rder to increase rates of active travel.
Zuniga, Kelly Draper. (2012). “From Barrier Elimination to Barrier Negotiation: A Qualitative Study of Parents’ Attitudes about Active Travel for Elementary School Trips” Transport Policy 20: 75–81.
- Despite efforts to combat increasing rates of childhood obesity, the problem is worsening. Safe Routes to School (SRTS), an international movement motivated by the childhood obesity epidemic, seeks to increase the number of children actively commuting (walking or biking) to school by funding projects that remove barriers preventing them from doing so. This article summarizes the evaluation of the ﬁrst phase of an ongoing SRTS program in California and discusses ways to enhance data collection.
- There is no requirement for funded SRTS programs to submit evaluation data to the California Department of Public Health, but some supply information on a voluntary basis. This study used de-identified data sent to the University of California, San Francisco. The information was on children's school transport modes and parents’ views on active commuting from the Arrival and Departure Tally Sheet and Parent Survey about Walking and Biking to School, instruments developed by the SRTS national center.
- As of October 2010, 20% (n = 42) of grantees from 219 federally funded programs in California had voluntarily submitted evaluation data pertaining to 392 schools, including 63,078 unique parent records.
- Findings: Regardless of weather conditions, day of week, or time of day, the relative pattern of school transport mode was consistent. A majority of children commuted in their family vehicle, and smaller percentages of children walked, carpooled, took the school bus, biked, or used public transportation.
Chaufan, C., Yeh, J., Fox, P. (2012). “The Safe Routes to School Program in California: An Update.” American Journal of Public Health 102(6): e8–e11
- Researchers examined the extent to which differential traffic volume and road geometry can explain social inequalities in pedestrian, cyc