close to children being served versus school sites on the outskirts would be extremely useful for school systems. Such a study would include capital costs, long-term busing costs, infrastructure, maintenance, crashes, congestion, air quality, obesity, etc.
Quantifying Calories Burned and Minutes of Physical Activity through Active Transportation to School
It is difficult to measure the amount of calories burned and minutes of physical activity gained through walking and bicycling to and from school because these figures depend on distance traveled, speed/intensity of travel, and the age and weight of the child. To be able to compare walking and bicycling to school with other health and obesity interventions—such as increasing P.E. classes or cutting back on sugary foods—requires additional research on the average calories burned and minutes of physical activity gained during an active commute to and from school. Such a study could use accelerometers or similar technology.
Assessing Safety Improvements and Mode Shift from Safe Routes to School
Past research in the transportation field has demonstrated the safety benefits of infrastructure improvements such as sidewalks and crosswalks. From this, we can presume that similar infrastructure improvements installed through Safe Routes to School will improve safety. The state of California also conducted a statewide evaluation of its state Safe Routes to School funds that found that Safe Routes to School did improve safety and rates of walking and bicycling. However, we need more definitive studies that cross different types of communities to demonstrate the impact of Safe Routes to School on safety and mode shift. The majority of Safe Routes to School studies focus on results from one school or one community. A multi-site evaluation study is needed to help understand the true impact of Safe Routes to School, and how impacts vary across different types of settings, population and geographies.
Delving into the National Household Travel Survey (NHTS)
Data from the 2009 NH