Heavy issue: Light rail could make us lighter, study says

NORFOLK

If you're searching for reasons to hop aboard Norfolk's light rail when it opens next year, you might want to weigh this one: Riding it could make you lighter.

A study published in the American Journal of Preventative Medicine concluded that commuters in Charlotte, N.C., who take light rail are 6-1/2 pounds lighter than those who drive and have an 81 percent lower risk of becoming obese.

Researchers found that people burn more calories when they forgo their cars and walk to and from transit stations.

This unintended benefit of light rail is heavy stuff for transit operators.

"We may have to rethink our marketing strategies," joked James Toscano, Hampton Roads Transit spokesman.

"Light rail equals light weight" he said, playing off the phrase, "light rail equals heavy taxes" commonly used by rail opponents.

"As people slim down, our capacity to carry them grows," Toscano quipped. Light-rail vehicle capacity is measured in pounds, not persons.

But can light rail use really result in weight loss?

Fat chance, said David Swain, exercise science professor at Old Dominion University.

"We're not going to solve the obesity problem because we're putting in light rail," he said. "I don't see it as a weight-loss technique."

Conducted by the University of Pennsylvania, Drexel University and the RAND Corp., the study involves two surveys, one before the completion of Charlotte's light-rail line and another 12 to 18 months later, after LYNX opened in 2007. The survey asked about height, weight, levels of physical activity, public transit use before and after light-rail construction, and actual light-rail usage.

Results showed that those who use the system to commute to work reduced their body mass indexes by an average of 1.18 points, which is the equivalent of 6.45 pounds for a 5-foot-5 person.

The researchers said the results are plausible if those people walked an extra mile every workday as part of their commutes.

They wrote that their research suggests a link between use of light rail and "positive health outcomes" and that light-rail use "should be encouraged as a potential weight maintenance strategy along with other lifestyle benefits."

Swain, who is an associate editor for an exercise science journal, said he would not run the study in his publication because he found the methodology questionable.

To lose a third of a pound a week, he said, the average person would have to walk an extra 20 miles a week (four miles each workday) while not changing any eating habits or other physical behaviors.

The added exercise could make people hungrier.

"Maybe we would find that light-rail users increase their caloric intake due to snacks they have while on the train, or snacks they have when they get to their office," he said. "So, I'm a bit doubtful that using light rail would cause the average user to lose weight. More, and better, research is needed to determine if that is a realistic outcome."

HRT spokesman Toscano said that one thing is clear: "Riding the Tide will be as much a lifestyle choice as a transportation choice."

Debbie Messina, (757) 446-2588, debbie.messina@pilotonline.com