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Title:

School Transportation Modes for Urban and Suburban Elementary Schools in Iowa

Accession Number:

01026203

Record Type:

Component

Availability:

Transportation Research Board Business Office

500 Fifth Street, NW
Washington, DC 20001 United States

Abstract:

The shift in the transportation mode dynamics at schools has elevated traffic safety concerns in school zones and increased the number of vehicles competing for space with buses, bicycles, and pedestrians. In the past, most trips to neighborhood schools in urban areas were by school bus, walking or biking; however, passenger vehicles have become the predominant transportation mode for students with the percentage of trips averaging around 50%. This paper discusses a trip generation study was conducted at 23 elementary schools to evaluate and quantify the current trip-making characteristics and transportation modes for Iowa schools. Additionally, solutions were recommended to improve the interaction between transportation modes in school zones. Urban and suburban elementary schools were evaluated separately to determine if the percentage of students using each transportation mode was different. It was found that urban schools have about 70% more children walking and biking to school than suburban schools. Additionally, 55% of the urban school students are being dropped-off and 45% are being picked-up by passenger vehicles compared to 43% of suburban students being dropped-off and 36% being picked-up by passenger vehicles. Despite the afternoon dismissal experiencing less vehicle exposure, this time period is reported and observed to produce an unsafe environment as all modes compete within the school zone. One solution is to stagger the dismissal of students by transportation mode and distribute them to different school exits. These minor changes have the potential to increase the safety and efficiency of the afternoon peak period at schools.

Monograph Accession #:

01020180

Report/Paper Numbers:

06-2680

Language:

English

Corporate Authors:

Transportation Research Board

500 Fifth Street, NW
Washington, DC 20001 United States

Authors:

Hallmark, Shauna L

ORCID 0000-0001-5187-8022

Isebrands, Hillary N
Liu, Xiaojia

Pagination:

11p

Publication Date:

2006

Conference:

Transportation Research Board 85th Annual Meeting

Location: Washington DC, United States
Date: 2006-1-22 to 2006-1-26
Sponsors: Transportation Research Board

Media Type:

CD-ROM

Features:

Figures (7) ; References; Tables (2)

Uncontrolled Terms:

Drop off/pick up zones; Safety zones

Geographic Terms:

Iowa

Subject Areas:

Education and Training; Highways; Pedestrians and Bicyclists; Planning and Forecasting; Safety and Human Factors; I72: Traffic and Transport Planning

Source Data:

Transportation Research Board Annual Meeting 2006 Paper #06-2680

Files:

TRIS, TRB

Created Date:

Mar 3 2006 11:05AM