School route safety perceptions of primary school children and their parents: Effects of transportation mode and infrastructure

Figures & data

Figure 1. Illustration of map used in the survey.

Figure 2. Illustration of the digitalized school routes.

Table 1. Descriptive information about school route variables, separately as absolute values and in proportion to the number of hexagons of the respective school route.

	Absolute number of hexagons	Proportion relative to route’s total number of hexagons
Length (in meter)	1,488 (827; 138–3,185)	–
Length (in hexagons)	77 (44; 7–169)	–
Intersections	7.52 (4.66; 0–23)	.10 (.04; .00–.21)
Traffic lights	2.75 (2.34; 0–18)	.04 (.03; .00–.14)
Zebra crossings	1.91 (1.21; 0–4)	.03 (.03; .00–.13)
50 km/h	21.09 (31.92; 0–121)	.17 (.23; .00–.65)
30 km/h	34.60 (19.12; 0–134)	.48 (.20; .00–.85)
20 km/h	6.21 (2.09; 0–18)	.12 (.09; .00–.58)
Living street	1.04 (3.06; 0–12)	.01 (.03; .00–.15)

Values indicate the mean (with SD and range in brackets).

Figure 3. Distribution of transportation mode by school year.

Table 2. Length and duration of school routes, separately for transportation mode.

	Walking	Mixed	Public transport	Bike	Scooter
Metric distance (in m)	813 (435)	1,977 (794)	2,761 (92)	1,711 (774)	1,338 (509)
Estimated duration (in min)	10 (21)	14 (6)	16 (6)	13 (6)	9 (4)

Values indicate the mean (with SD in brackets).

Figure 4. Distribution of accompaniment status by school year.

Table 3. Details concerning all parameter estimates in the generalized estimating equations model testing the effects of demographic and route variables on the safety ratings of children and their parents.

		Main terms		Interaction terms (main effect * children’s safety ratings)
		B (SE)	Wald-Chi^2	B (SE)	Wald-Chi^2
Demographic variables (categorical)
Factor	Category
Group	Children	4.11 (1.90)	4.70*	–	–
	Parents	.00 (.)	.	–	–
Gender	Male	.35 (.30)	1.43	−0.08 (.35)	.05
	Female	.00 (.)	.	.00 (.)	.
School year	Fourth grade	−0.35 (.46)	.58	.68 (.65)	1.11
	Third grade	−0.24 (.43)	.31	.76 (.48)	2.47
	Second grade	−0.29 (.39)	.56	.45 (.47)	.90
	First grade	.00 (.)	.	.00 (.)	.
Transportation mode	Scooter	−0.90 (.43)	4.35*	−0.52 (.55)	.89
	Bike	−2.06 (.66)	9.74***	1.36 (.93)	2.16
	Public transport	.81 (.83)	.95	−1.06 (1.03)	1.07
	Mixed	−0.82 (.51)	2.61	.29 (.59)	.24
	Walking	.00 (.)	.	.00 (.)	.
Accompaniment status	Parents	−1.10 (.55)	4.06*	.58 (.59)	.95
	Other children	−1.00 (.46)	4.67*	.40 (.53)	.57
	Mixed	−0.65 (.47)	1.92	−0.48 (.49)	.93
	Alone	.00 (.)	.	.00 (.)	.
Route variables (continuous)
Type	Factor
	Route length	.02 (.01)	3.05	−0.01 (.01)	2.01
Speed limit (proportion of hexagons featuring the respective speed limit)	50 km/h	1.08 (1.69)	.41	−0.61 (2.07)	.09
	30 km/h	3.04 (1.61)	3.56	2.09 (1.87)	.26
	20 km/h	8.25 (3.76)	4.82*	−8.81 (4.11)	4.60*
	Living street	−3.19 (3.76)	.72	3.66 (5.38)	.46
Junctions and crossing aids (proportion of hexagons featuring the respective speed limit)	Intersections	−9.85 (5.30)	3.46	1.06 (6.30)	.03
	Traffic lights	5.38 (8.65)	.39	−4.19 (8.68)	.23
	Zebra crossings	−0.53 (8.01)	.00	21.37 (8.85)	5.84*

Note: “Category” and “Factor” present all independent variables with their respective levels for categorical demographic variables. Continuous (route) variables are clustered by “Type” for illustrative reasons, followed by the respective “Factor.” “B” and “SE” indicate the regression weight and the corresponding standard error. “Wald-Chi²” indicates the level of significance (*p < .05; ***p < .001). For interaction terms, parameter estimates are only presented for children’s safety ratings, as parents’ ratings as the reference category are redundant. 

Main effects are presented in the Middle columns. Interaction effects of each factor with the group factor (children vs. parents) are presented in the right columns. Significant effects are indicated in bold font.

Figure 5. Distribution of children’s and parents’ safety ratings, depending on transportation mode (with the respective number of children using this transportation mode in brackets).

Figure 6. Distribution of children’s and parents’ safety ratings, depending on accompaniment status (with the respective number of children indicating this accompaniment status in brackets).

Data availability statement

The data that support the findings of this study are available on request from the corresponding author. The data are not publicly available due to containing information that could compromise the privacy of research participants.