Human Impact Partners Evidence Base
Evidence Base Home » School and Child Care » Distances to school and built environments affect the ways in which students commute to school
Articles in Distances to school and built environments affect the ways in which students commute to school.
Long distances to schools are a primary barrier to walking to school. Traffic danger is the second most important barrier to walking to school.
Dellinger A, Staybtib C. 2002. Barriers to children walking and bicycling to school. Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report 51:701-704.Living within a half-mile of school greatly increases the likelihood of walking or biking to school across all racial groups.
McDonald NC. 2008. Critical factors for active transportation to school among low-income and minority students. Evidence from the 2001 National Household Travel Survey. Am J Prev Med. 34(4):341-40.31% of children that live within one mile of school walk, compared to only 2% of children living within two miles of school.
CA Center for Physical Activity. 2006. Background facts about children’s health and safety. Available at http://www.cawalktoschool.com/files/2006/background_facts.pdf.A simulation done for Gainesville, FL, demonstrated that neighborhood schools and sidewalk completeness doubled the amount of children walking, and reduced vehicle emissions by 15%, there by improving both physical activity and air quality.
Ewing R, Forinash CV, Schroeer W. 2005. Neighborhood schools and sidewalk connections. What are the impacts on travel mode choice and vehicle emissions. Transportation Research News March-April 2005:4-10.A simulation study in Gainesville, Florida, a place with a fairly low population density and an average trip to school of just under 5 miles, found that a 25% decreased walk time for the trip to school would increase the percent of those who walked from 4.5% to 5.5%. With a 25% decrease in biking time, the percentage who bike would increase from 3.4% to 4.4%. The study also found that if the distance to school decreased to a 10-minute walk or 0.5 miles, the percentage of those who would walk increased by 129%, from 4.5% to 10.3%. For bicycling, by decreasing bike time to 2.5 minutes or 0.5 mile, the amount of children that biked to school increased from 3.4% to 11.1%, or a 226% increase.
Ewing R, Forinash CV, Schroeer W. 2005. Neighborhood schools and sidewalk connections. What are the impacts on travel mode choice and vehicle emissions. Transportation Research News March-April 2005:4-10.Changes in the physical environment, such as sidewalks, traffic calming measures, and well designed crosswalks, can make walking and biking to school more desirable and safer.
Ewing R, Schroeer W, Greene W. 2004. School location and student travel: Analysis of factors affecting mode choice. Transportation Research Record: Journal of the Transportation Research Board 1895:55-63.The more children are exposed to traffic on their way to school, as measured by the number of intersections they have to cross, the higher is their risk of being hit by a car.
Macpherson A, Roberts I, Pless B. 1998. Children’s exposure to traffic and pedestrian injuries. Am J Public Health 88:1840-1845.