Skip to main content

Table 2 Summary of associations between physical environmental characteristics and active travel behaviour

From: Environmental determinants of active travel in youth: A review and framework for future research

 

Associations with active travel behaviour

Sample Age

Youth

Children

Adolescents

Direction of Association

Negative

None

Positive

Negative

None

Positive

Negative

None

Positive

Characteristics of the neighbourhood

         

   Provision of facilities

  

[35]

 

[33, 34]

 

[25]F

[32, 34]M [36]F

[25]M [34]F

   Personal safety

  

[35]

 

[33, 34, 40]

[38, 39]

 

[25, 36]F

 

   Road safety

   

[34] M

[34]F

[33, 34, 40]

 

[36]F

[25]

   Social interactions

  

[29]

    

[36]F

[25, 40, 41]

   Facilities to assist active travel

  

[35, 42, 43]

    

[32, 36]

 

   Urban form and street design

  

[29]

 

[45]

[32, 35]

  

[45]

   Aesthetics

  

[35]

   

[36]

  

Characteristics of the destination and surroundings

         

Destination characteristics

         

   School size

 

[42]

 

[47]

     

Characteristics of surroundings

         

   Urban-rural status

[48]

[30]

       

   Facilities assist active travel

    

[38]

    

   Urban form

     

[38]

   

   Visibility

     

[38]

   

Characteristics of the route

         

   Length

[52]

  

[40, 49]

  

[51, 53]

  

   Road safety

  

[54]

  

[38, 40, 50]

   

   Urban form & topography

   

[40]

[40]

 

[40]

[51]

[51]

  1. Numbers given are reference numbers.
  2. Effects which are specific to different gender groups are noted separately; M male; F females.
  3. The same study may occur twice within a topic if different measures are used and show different associations.