Schools located in rural parts of the United States and North Carolina have benefited proportionally less from the federal Safe Routes to School (SRTS) program than their more urban counterparts. We investigated whether and how diverse elementary and middle school communities throughout North Carolina have engaged in a SRTS-inspired, multi-sectoral initiative called the Active Routes to School (ARTS) project over the course of 5 years (2013 through 2017). Analyses included a study sample of 2602 elementary and middle schools in North Carolina, 853 that participated in the ARTS project over the five-year study period and 1749 that had not. Statistical models controlling for county- and school-level confounders predicted schools’ involvement in walking and bicycling-promotive events, programs, and policies over time. Schools’ engagement with ARTS Project programming increased significantly over the study period, with 33% of eligible schools participating with the project by the end of 2017. Participation was most common in promotional events. Such event participation predicted engagement with regularly recurring programming and school- and district-level establishment of biking- and walking-facilitative policies. Lower income schools were more likely to establish recurring bike and walk programs than wealthier schools, whereas rural schools were less likely than city schools to participate in promotional events, yet equally as likely as other schools to participate in recurring bike and walk programs. Schools’ engagement with the North Carolina ARTS Project diffused despite many schools’ rural geographies and lower socioeconomic status. Further, participation in one-time promotional events can portend schools’ establishment of recurring walking and biking programs and supportive policies.

中文翻译：

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学校社区与北卡罗莱纳州积极参与学校项目的积极参与：一项扩散研究

位于美国和北卡罗来纳州农村地区的学校从联邦“安全入学路线”（SRTS）计划中所获得的收益要比在城市中获得的收益成比例地减少。我们调查了北卡罗来纳州各地的中小学社区是否以及如何在5年间（2013年至2017年）内开展了以SRTS为灵感的跨部门倡议，即主动上学路线（ARTS）项目。分析包括北卡罗来纳州2602所小学和中学的研究样本，在五年研究期内参与过ARTS项目的853所研究，以及没有参与研究的1749份。控制县级和学校级混杂因素的统计模型预测，随着时间的流逝，学校将参与步行和骑自行车促进活动，计划和政策。在研究期内，学校对ARTS项目计划的参与度显着提高，到2017年底，有33％的合格学校参与了该项目。参与是促销活动中最常见的。此类活动的参与预计将参与定期重复的计划，并在学校和地区一级制定自行车和步行便利政策。与较富裕的学校相比，收入较低的学校更可能建立循环自行车和步行计划，而农村学校比城市学校参与促销活动的可能性较小，但与其他学校参加循环自行车和步行计划的可能性相同。尽管许多学校的农村地区和社会经济地位较低，但学校对北卡罗莱纳州ARTS项目的参与仍在扩散。进一步，