Evaluating the Effects of Municipal Funding of Safe Routes to School Infrastructure on Child Physical Activity: A Natural Experiment

项目摘要/摘要 安全上学路线(SRT)规划或基础设施更改可能会影响总 通过增加主动通勤上学来提高儿童的体力活动水平(ACS)。上一首 对SRTS倡议的评价表明，体力活动有所增加， 参与ACS的学生，但没有研究评估实施 关于客观测量体力活动的大规模市政SRTS基础设施方案 使用对照前瞻性研究设计的全市范围的急性冠脉综合征。2016年11月， 交通债券基金在德克萨斯州奥斯汀获批，用于交通和交通项目， 包括2,750万美元的SRTS基础设施。在SRTS资金中，2250万美元是 用于成本更高、具有变革性的基础设施项目，如受保护的自行车道， 步行岛、共享使用路径和人行混合信标。该项目提供了一个 独特且对时间敏感的机会，可对大型 SRTS在学生学校的体力活动水平上改善了环境 人口。总体目标是评估SRTS基础设施倡议对以下方面的影响 儿童体力活动(个人水平的变化)，并确定整体的变化是否建立在 环境改善奥斯汀参与ACS课程的学生的比例 比较研究期间的城市(圣安东尼奥)(人口水平变化)。三项研究 将进行：(A)研究1，在奥斯汀SRTS学校进行准实验性队列研究(n= 30)和圣安东尼奥控制学校(n=15)，以评估大规模、 关于学生体育活动的变革性工程基础设施项目；(B)研究2， 每年两次收集有关儿童患急性冠脉综合征比例的横断面数据 约70所奥斯汀SRTS学校和30所圣安东尼奥比较学校；以及(3)研究3，成本 基础设施改善在增加儿童体力活动方面的有效性将 要下定决心。在研究1中，将使用加强型加速度计测量体力活动 通过GPS；将使用儿童和家长问卷来收集关于体力活动的自我报告数据 和特定领域的心理社会因素；并将评估邻里环境 通过环境审计和地理信息系统(GIS)。研究2的数据将是 使用标准的SRTS学生旅行记录收集的。来自这个拟议项目的数据将是有用的 在理解SRT建筑环境变化在增加儿童体力方面的作用 活动和ACS。

PROJECT SUMMARY/ABSTRACT Safe Routes to School (SRTS) programming or infrastructure changes can impact total physical activity levels in children through increased active commuting to school (ACS). Previous evaluations of SRTS initiatives have shown increases in physical activity and in the proportion of students who engage in ACS, but no study has evaluated the effects of the implementation of a large-scale municipal SRTS infrastructure program on objectively measured physical activity and city-wide ACS using a controlled, prospective study design. In November 2016, $720 million in Mobility Bond funds were approved in Austin, TX, for transportation and mobility projects, including $27.5 million for SRTS infrastructure. Of the SRTS funding, $22.5 million was appropriated for larger-cost, transformative infrastructure projects such as protected bike lanes, pedestrian islands, shared use paths, and pedestrian hybrid beacons. This project provides a unique and time sensitive opportunity to conduct a rigorous evaluation of large-scale SRTS built environment improvements on the physical activity levels of a student school population. The overarching goal is to assess the effects of the SRTS infrastructure initiative on child physical activity (individual level changes), and to determine if the overall changes in built environment improve the proportion of students who engage in ACS in Austin relative to a comparison city (San Antonio) over the study period (population level changes). Three studies will be conducted: (a) Study 1, a quasi-experimental cohort study in Austin SRTS schools (n = 30) and San Antonio control schools (n = 15), to evaluate the effect of large-scale, transformative engineering infrastructure projects on student physical activity; (b) Study 2, twice yearly collection of cross-sectional data on the proportion of children engaging in ACS across ~70 Austin SRTS schools and 30 San Antonio comparison schools; and (3) Study 3, cost effectiveness of the infrastructure improvements in terms of increasing child physical activity will be determined. For Study 1, physical activity will be measured using accelerometers augmented by GPS; child and parent questionnaires will be used to collect self-report data on physical activity and domain-specific psychosocial factors; and the neighborhood environment will be assessed via environmental audits and Geographic Information Systems (GIS). Data for Study 2 will be collected using standard SRTS student travel tallies. Data from this proposed project will be useful in understanding the role that SRTS built environment changes have in increasing child physical activity and ACS.