Utility of passive photography to objectively audit built environment features of active transport journeys: an observational study

Oliver, Melody; Doherty, Aiden R; Kelly, Paul; Badland, Hannah M; Mavoa, Suzanne; Shepherd, Janine; Kerr, Jacqueline; Marshall, Simon; Hamilton, Alexander; Foster, Charlie

doi:10.1186/1476-072X-12-20

International Journal of Health Geographics

Table 1 Description of environmental features present in walking and cycling journeys

From: Utility of passive photography to objectively audit built environment features of active transport journeys: an observational study

Feature	Description	Cycling (n = 599^†)		Walking (n = 1150^†)		Total (n = 1749^†)
		n	(%)	n	(%)	n	(%)
Bus stop	Bus stop visible in photo	44	7.3	69	6.0	113	6.5
Cars driving	Cars in motion or in traffic lanes on road	388	64.8	674	58.6*	1062	60.7
Cars in carpark	Cars parked in car park wholly or more than 2/3 partially visible	68	11.4	110	9.6	178	10.2
Cars parked	Cars parked on side of the road	190	31.7	151	13.1**	341	19.5
Commercial	Commercial or institutional buildings visible	281	46.9	648	56.3**	929	53.1
Congested traffic	More than 6 stationary cars in driving lanes	4	0.7	10	0.9	14	0.8
Cycle lanes	Designated cycle lane on road or footpath	16	2.7	247	21.5**	263	15.0
Cyclists	Any person/people riding cycles other than the participant	6	1.0	8	0.7	14	0.8
Dark	Image indicates journey conducted in darkness (e.g., dusk or dawn, streetlights on) but features still visible and image codeable^†	120	20.0	209	18.2	329	18.8
Dogs	Dogs or a lead in participant hand visible	0	0.0	4	0.3	4	0.2
Footpath	Footpath visible (not walkway/pathway)	338	56.4	761	66.2**	1099	62.8
Footpath good condition	No cracks or potholes visible	327	54.6	759	66.0**	1086	62.1
Graffiti	Graffiti visible	0	0.0	2	0.2	2	0.1
Grass verge	Any area of grass either beside road or footpath	270	45.1	504	43.8	774	44.3
Grass verge maintained	No obvious weeds or overgrown grass	262	43.7	454	39.5	716	40.9
Litter	Litter present (e.g., paper, food wrappings, etc.)	1	0.2	1	0.1	2	0.1
Other lights	Lights from houses, buildings or cars in photos	247	41.2	348	30.3**	595	34.0
Pedestrian crossing	Zebra crossings and traffic light pedestrian crossings visible	82	13.7	240	20.9**	322	18.4
Pedestrians	Any person/people in the photo other than the participant	63	10.5	272	23.7**	335	19.2
Permanent obstructions to cycling	Tree, signage, or other permanent structure in cycleway	2	0.3	0	0.0	2	0.1
Permanent obstructions to walking	Tree, signage, or other permanent structure on footpath/walkway	2	0.3	0	0.0	2	0.1
Rain	Rain visible	63	10.5	54	4.7**	117	6.7
Residential	Private homes visible	155	25.9	229	19.9**	384	22.0
Retail buildings	Buildings with retail/shop-fronts visible	141	23.5	165	14.3**	306	17.5
Road good condition	No cracks or potholes visible	462	77.1	820	71.3**	1282	73.3
Street lighting	Street lights visible (not including traffic lights)	209	34.9	531	46.2**	740	42.3
Temporary obstructions to cycling	Rubbish bins, parked cars, roadworks, etc. in cycleways	9	1.5	11	1.0	20	1.1
Temporary obstructions to walking	Rubbish bins, parked cars, roadworks, etc. on footpath/walkway	14	2.3	41	3.6	55	3.1
Trees	Any trees visible in photo including from a distance	441	73.6	842	73.2	1283	73.4
Walkway	Journey occurring in walkway/pathway (not road or footpath)	45	7.5	200	17.4**	245	14.0

Notes: Data were collected in Auckland, New Zealand, in June 2011.
n = number of images.
*p < 0.05; **p < 0.01 significant difference in features present between walking and cycling journeys; ^†If photo was too dark to code individual features then it was coded as uncodeable and not included here; %, percentage of walking or cycling images where feature was present; n, number of images.

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ISSN: 1476-072X

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