Caltrain and Transit Partners Roll Out Walking Program

Caltrain and its transit partners are teaming up with a group of riders to test the concept that the path to better fitness and health can lead to the train or the bus.

Forty-five transit users who regularly walk to or from train stations and bus stops are strapping on pedometers starting today in a five-week program called Walk and Roll. The purpose is to see how walking in combination with transit can help commuters toward a goal of accumulating 10,000 steps a day.

“I walk because my house is very close to the Caltrain station,” said Raina Cornejo, who walks 10 minutes from her home in San Jose to board the train for Palo Alto. “I believe that this program will prove to people that simply changing the way you get to and from work can help your health.”

The Surgeon General has recommended that Americans get at least 30 minutes of moderately intense physical activity five days a week. It doesn’t have to be strenuous: accumulating 10,000 steps of brisk walking a day is a rough equivalent.

For working people, getting in even that many steps per day might sound like a daunting task. The good news is that taking public transit can be a step in the right direction: Caltrain and light rail stations and bus stops are well within walkable distances for thousands of residents, who may not recognize this additional “stealth benefit” of parking the car keys.

The participating Walk and Rollers have been given pedometers and logs and asked to keep track of how many steps they take on a normal commute day over the course of 20 work days.

For comparison purposes, for five of the 20 days, they are to skip the walk to transit to see the effect on their daily step totals, as well as on how they feel.

After the end of the program, the results will be tallied to see to what degree transit can give people a leg up on their walking tallies. The goal is not to see how many Walk and Rollers will be able to rack up 10,000 steps, but to what extent walking as part of a transit trip helps them toward that goal.

Depending on how long they stick with the program, participants will be rewarded for their steps with free transit tickets, movie passes and other prizes from transit agencies, the Peninsula Traffic Congestion Relief Alliance, and VKRshop.com, which is donating the pedometers.

Those who complete all 20 days will be eligible for some bonus rewards, among them a heart monitor from VKRshop.com; a spa package from re:fresh, a day spa in San Francisco; Giants tickets donated by Sequoia Hospital; a pair of walking shoes from The Runner’s High; and a stay in a deluxe room at the newly opened Hotel Vitale on The Embarcadero, with dinner at the hotel’s Americano restaurant.

Many of the Walk and Roll Models say they are motivated to participate by a desire to know how much they really are walking, while others are committed public transit users.

San Carlos resident Maya Benton, who is in her 60s, walks both to and from the train station and does not own a car.

“I’ve been walking or using transit to get to work/shopping for many years – and in three states – having decided at the beginning of my career that relying on transit and my feet was the responsible way for a person to live and work,” she said.

Christian Gatica of San Bruno walks about 30 minutes a day. “I walk due to the fact that I am a father of five kids with no time for a gym and to stay in shape,” he said.

The good news for would-be Walk and Rollers is that the local area is particularly conducive to walking. The American Podiatric Medicine Association rates San Francisco among the 10 most walkable cities in the country.

Peninsula communities grew up around the Caltrain corridor, and thousands of homes and businesses are situated within a walkable distance from most Caltrain stations.

All people have to do is take the first steps. Indeed, at several Caltrain stations, including Burlingame, San Mateo, Hayward Park (San Mateo), Redwood City, California Avenue (Palo Alto) and San Antonio (Mountain View) more than 35 percent of all passengers walk.

Walk and Roll is a partnership of Caltrain, SamTrans, San Francisco Muni, the Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority, the Peninsula Traffic Congestion Relief Alliance, Sequoia Hospital, and the American Heart Association – San Mateo County chapter.

7/11/05