Background: In order to increase the current levels of physical activity new strategies have been suggested where it is incorporated into daily routines, such as commuting to and from school/work. Active commuting i.e. cycling or walking to and from school/work is an excellent strategy to increase the overall activity levels. Even though the health benefits of active commuting are well documented, non-active modes of transportation (i.e. cars, bus, train) remain the main mode of transportation. The purpose of the present study is to examine the prevalence and what factors are influencing participation in active commuting in the municipality of Karlskrona, Sweden. Method: A cross-sectional study, including base-line data from parents-to- be was carried out, including 432 participants. Questionnaires were filled in and data collection was conducted during a year in 2008 and 2009. The results were calculated using multivariate logistic regression with odds ratios (OR) and 95% confidence interval (CI). Results: The main mode of commuting was motorised vehicle (63.0%), whilst active commuters were a minority (8.3%). The regression model demonstrated a negative association between being Swedish and AC; as such immigrants were more likely to be active commuters (CI 0.08-0.80). The variable mostly associated with AC was the type of residential area. Participants living in an urban area had 5.4 times higher odds of AC compared to participants living in a rural area (CI 1.51-18.54). Being surrounded by a green-space environment decreased the probability of engaging in AC compared to being surrounded by buildings the majority of time (CI 0.07-0.60). Another important variable was outdoor recreational PA, were engaging resulted in 3.9 times higher odds of AC compared to those not engaging in outdoor recreational PA (CI 1.31-11.71). Although the variable pet-ownership remained in the last step of the model non-significant, it explains some of the variance in the model (0.10-1.24). Conclusions: The number of people being active are modest and are instead using other modes of transportation. This study found several factors both facilitating and impeding active commuting, signifying the importance of applying a broad health promotional approach to active commuting.