01139019

Component

Existing school travel research has generally focused on environmental factors that have potential to increase the probability of children walking or biking to school. This paper develops a conceptual framework that integrates school travel and families choice of residential location by recognizing school travel as a rational social behavior affected by both motivational (e.g., preference, intention) and non-motivational (e.g., environment conditions) factors. Using survey data collected from approximately 1200 households with young children attending elementary schools, the authors examine the degree to which parents’ preference for active school travel affects their choice of residential location and school travel behavior. The findings suggest parents’ decision about allowing their children walk or bike to school is not simply a reaction to environment conditions, but a more conscious pursuit in accordance to their preference. Choosing residential location is an important process that parents have used to help them obtain the kind of environment congruent with their children‘s school travel preference. But the distribution of housing opportunities surrounding schools could place a limit on the extent to which residential location choice follows school travel preference. This study finds three factors; (1) perceived closeness between home and school, (2) parents’ preference for active school travel, and (3)their intention to use active school travel to be the strongest predictors for a child walking or biking to school as the primary transportation means. The research outcome highlights the need for coordination among school planning and siting, community land use planning, and housing development. This study also reminds us that improvement in parents’ attitude toward active school travel is needed to bring substantial changes in school travel behavior.

01138544

English

12p

2008

11th National Conference on Transportation Planning for Small and Medium-Sized Communities

CD-ROM

Figures (1) ; References; Tables (5)

Bicycle travel; Data collection; Elementary school students; Land use planning; Mode choice; Residential location; School children; Travel behavior; Travel surveys; Walking

Household travel surveys; Housing development

Highways; Pedestrians and Bicyclists; Planning and Forecasting; I72: Traffic and Transport Planning

TRIS, TRB

Aug 24 2009 12:03PM