title: Assessing the environmental characteristics of cycling routes to school: a study on the reliability and validity of a Google Street View-based audit.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Google Street View provides a valuable and efficient alternative to observe the physical environment compared to on-site fieldwork. However, studies on the use, reliability and validity of Google Street View in a cycling-to-school context are lacking. We aimed to study the intra-, inter-rater reliability and criterion validity of EGA-Cycling (Environmental Google Street View Based Audit - Cycling to school), a newly developed audit using Google Street View to assess the physical environment along cycling routes to school.
  
  
  METHODS
  Parents (n = 52) of 11-to-12-year old Flemish children, who mostly cycled to school, completed a questionnaire and identified their child's cycling route to school on a street map. Fifty cycling routes of 11-to-12-year olds were identified and physical environmental characteristics along the identified routes were rated with EGA-Cycling (5 subscales; 37 items), based on Google Street View. To assess reliability, two researchers performed the audit. Criterion validity of the audit was examined by comparing the ratings based on Google Street View with ratings through on-site assessments.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Intra-rater reliability was high (kappa range 0.47-1.00). Large variations in the inter-rater reliability (kappa range -0.03-1.00) and criterion validity scores (kappa range -0.06-1.00) were reported, with acceptable inter-rater reliability values for 43% of all items and acceptable criterion validity for 54% of all items.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  EGA-Cycling can be used to assess physical environmental characteristics along cycling routes to school. However, to assess the micro-environment specifically related to cycling, on-site assessments have to be added.
authors.affiliation: Department of Movement and Sport Sciences, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Ghent University, Watersportlaan 2, 9000 Ghent, Belgium. Griet.Vanwolleghem@Ugent.be.
authors.forename: Griet
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Vanwolleghem
authors.forename: Delfien
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Van Dyck
authors.forename: Fabian
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Ducheyne
authors.forename: Ilse
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: De Bourdeaudhuij
authors.forename: Greet
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Cardon
mesh_terms: D001530:Belgium / Q000453:epidemiology; D001642:Bicycling / Q000592:standards*; D002648:Child; D004779:Environment Design / Q000592:standards*; D005260:Female; D040362:Geographic Information Systems / Q000592:standards*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012111:Residence Characteristics; D012574:Schools