Measuring Success for Safe Routes to School Programs
Safe Routes to School (SRTS) programs aim to increase the share of students who commute to school by active modes (e.g., walking and cycling). The goal of this work was to assess the effectiveness of SRTS programs. Towards that end, the authors analyzed the California Household Travel Survey (CHTS) data from the four counties in the San Francisco Bay area. The authors estimated logistic regression model(s) to predict the likelihood that a child commutes to school by active modes based on the presence of an SRTS program and controlling for individual, household, and tract characteristics. Findings indicate that longer trip distance and race (relative to White students) are associated with reduced rates of active travel to school. The presence of SRTS programs mitigates these differences. The authors conclude that the effect of SRTS programs might best be described as reducing barriers to active school travel, rather than simply increasing the likelihood of using active modes. The authors also interviewed parents and school administrators about the SRTS programs. The interviewees noted the importance of social connections among students and their families as an advantage of SRTS programs in addition to the health, economic, and environmental benefits. The barriers to more active travel to school cited by the interviewees included the challenge of implementing SRTS programs consistently over a sustained period and the lack of physical infrastructure that feels safe to the students and their parents.
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Supplemental Notes:
- This document was sponsored by the U.S. Department of Transportation, University Transportation Centers Program.
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Corporate Authors:
Mineta Transportation Institute
College of Business
San José State University
San Jose, CA United States 95192-0219Office of the Assistant Secretary for Research and Technology
University Transportation Centers Program
Department of Transportation
Washington, DC United States 20590 -
Authors:
- Voulgaris, Carole Turley
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0000-0003-0556-924X
- Alexander, Serena
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0000-0001-8359-5289
- Hosseinzade, Reyhane
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0000-0003-1443-4494
- Jimenez, James
- Lee, Katherine
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0000-0002-1174-4617
- Pande, Anurag
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0000-0002-3456-7932
- Publication Date: 2020-9
Language
- English
Media Info
- Media Type: Digital/other
- Edition: Final Report
- Features: Figures; Maps; References; Tables;
- Pagination: 62p
Subject/Index Terms
- TRT Terms: Logistic regression analysis; Performance measurement; School trips; Students; Travel behavior
- Identifier Terms: California Household Travel Survey; Safe Routes to School (Program)
- Geographic Terms: San Francisco Bay Area
- Subject Areas: Pedestrians and Bicyclists; Safety and Human Factors;
Filing Info
- Accession Number: 01754643
- Record Type: Publication
- Report/Paper Numbers: 20-39, CA-MTI-1821
- Contract Numbers: 69A3551747127
- Files: UTC, NTL, TRIS, ATRI, USDOT
- Created Date: Oct 14 2020 5:41PM