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Abstract

Purpose.

To determine the biking suitability (i.e., bikeability) of and prevalence of biking in 14 elementary schools representing two extremes of bused students (2.4% vs. 53.6%).

Methods.

Street segments (within 0.25-mile radius of school) were scored for bikeability. Bikes in racks per school student population established biking prevalence. Mann-Whitney U-test compared bikeability and prevalence of biking between groups.

Results.

A total of 12.5 ±2.2 streets per school were assessed. Thirteen schools scored very good (<3.0) and one scored fair (4.0–4.9). Median bikeability score was 0.69 for the low-busing schools and 0.53 for the high-busing schools (nonsignificant). Median biking prevalence was 3.1% in the low-busing schools and 1.3% in the high-busing schools (p < .05).

Conclusion.

Streets surrounding schools were adequate for biking. Biking prevalence was significantly higher in low-busing schools but was relatively low in both low- and high-busing schools. Other factors, including intraindividual, social, school, and community, likely contribute to choice of biking to school.

Keywords

Built Environment Physical Activity Transportation Bikeability Manuscript format: research Research purpose: evaluation Study design: nonexperimental Outcome measure: behavioral Setting: elementary school Health focus: physical activity Strategy: built environment Target population: youth Target population circumstances: elementary schools Geographic location Other: bikeability active commuting Geographic Information Systems

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