 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.
