Abstract
Decline in children’s participation in active school transportation (AST) has drawn attention of those concerned with children’s health and wellbeing. Recent researcher has shown links between built environment, individuals’ psychological and social behaviour, and AST. However, no known research has empirically evaluated their hypothesized relationship simultaneously. This study explored the association between the built environment, parental perceptions of traffic safety and walking environment, sociodemographic characteristics, and AST. Structural equation modeling was employed to quantitatively analyse data on 720 students and their parents, collected from 16 elementary schools in Toronto, Ontario. Findings of this study add new knowledge to the existing literature. Parental perception of the neighbourhood walking environment was found to play a noteworthy role; but the perception of traffic safety had no effect on children’s odds of walking to school. Additionally, dissonance was found between parental subjective views and the objective built environment characteristics. Evidently, AST mode choice is a multilevel and complex process. Suggested improvements include development of new school level programs founded in new City-level children specific policies.
Highlights
I hereby declare that I am the sole author of this major research paper
Using structural equation modelling technique to the data collected from Toronto, Canada, this study aimed to address following research question: What is the relationship between the built environment and parental perceptions of the traffic safety and neighbourhood walking environment, as they relate to children’s school travel behaviour? Based on Toronto specific findings, the study recommended changes to the City policies and interventions that would prove helpful in changing children’s school travel behaviour
Using Mitra’s (2013) Behavioural Model of School Transportation (BMST) framework as a guideline, this study focused on the relationship between seven neighbourhood environment variables, one of behavioural model of school transportation (BMST)’s five domains: Safety, and five sociodemographic level variables, as they relate to the decision between walking versus driven in private vehicle to school
Summary
I hereby declare that I am the sole author of this major research paper. This is a true copy of the major research paper, including any required final revisions, as accepted by my examiners. Recent researcher has shown links between built environment, individuals’ psychological and social behaviour, and AST. This study explored the association between the built environment, parental perceptions of traffic safety and walking environment, sociodemographic characteristics, and AST. Parental perception of the neighbourhood walking environment was found to play a noteworthy role; but the perception of traffic safety had no effect on children’s odds of walking to school.
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