Investigating Electric Bicycles as a Travel Mode Choice for Escorting Children to School: A Case Study in Kunming, China

Abstract

To encourage low-carbon travel, reduce car trips, and improve the urban traffic system, an understanding of travel mode choice for escorting children to and from school is important. Previous studies have focused mostly on walking and bicycling. However, the electric bicycle (e-bike—a mainstream escorting mode in China) rarely has been investigated. The factors that affect travel mode choice (walking, e-bike, or car) for escorting children to and from school are explored at the household level in a case study from Kunming, China. Intrahousehold interactions and parental space–time constraints are represented by the comparative working hours of the parents and space–time coordination in joint parent–child trips, respectively. A multinomial logit model was applied in mode analysis. The results reveal interesting phenomena in travel mode choices for escorting children to school. When the mother’s working hours are longer than the father’s, the travel mode choice for escorting a child to and from school is less likely to be walking or e-bike; in other words, a car is the preferred choice in mother-dominated households. The distance deviation between parents and children is a significant factor in choosing between a car or an e-bike. Children are more likely to be escorted by e-bikes as a result of distance deviations, and walking or e-bike is less likely to be chosen when the school is far from home. Results could be valuable for traffic demand management to reduce car use for trips to and from school. In addition, e-bike development should be considered seriously for the future development of China.