Abstract
Active Transport to School (ATS) presents an opportunity for adolescents to engage in daily physical activity. Most previous studies that have investigated the associations between the Built Environment (BE) and ATS in home neighbourhoods, while only a few studies have focused on school neighbourhoods, where all routes to school converge. Within this, there are key aspects to explore, from the evidence of previous studies: knowledge is currently limited in (a) the modelling of safe walking and cycling routes to school for adolescents; (b) the associations between objectively measured and perceived school neighbourhood BE features; (c) adolescents' ATS rates across different settlement types, and (d) walking and cycling to school as a separate mode of transportation rather than an integrated ATS mode.
The aim of the thesis was therefore to examine the relationship between the school neighbourhood BE and adolescents’ walking and cycling to and from school in Otago, New Zealand. The specific objectives of this thesis were to: 1) develop a conceptual framework for modelling safe walking and cycling routes to high schools; 2) examine the associations between adolescents' ATS rates, and objective and perceived measures of school neighbourhood BE features across different settlement types; 3) compare objectively measured and perceived BE features of school neighbourhoods and examine their association with adolescents' ATS rates in small-to-medium urban areas and rural settings; and 4) compare adolescents’ perceptions of the school neighbourhood environment for walking versus cycling to school in a large urban area. Perceptions of the school neighbourhood BE and routes to school were provided by adolescents via an online survey. Objectively measured BE features were generated using Geographic Information Systems (GIS).
The conceptual framework identified BE features, which included land use mix, pedestrian/cycling infrastructure, neighbourhood aesthetics, and accessibility to local facilities and traffic safety factors, which included traffic volume and speed, safe road crossings, and quality of path surface to be considered when modelling safe walking/cycling routes to high schools. Adolescents' ATS rates were negatively correlated with school neighbourhood residential density, intersection density, walkability index, and adolescents’ perceived safety concerns for walking and cycling to school, high traffic volume, and presence of dangerous intersections. Objectively measured intersection density, perceived land use diversity and recreational facilities were higher in rural settings compared to small-to-medium urban areas, whereas objectively measured neighbourhood walkability, perceived residential density, and land use mix accessibility were lower. In a multivariate analysis, perceived residential density traffic safety concerns were negatively associated with adolescents' ATS rates. When distance to school was considered in a multivariate analysis, only distance to school was negatively associated with ATS rates and perceived school neighbourhood BE features were no longer significant.
Compared to walking, adolescents reported that their school neighbourhood environments provided less support for cycling to school, including fewer cycle paths, fewer crossings/signals, fewer street lights and fewer destinations within easy cycling distance from their school. These findings imply that future initiatives to encourage ATS should focus on objectively measured and perceived school neighbourhood BE features to minimise adolescents’ traffic safety related concerns and to address walking- and/or cycling-specific barriers in a local context.