01043495

Component

The character of school transportation has changed significantly in the last two decades with a considerable increase in the number of school trips made by private vehicles rather than walking, bicycling, or riding a school bus. Increased emissions result from new and longer trips as well as the impact of additional trips on congestion. A recently completed study by the authors documented safety and operational problems around elementary and middle schools in Iowa and identified solutions. The purpose of the study was to assist traffic engineers and school districts in mitigating traffic problems on school grounds and public streets adjacent to schools in order to improve safety and operations. During the course of the study, the research team noted that many of the operational problems had significant implications for emissions and that the emission impacts of schools have not been well documented. Schools generate a significant amount of private vehicle traffic and result in frequent and lengthy queuing, as noted at the study schools. These queues sometimes persist for long periods of time as parents access drop-off or pick-up locations. It further complicates the situation when school grounds are not designed for the large numbers of private vehicles attempting to enter school grounds for drop-off or pick-up and space is also used inefficiently. As a result, traffic from school parking lots often spill onto adjacent streets and result in queuing and congestion for non-school traffic. This paper quantifies three types of activity which lead to emissions due to modern school transportation. First, the number of private vehicle school trips is quantified. Second, the amount of time vehicles spend idling while waiting for drop-off and pick-up is evaluated. Third, idling on-street due to spillback from school grounds is quantified.

01042056

07-2652

English

0000-0001-5187-8022

17p

2007

Transportation Research Board 86th Annual Meeting

CD-ROM

Figures; Photos; References; Tables (1)

Air quality management; Bicycling; Environmental impacts; Exhaust gases; Pollutants; Private passenger vehicles; School safety; Schools; Traffic congestion; Walking

School transportation

Iowa

Education and Training; Energy; Environment; Highways; Operations and Traffic Management; Pedestrians and Bicyclists; Planning and Forecasting; Safety and Human Factors; I15: Environment; I72: Traffic and Transport Planning

Transportation Research Board Annual Meeting 2007 Paper #07-2652

TRIS, TRB

Feb 8 2007 7:21PM