Active Transport to School and School Neighbourhood Built Environment across Urbanisation Settings in Otago, New Zealand

The school neighbourhood built environment (BE) can facilitate active transport to school (ATS) in adolescents. Most previous studies examining ATS were conducted in large urban centres and focused on BE of home neighbourhoods. This study examined correlations between school-level ATS rates among adolescents, objectively measured school neighbourhood BE features, and adolescents' perceptions of the school route across different urbanisation settings. Adolescents (n = 1260; 15.2 ± 1.4 years; 43.6% male) were recruited from 23 high schools located in large, medium, and small urban areas, and rural settings in Otago, New Zealand. Adolescents completed an online survey. School neighbourhood BE features were analysed using Geographic Information Systems. School neighbourhood intersection density, residential density and walkability index were higher in large urban areas compared to other urbanisation settings. School-level ATS rates (mean 38.1%; range: 27.8%-43.9%) were negatively correlated with school neighbourhood intersection density (r = -0.58), residential density (r = -0.60), and walkability index (r = -0.64; all p < 0.01). School-level ATS rates were also negatively associated with adolescents' perceived safety concerns for walking (r = -0.76) and cycling (r = -0.78) to school, high traffic volume (r = -0.82), and presence of dangerous intersections (r = -0.75; all p < 0.01). Future initiatives to encourage ATS should focus on school neighbourhood BE features and minimise adolescents' traffic safety related concerns.