Social Deprivation and the Performance of Pedestrian Infrastructure for School Children: Identifying Need in the Putnam City School District, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma

Abstract

Social disadvantage is thought to correlate with and might indeed be compounded by insufficient transport infrastructure. Additionally, the prevalence of pedestrian mode choice for trips is shown to be affected by levels of social disadvantage and vulnerability. For elementary school-age children and their guardians, these relationships could complicate daily mode choice and travel with respect to getting to school. This research explores the spatial dependence of socioeconomic and pedestrian network service indicators through a comparative spatial analysis of pedestrian level of service (LOS; Landis et al. 2001) and social deprivation index (SDI; Butler et al. 2013) across suburban census tracts comprising the Putnam City School District in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. Results indicate statistically significant clusters where substandard pedestrian LOS and challenging socioeconomic conditions colocate at specific census tracts in the study area, along with significant effects demonstrated under spatial lag regression modeling. Implications for planning and public health are discussed, inclusive of both social (public awareness initiatives, walking school buses) and physical (improvements to the pedestrian environment) intervention.