Table 1 Description and classification of objectively-measured neighbourhood and route environmental characteristics
From: Longitudinal associations between built environment characteristics and changes in active commuting
Environmental features | Description | Classification |
|---|---|---|
Neighbourhood | ||
Urbanization | Urban–rural classification of participants’ home location | Urban/rural |
Road density | Total road lengths divided by neighbourhood area (km/km2) | Quartile |
Proportion of primary road | Presence of primary road | Yes/No |
Density of junction | Number of junctions divided by total neighbourhood area | Quartile |
Effective walkable area (EWA) | Total neighbourhood area divided by the potential walkable areaa | Quartile |
Density of pavement | Area of pavements divided by total road length | Quartile |
Density of pedestrian infrastructure | Area of pedestrian infrastructure divided by total road length | Quartile |
Number of streetlight per 100 m | The number of lights divided by road length per 100 m | Quartile |
Household Density | Total number of household in the neighbourhood area | Quartile |
Density of employment locations | Number of employment locations divided by area of neighbourhood per m2 | Quartile |
Land use mix | Proportion of each land use squared and summedb | Quartile |
Socioeconomic deprivation | Population weighted scores for neighbourhood | Quartile |
Crime rate | Total crimes per 1000 population in area of residence of year April 2005 – March 2006 | Quartile |
Density of RTAs | The number of RTAs 2002–2006 per km of roads | Quartile |
Density of fatal & serious RTAs | The number of serious and fatal RTAs 2002–2006 per km of roads | Yes/No |
Accessible land in neighbourhood | Presence of accessible land (all parts and green spaces) in the neighbourhood | Yes/No |
Park in neighbourhood | Presence of parks in the neighbourhood | Yes/No |
Green space in neighbourhood | Presence of green spaces in the neighbourhood | Yes/No |
Route | ||
Distance from home to work | The shortest route between home and work identified via the modified street network | <1.5 km |
1.5–4 km | ||
4-10 km | ||
Route length ratio | Route length divided by the straight line distance between the home and school | Quartile |
Main road on route | Presence of primary (A) road as part of route | Yes/No |
Secondary road on route | Presence of secondary (B) road as part of route | Yes/No |
Main or Secondary road along route | Presence of primary (A) or secondary (B) road as part of route | Yes/No |
Number of streetlights along route | The number of streetlights along the route divided by route length per 100 m | Quartile |
Route land use mix | Proportion of each land use within 100 m of route squared and summed | Quartile |
Density of RTAs along route | The total number of RTAs occurred on route between 2002 and 2005 per km of roads | Quartile |
Density of fatal & serious RTAs along route | The number of fatal and serious RTAs occurred on route between 2002 and 2005 per km of roads | Yes/No |