Yu Chia-Yuan
Department of Landscape Architecture and Urban Planning, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX, USA.
Prev Med. 2014 Oct;67:12-6. doi: 10.1016/j.ypmed.2014.06.028. Epub 2014 Jun 28.
The present study investigates the influence of income, ethnicity, and built environmental characteristics on the percentages of workers who walk/bike as well as on pedestrian/cyclist crash rates. Furthermore, income and ethnicity disparities are also explored.
This study chose 162 census tracts in Austin as the unit of analysis. To explore income and ethnicity differences in built environments, this study examined the associations of the poverty rate, the percentage of white population, and the percentage of Hispanic population to each built environmental variable. Path models were applied to examine environmental supports of walking/biking and pedestrian/cyclist safety.
Areas with high poverty rates had more biking trips and experienced more cyclist crashes, while areas with a high percentage of white population generated more walking trips and fewer pedestrian crashes. Sidewalk completeness and mixed land uses promoted walking to work but increased the crash risk for pedestrians as well. In terms of biking behaviors, road density and transit stop density both increased biking trips and cyclist crashes.
Environmental designs that both encourage walking/biking trips and generate more safety threats should attract more attention from policy makers. Policies should also be more devoted to enhancing the mobility and health for areas with high poverty rates.
本研究调查收入、种族和建成环境特征对步行/骑自行车上班的工人百分比以及行人/骑自行车者事故率的影响。此外，还探讨了收入和种族差异。
本研究选择奥斯汀的162个人口普查区作为分析单位。为了探究建成环境中的收入和种族差异，本研究考察了贫困率、白人人口百分比和西班牙裔人口百分比与每个建成环境变量之间的关联。应用路径模型来检验步行/骑自行车的环境支持因素以及行人/骑自行车者的安全情况。
贫困率高的地区自行车出行更多，自行车事故也更多，而白人人口比例高的地区步行出行更多，行人事故更少。人行道的完整性和土地混合利用促进了步行上班，但也增加了行人的事故风险。就自行车出行行为而言，道路密度和公交站点密度既增加了自行车出行次数，也增加了自行车事故。
既鼓励步行/骑自行车出行又带来更多安全威胁的环境设计应引起政策制定者更多关注。政策还应更加致力于提高贫困率高的地区的出行便利性和健康水平。
