Maintaining balance on a moving bus: The importance of three-peak steps whilst climbing stairs

After applying the method established in level walking, chi-square tests were performed on participants' step type (resulting from the ground reaction force profile), taking into account participants' age and gender and the bus acceleration. The outcomes revealed that age and gender affect people's gait in a dynamic environment. Moreover, there is a significant correlation between the increase of acceleration and the type of steps passengers use to sustain their balance, as the number of three-peak steps was increasing with the increase of bus acceleration. Hence, the bus environment forces people to use a walking style other than their natural one and older people in particular, unconsciously increase the contact area between their foot and the floor (three-peak steps) to increase balance. Surprisingly, males appear less able than females to control balance. People's stair walking in a moving vehicle was investigated for the first time and has opened-up new horizons for gait analysis in dynamic environments.