekday in the last two weeks?" | Hours (to the nearest hour or half hour) | Travelling for work | Past 2 weeks |
| 60-64 | NSHD | JWA09 HWJ09 HCJ09 | "How many journeys do you make between home and work in an average week?" "How far do you walk on each journey?" "How far do you cycle on each journey?" | Number of journeys per week; No distance, less than 0.5 miles, 0.5-1.5 miles, 1.5-2.5 miles, 2.5-3.5 miles, 3.5-5.5 miles, more than 5.5 miles | Cycling & walking | Not specified |
| 62 | NCDS | CW1_Timeuse1_12_1 | "How many hours have you been spending doing each of the following activities on a typical weekday since the Coronavirus outbreak began?" | Hours (to the nearest hour) | Travelling for work | Since the pandemic began |
| 62 | NCDS | CW2_Timeuse_12 | "How many hours have you been spending doing each of the following activities on a typical weekday in the last two weeks?" | Hours (to the nearest hour or half hour) | Travelling for work | Past 2 weeks |
| 74 | NSHD | CW1_Timeuse1_12_1 | "How many hours have you been spending doing each of the following activities on a typical weekday since the Coronavirus outbreak began?" | Hours (to the nearest hour) | Travelling for work | Since the pandemic began |
| 74 | NSHD | CW2_Timeuse_12 | "How many hours have you been spending doing each of the following activities on a typical weekday in the last two weeks?" | Hours (to the nearest hour or half hour) | Travelling for work | Past 2 weeks |
Note. For the named items in the table above, links are provided (where applicable) to their corresponding content on CLOSER Discovery.
General active travel
While there appear to be no measures at similar ages, ALSPAC 22y and 26y, BCS70 34y, and NCDS 46y ask similar questions on general travel (i.e. ALSPAC: “Do you make regular journeys every day or most days”; BCS70/NCDS: “what is your main form of transport”), with comparable activities (cycling or walking) across each measure.
NCDS 44y and NSHD 60-64y ask similar questions about weekly non-work journeys by foot or bicycle, but the continuous responses (miles) from NCDS would need to be categorised to match the responses from NSHD. Also, NCDS asks about an average week while NSHD specifies the past week.
| Age | Study | Variable name(s) | Question wording | Response scale(s) | Included activities | Timespan of recall |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 17 | MCS | GCCYCF00 | "How often do you use a bicycle?" | Every day or almost every day, several times a week, once or twice a week, at least once a month, at least once a year, less often or never, do not use | Cycling | Not specified |
| 22 | ALSPAC | YPB2000 YPB2010 YPB2020 | "Do you make regular journeys every day or most days: walking | Hours per week | Walking | Average week |
| 22 | ALSPAC | YPB2000 YPB2030 | "Do you make regular journeys every day or most days: cycling" | Hours per week | Cycling | Average week |
| 26 | ALSPAC | YPF3010 | "Do you make regular journeys every day or most days that are either walking or cycling?" | Neither, walk, cycle, both | Cycling & walking | Average week |
| 26 | ALSPAC | YPF3020 | "If you walk regularly, how much time do you spend walking on average?" | Hours per week | Walking | Average week |
| 26 | ALSPAC | YPF3040 | "If you cycle regularly, how much time do you spend cycling in an average week?" | Hours per week | Cycling | Average week |
| 34 | BCS70 | b7tranrt | "What is your main form of transport" | Cycling & walking | Not specified | |
| 44 | NCDS | biketot bikeless bikeone biketwo bikethre bikefive bikemore | "Apart from journeys to work, number of journeys do you make in an average week: by bicycle" | Miles Journeys per week | Cycling | Average week |
| 44 | NCDS | walktot walkless walkone walktwo walkthre walkfive walkmore | "Apart from journeys to work, number of journeys do you make in an average week: walking" | Miles Journeys per week | Walking | Average week |
| 46 | NCDS | n7tranrt | "What is your main form of transport" | Cycling & walking | Not specified | |
| 60-64 | NSHD | JBI09 JBI109 JBI209 JBI309 JBI409 JBI509 JBI609 | "Apart from journeys to work, have you made any journeys by bicycle in the last 7 days?" | <0.5 miles, 0.5 to 1.5 miles, 1.5 to 2.5 miles, 2.5 to 3.5 miles, 3.5 to 5.5 miles, >5.5 miles | Cycling | Past 7 days |
| 60-64 | NSHD | JFT09 JFT109 JFT209 JFT309 JFT409 JFT509 JFT609 | "Apart from journeys to work, have you made any journeys by foot in the last 7 days?" | <0.5 miles, 0.5 to 1.5 miles, 1.5 to 2.5 miles, 2.5 to 3.5 miles, 3.5 to 5.5 miles, >5.5 miles | Walking | Past 7 days |
Note. For the named items in the table above, links are provided (where applicable) to their corresponding content on CLOSER Discovery.
Explore the other domains of physical activity & the comparability of measurements across studies:
- Summary of cross-study comparisons
- Leisure time physical activity
- Occupational activity
- Domestic activities
- Sedentary behaviour
Learn more about the studies covered by this guide and their measurement of physical activity:
- 1946 National Survey of Health and Development (NSHD)
- 1958 National Child Development Study (NCDS)
- 1970 British Cohort Study (BCS70)
- Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children (ALSPAC)
- Millennium Cohort Study (MCS)
- Understanding Society: The UK Household Longitudinal Study (UKHLS)
Further information:
- Acknowledgements and copyright information for this guide
- References for this guide
- Download the full guide as a PDF
- Electronic appendix: Index of all documented measures
This page is part of the CLOSER resource: ‘Physical activity across age and study: a guide to data in six CLOSER studies’.