elopment, parks and recreation, city management, and municipal legislatures in 83 urban areas across 8 states in 2012.
Zwald, M., Eyler, A., Goins, K., Brownson, R., Schmid, T., & Lemon, S. (2014). Understanding Municipal Officials' Involvement in Transportation Policies Supportive of Walking and Bicycling. Journal of Public Health Management & Practice. 0(0), 1-8.
- There is promising evidence that walking school buses (WSBs) can impact children’s health and safety skills, and supporting facilitators and eliminating barriers to WSBs could improve program sustainability.
- Three studies demonstrated a positive relationship between WSBs and proportions of children walking to school through self-report, and three studies showed an association between WSBs and increased activity levels using accelerometers, although not always at statistically significant levels.
- Two studies reported savings in car journeys as a result of WSBs.
- One study found that WSB schools had a five-fold improvement in children crossing at intersections instead of non-intersection locations.
- Child and parent enjoyment during participation, parents’ time savings, and effective information provision and promotion were key facilitators of WSBs.
- Parent road safety concerns were the most common barrier across the literature, cited in 10 of 12 studies.
- Recruitment of volunteers and children to participate was also a common challenge, and time commitment from coordinators, variable family travel schedules, and lower motivation in winter months can affect recruitment.
- This systematic review examined 12 studies conducted between 2001 and 2012 that focused solely on WSBs. These studies included 326 schools in a variety of socio-demographic contexts in Australia, New Zealand, and the United States.
- Studies generally focused on either the impact of WSBs on child activity, health, and safety, or barriers and facilitators to implementation.
Smith, L, Norgate, SH, Cherrett, T, Davies, N, Wistanley, C and Harding, M. (2015.) Walking school buses as a form of active transportation for children: A review of the evidence. Journal of School Health. 85, 197-210.
- Biking and walking to school may vary by factors like distance to school, speed of traffic, school encouragement, and children asking permission.
- Students were 2.6 times as likely to walk or bike to school if these modes were promoted by the school.
- Students who lived within 0.5 miles of the school were 16.7 times as likely to walk or bike to school than those living further away.
- Lower travel times were associated with higher percentages of walking and biking to school; 23.8% of children biked or walked who were less than 5 minutes away, while only 2.2% of children more than 20 minutes utilized active modes.
- More children in kindergarten through fifth grade walked or biked to school than children in sixth through eighth grade.
- Students who asked permission from their parents to walk or bike to school in the past year were seven times as likely to be using active transportation modes.
- Children whose parents reported recognizing most people on the block were 1.6 times as likely to walk or bike to school compared to children whose parents did not recognize most people.
- · Children of parents who reported speed of traffic as a significant factor affecting their decision to allow children to walk/bike to school were 58% less likely to walk/bike to school than parents who did not identify speed as a significant factor.
- This study conducted a baseline assessment of 5 SRTS-awarded schools from pre-kindergarten to eighth grade in communities with similar median incomes in Louisiana. Data was collected using parent surveys, teacher tallies, and the Pedestrian Environmental Data Scan (PEDS).
Gustat, J., Richards, K., Rice, J., Andersen, L., Parker-Karst, K., Cole, S. (2015). Youth Walking and Biking Rates Vary by Environments Around 5 Louisiana Schools. Journal of School Health, 85 (1), 36-42.
- National governments have provided subsidies for investments in increasing the safety and attractive