Route Choice of Spanish Adolescent Walking Commuters: A Comparison of Actual and Shortest Routes to School

Iris Díaz-Carrasco, Palma Chillón, Pablo Campos-Garzón, Javier Molina-García and Sergio Campos-Sánchez ()
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Iris Díaz-Carrasco: Department of Urban and Spatial Planning, School of Architecture, University of Granada, 18009 Granada, Spain
Palma Chillón: Department of Physical Education and Sports, Faculty of Sport Sciences, Sport and Health University Research Institute (iMUDS), University of Granada, 18011 Granada, Spain
Pablo Campos-Garzón: Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Lethbridge, Lethbridge, AB T1K 3M4, Canada
Javier Molina-García: AFIPS Research Group, Department of Teaching of Physical Education, Arts and Music, University of Valencia, Avda. dels Tarongers, 4, 46022 Valencia, Spain
Sergio Campos-Sánchez: Department of Urban and Spatial Planning, School of Architecture, University of Granada, 18009 Granada, Spain

Land, 2025, vol. 14, issue 9, 1-18

Abstract: A growing body of scientific literature emphasizes the role of the built environment in shaping commuting behavior among adolescents. However, the comparison of the built environment on adolescents’ route choice remains underexplored. A total of 317 Spanish adolescents participated in the study, of whom 67 adolescents provided a valid GPS-identified walking route between home and school (54.5% girls; mean age = 14.4 ± 0.7 years). Built environment variables—including residential density, number of intersections, land use mix, number of services, number of visible services from the route, street width, walkability, park area, elevation gain, elevation loss, and topographic cost—were measured using 3.28.8 QGIS software. A paired-sample analysis was performed using the Wilcoxon signed-rank test and the sign test to compare the actual route with the shortest available route. The results showed a deviation of 63.96%. Comparisons between the actual routes and the shortest ones revealed a statistically significant difference in the number of intersections ( p = 0.009) and topography cost ( p = 0.050). Likewise, a significant trend was found with the residential density ( p = 0.080). These findings suggest that in this case study, the built environment plays an important role in adolescents’ decision-making when choosing routes for commuting to school. Some urban planning and design recommendations were given to address the results from a school built-environment-oriented approach.

Keywords: transport; trip; built environment; GIS; active commuting; Spain; city; urban (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q15 Q2 Q24 Q28 Q5 R14 R52 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
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