Research on the Impact of the Built Environment on the Characteristics of Metropolis Rail Transit School Commuting-Take Wuhan as an Example.

Jiandong Peng,Jiajie Qi,Qi Dai,Jinming Yan,Hong Yang,Changwei Cui

doi:10.3390/ijerph18189885

Jiandong Peng, Jiajie Qi + Show 4 more

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https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph18189885

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Abstract

The long-distance commute to school caused by urban sprawl and the car-oriented urban construction model are key factors leading to primary/middle school students being picked up by their parents in cars. Encouraging those students to take rail transit can reduce their dependence on cars. This paper uses a stepwise regression based on rail-transit swipe data to explore the influence of the built environment on rail-transit commuting characteristics in Wuhan, and uses a geographically weighted regression (GWR) model to analyze the spatial heterogeneity of significant influencing variables. The study found that: (1) 60% of students are one-way commuters; (2) 88.6% of students travel less than 10 km; (3) the floor area ratio, bus station density and whether the station is a transfer station have an obvious positive effect on the flow of commuters; (4) whether the station is a departure station has a positive effect on the commuting distance, but the mixed degree of land use and road density have a negative effect on the commuting distance. This research can assist cities in formulating built environment optimization measures and related policies to improve school-age children’s use of rail transit. This is important in the development of child-friendly cities.

Highlights

School commuting refers to the behavior of urban elementary and middle school students who go to school and go home from school, with two forms: children going to school and going home alone and children who are picked up and dropped off by others
The commuting patterns of students taking rail transit are divided into four modes: coming and going, only going but not returning, only returning but not going and other modes, and when one of the commuting modes accounts for more than 60% of the commuting modes identified by the credit card data in a consecutive week, it is recognized as the commuting pattern of the students
60% of students commute to school for one way by rail transit, and the situation of parents picking up and dropping off their children is more common in Wuhan, which is in line with the actual situation at this stage

Summary

Introduction

School commuting refers to the behavior of urban elementary and middle school students who go to school and go home from school, with two forms: children going to school and going home alone and children who are picked up and dropped off by others. Countries around the world have been committed to creating “child-friendly cities” and encouraging primary and middle school students to adopt the active school mode of walking and cycling. This helps reduce the use of urban cars, and benefits the physical and mental health of elementary and middle school students [1,2]. Encouraging middle- or long-distance students to use rail transit to travel alleviates urban traffic and improves safety around elementary and middle schools [3]. The closer the distance to school, the higher the proportion of children

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