ive Transportation to and From School From the Perspectives of Practitioners. J Phys Act Health, 10(8), 1128-1135.
- In many developed countries walking and bicycling are not extensively used as a means of transportation. Further, the share of these non-motorized travel modes (as a percentage of all trips) has been reducing over time.
- The increasingly low use of walk and bicycle modes of transportation, and the concomitant increasing use of motorized vehicles for transportation, may be associated with several factors, including land use and development patterns, traffic safety and personal security concerns, and perceptions of and attitudes towards non-motorized transport. These factors manifest themselves differently in developing and developed countries, but throughout the world the increasing reliance on motorized transport contributes to serious traffic congestion problems, air quality degradation, and greenhouse gas emission increases.
- In addition to transportation professionals, health agencies are also paying increased attention to non-motorized modes, or “active transport” as a route to improve public health.
- In this chapter, the authors discuss the many benefits of non-motorized travel, identify its facilitators and impediments, analyze its utilization in select developed and developing countries, review previous studies of the effectiveness of strategies to promote it, and recommend possible pathways to promote non-motorized travel as a sustainable travel option.
Christina Bernardo, Chandra Bhat. (2014). Non-motorized Travel as a Sustainable Travel Option Handbook of Sustainable Travel (pp. 277-291). Netherlands: Springer Netherlands.
- This study assesses how federal Safe Routes to School (SRTS) funds were allocated to public and private schools and communities and whether there were demographic or locational differences between schools that benefited from SRTS funding and those that did not receive SRTS awards.
- The study analyzes all SRTS projects awarded between 2005 and 2012 (N1⁄45532) by using descriptive statistics to profile SRTS funding amounts and purposes, and to compare demographic and neighborhood characteristics of schools with and without SRTS programs. Analysis was conducted in 2013.
- The average SRTS award was $158,930 and most funding was spent on infrastructure (62.8%) or combined infrastructure and non-infrastructure (23.5%) projects.
- Schools benefiting from the SRTS program served higher proportions of Latino students and were more likely to be in higher-density areas. Few differences existed in neighborhood demographics, particularly educational attainment, work-trip commute mode, and median household income.
- Conclusions: Schools benefiting from the SRTS program are more urban and have higher Latino populations but are otherwise comparable to U.S. public schools. This suggests that disadvantaged areas have had access to the SRTS program.
Noreen C. McDonald, PhD, Pamela H. Barth, MRP, Ruth L. Steiner, PhD. (2013). Assessing the Distribution of Safe Routes to School Program Funds, 2005–2012. Am J Prev Med, 45(4), 401-406
- The study used a robust quasi-experimental research design to measure the impacts of Eugene, Oregon's Safe Routes to School program on walking and biking.
- Using data collected between 2007 and 2011 at 14 schools with and without Safe Routes to School programs, the study showed that the Safe Routes to School program was associated with increases in walking and biking.
- Education and encouragement programs were associated with a five percentage point increase in biking. Augmenting education programs with additional SRTS improvements such as sidewalks, crosswalks, covered bike parking, and Boltage was associated with increases in walking and biking of 5–20 percentage points.
- The study results illustrate the potential for the Safe Routes to School program to change behavior and should encourage other communities to plan for multi-modal school travel.
Noreen C. McDonald a, n, Yizhao Yang b, Steve M. Abbott b, Allison N. Bullock (2013). Impact of the Safe Routes