School Travel Plans: Overcoming Barriers to Implementation

Abstract

The number of primary school children travelling to school by car has almost doubled in 20 years. A governmental policy response is to introduce school travel plans. The paper raises and discusses important issues identified during a literature review, documentary analysis, and an empirical evaluation of school travel plans. These are: (1) barriers to their implementation, extensiveness and longevity, and (2) the behavioural approach which underpins school travel plan promotional literature. A comparative methods design was used for the empirical evaluation that measured the effectiveness of the travel initiatives operating at three schools. Quantitative and qualitative data were collected using questionnaires and travel diaries (n = 555, ages 7–11 years) and interviews (22 parents, four key persons). The output measures were: ‘levels of walking to and from school’ and ‘awareness and attitudes’ towards initiatives. In one of the schools a Walking Bus scheme operated successfully. The findings from the research form the backdrop for a discussion of potential measures to overcome the social, geographic, and financial restrictions imposed on some schools. A recommendation is made regarding data collection and the analysis of evaluation data. The general conclusion from the review is that a wide variation in the effectiveness of travel initiatives can be expected.

Acknowledgements

The author is grateful to her PhD supervisors, Dr M. R. Tight and Dr P. E. Firmin, Institute for Transport Studies, University of Leeds, UK, for their guidance and support. The invaluable advice of three anonymous referees was most appreciated. Without the help of staff and pupils in schools and the School Travel Advisers from local authorities in West Yorkshire, the research could not have gone ahead.

Notes

1. For example, the rate for France is 7.25%, Denmark 9%, Sweden 11%. ‘Age‐standardized estimates for Obesity by country for ages 15 + for 2005, are available online (WHO, 2007). There is no standard definition applied worldwide for measuring overweight and obesity in children younger than 15.

2. The educational processes at secondary school level are very different and the involvement of parents in school travel work is often much less.

3. Only 18% of females nationally (17% of male), travel to employment after dropping their children.

4. See, National Statistics, ‘Neighbourhood Statistics’ webpage: http://neighbourhood.statistics.gov.uk/ ID 2000 was the index available during fieldwork, now updated to ID 2004. Ward level data from six indices are used: income, employment, health deprivation, housing, education, training and access to services. The indices are compiled for local authorities and utilised by governmental departments and private organisations. The ID ratings refer to the location around the school, not the school.

5. From postcodes the ‘Easting’ and ‘Northing’ map coordinates are available. These were entered into the software program ‘MapInfo’ www.mapinfo.co.uk to estimate travel distance.

6. Of the 45 missing cases, 28 were from STP schools and 17 from non‐STP schools.

7. In a separate survey, during the winter of 2003/2004, a similar proportion of 90 children aged 9 to 11 also used two modes for the school journey. The children attended seven schools without travel schemes in a cross‐section of districts in a West Yorkshire town.

8. Pupils who only walked on 1, 2 or 3 days (STP schools n = 32, non‐STP n = 42), were excluded from the analysis.

9. Table provided by special request, ‘Percentage of trips to school by main mode and car availability’ (National Travel Survey (NTS), 2002; DfT, 2003).

10. A separate cross‐tabulation for STP School E produced a similar result (χ2 .372, p < 0.542, d.f. = l). Car ownership categories were collapsed into ‘0/1’ cars and ‘2/more’ cars to eliminate expected cell counts less than 5.

11. While every effort has been made to account for differences between the pairs of schools selected for this research, there is always the possibility of problems with using a comparative methodology. Consequently, considerable care has been exercised with the interpretations drawn from the survey data collected for the six schools.

12. The British politician with responsibility for ‘Transport’ at the time of the fieldwork.

13. ‘School travel strategies and plans: A best practice guide for local authorities’ Chapter 5: Survey, monitoring and evaluation (2007). www.dft.gov.uk/pgr/sustainable/schooltravel/localauthorities/schooltravelstrategiesandpla5745?version=1