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We explored the factors that can encourage walking and cycling to school from the adolescents’ perspective, considering individual and built environment factors as well. Travel mode selection, companionship, desired mobility autonomy, and perceptions of pedestrian and cyclist safety regarding traffic were relevant and interconnected.
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Target audience
Policy makers, urban planners and city council public health officers
The problem
We think that urban planners and policy makers usually overlook the children’s and adolescents’ perspectives, as well as their desired mobility rights. Additionally, we believe that parents often do not perceive the roads to be safe and prefer to drive their children to school. We also observed that private schools are usually located outside the municipality, without inter-urban bike lanes, making them accessible only by car or bus for children or adolescents.
What we did and why
We did a survey with 1,180 participants attending secondary schools in Toledo, Spain, to gain insights into their perceptions and preferences towards walking and cycling to school. We also observed socioeconomic factors of their families and the characteristics of the physical environment of the students’ homes and schools, to combine these objective variables with the subjective opinions of the students.
Our study’s contribution
We found that travel mode choices were associated with the urban form of the students’ homes and schools, as well as with the type of school. Most students, especially those from private schools, were driven or travelled by bus. Travel autonomy by bike was generally lower than on foot. These results are key to understanding the actual opinions and perceptions of adolescents towards active travel modes.
Impacts for city policy and practice
To boost physical active behaviour in adolescents, such as walking and cycling, we must understand which factors act as detractors for them, apart from their parents’ perspectives. In our study, Toledo illustrates the potential of infrastructure improvements in middle-size cities, where cycling behaviour is not prevalent.
Future research should consider the demands of children and youth regarding route quality and safety, integrating their perspective into urban planning.
Further information
Full research article:
Associations between adolescents’ perceptions, individual and built environment factors regarding active travel to school: the case of Toledo, Spain by Alicia Galan, Borja Ruiz-Apilánez & Irene García-Camacha
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