Active Travel Commuting and Autonomic Stress Recovery in Urban Populations

Urban commuters increasingly face chronic stress, a known risk factor for cardiovascular and mental health issues. Active travel modes-such as walking or cycling-can potentially mitigate stress by integrating physical activity into daily routines; however, their effect on autonomic stress regulation remains unclear. This study aims to examine how different commuting modes influence autonomic nervous system recovery from stress in real-world urban environments. We analyzed minute-by-minute heart rate variability (HRV) data collected by wearable devices from 200 urban commuters in Beijing over 1 week, capturing HRV before, during, and after daily commutes. Active commuters demonstrated a 7.6% faster return to baseline HRV compared with passive commuters, indicating a more rapid recovery from commuting-induced stress. Notably, while overall active commuting supported faster recovery, higher levels of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity during the commute were associated with slower short-term recovery, suggesting that the intensity of exertion matters. These findings highlight that active commuting enhances both physical fitness and stress resilience, while emphasizing the importance of comfortable, moderate-intensity active travel conditions. The results support targeted investments in pedestrian and cycling infrastructure-particularly routes that are safe, connected, and designed to avoid excessive physical strain-to foster healthier, less stressed urban populations.