Walking School Bus Research Articles

Investigating Access to Schools through Walking: A Study of Built School Road Networks

The scientific literature commonly states that walking to and from school can provide a regular source of physical activity for children and young people. Transport planners emphasise the importance of interventions in the road network to improve walking practices among this younger population. The Walking School Bus is an initiative that can have a positive impact on traffic management while simultaneously promoting physical health. It is a transportation service used by elementary school students to walk the home–school route accompanied by parent volunteers. It is a similar mode to the school bus in which there are several lines, each consisting of several stops, and each line is associated with a predetermined route that must go through all the stops and then arrive at the school. This paper aims to propose and implement a microsimulation traffic flow model leading to a local solution. The study has two primary purposes: (1) to evaluate the impact of Walking School Bus demands on traffic performance and (2) to examine the effect of different routes on traffic flow delay. Finally, after the implementation, the model will be applied to analyse the situation of an existing school, which will consider this mode of transport.

Promoting adolescent girls' active school travel in Ghana: Contextualizing health belief model and theory of planned behavior

In recent years, efforts to promote safer active school travel (AST), i.e., walking and cycling behaviors in girls, have heightened in light of huge gender disparities in micromobility adoption. In developing countries where transport infrastructure is not advanced, and AST adoption is influenced by societal perceptions, theorizing empirical studies will help better explore and understand the travel needs of girls for effective planning. This study investigated the factors influencing AST behaviors of 232 adolescent girls in primary, junior, and senior high schools based in Sunyani Municipality, Ghana. A novel combination of the Health Belief Model and the Theory of Planned Behavior was employed to formulate a conceptual model that was evaluated using SEM-MIMIC modeling. Results revealed that age plays a significant role in AST preferences, with younger girls favoring walking and older girls showing interest in cycling. Interventions can capitalize on this to promote cycling habits during the transition to senior high school. Moreover, environmental attitudes have the most decisive influence on the perceived social benefits of AST, while perceived parental support positively impacts safety self-efficacy. Together with perceived parental support, safety self-efficacy, and distance/accessibility barriers, they significantly influence girls' intentions to use active transportation. Authorities can adopt proposed targeted interventions such as the walking school bus and bicycle train concepts to make AST more attractive to girls.

Evaluation of a walking school bus program: a cluster randomized controlled trial

BackgroundThe purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of a walking school bus intervention on children’s active commuting to school.MethodsWe conducted a randomized controlled trial (RCT) in Houston, Texas (Year 1) and Seattle, Washington (Years 2–4) from 2012 to 2016. The study had a two-arm, cluster randomized design comparing the intervention (walking school bus and education materials) to the control (education materials) over one school year October/November – May/June). Twenty-two schools that served lower income families participated. Outcomes included percentage of days students’ active commuting to school (primary, measured via survey) and moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA, measured via accelerometry). Follow-up took place in May or June. We used linear mixed-effects models to estimate the association between the intervention and outcomes of interest.ResultsTotal sample was 418 students [Mage=9.2 (SD = 0.9) years; 46% female], 197 (47%) in the intervention group. The intervention group showed a significant increase compared with the control group over time in percentage of days active commuting (β = 9.04; 95% CI: 1.10, 16.98; p = 0.015) and MVPA minutes/day (β = 4.31; 95% CI: 0.70, 7.91; p = 0.02).ConclusionsThese findings support implementation of walking school bus programs that are inclusive of school-age children from lower income families to support active commuting to school and improve physical activity.Trail registrationThis RCT is registered at clinicaltrials.gov (NCT01626807).

Walking school bus line routing for efficiency, health and walkability: A multi‐objective optimisation approach

AbstractWalking School Bus (WSB) has been recognised as an innovative solution to promote walking to school, bringing a wide spectrum of benefits, including: health benefits from the physical exercise, social skills and traffic reduction. To facilitate the success of WSB, one vital element is its route planning, which directly affects the catchment for the service and the realisation of all the potential benefits. Previously, time has been the only factor that has been considered in WSB routing problems. Other important factors including air quality, safety and comfort will also be considered in this paper. Air quality along a WSB route is important to help realise the health benefits of walking. Traffic safety has been the biggest barrier to walking to school and must be addressed in planning a WSB route. Ensuring children have an enjoyable and comfortable experience is vital for the sustainability and success of WSB. A walking network is introduced to enable modelling pedestrian movements in detail, including walking movements on different sides of the road and crossing movements. This approach enables detailed route‐based analysis to assess the localised effect of air quality on pollutant dose. We define walkability as a measure of children's needs in safety and comfort, which can also be assessed in detail on each route. We propose a multi‐objective optimisation model to generate efficient WSB routes with three objectives representing the potential benefits of WSB: (1) to minimise time; (2) to minimise pollutant dose; and (3) to maximise walkability. We apply our model to a selected school in Bradford in the UK, generating three WSB lines following efficient routes. These lines go through a predetermined sequence of ‘WSB Stops’, with the final stop as the school. All children within the catchment area will be able to join a WSB within 1–2 min walk from their home to the nearest stop. Our multi‐objective WSB route planning model is highly transferable to any selected school in any WSB targeted area. Planners will be able to select a combination of WSB lines to offer, based on the requirement of coverage area and resource availability.

Spatial multicriteria decision analysis for Walking School Bus target development strategies

IntroductionAround the world there has been a decline in the mode share of walking to school. This is the result of many factors influencing the mode choice decisions of parents for their own journeys to work and their children's journeys to school. Walking School Bus (WSB) has been proved to be an effective strategy that can be an innovation to promote walking to school and combat the ‘vicious circle’ of chauffeuring children to school. This modal switch can thus be a key for enhancing the sustainability of our transportation system and more importantly the health of our next generation. MethodsThis paper proposes an innovative decision analysis model to identify areas for targeting WSB development. By applying spatial multicriteria decision analysis (SMCDA) to existing aggregate data on both work and school trip mode choices and relevant zonal characteristics, the proposed model can help planners and policy decision makers to identify where investments on setting up/enhancing WSBs might be most effective in enabling modal shift. We apply our SMCDA model to a case study in Bradford, UK. We highlight zones/schools within the study area where WSB programmes can be most effective to help realise the full potential of walking to school in health, environmental and social inclusion terms. ResultsSix zones in Bradford have been identified as the areas with the highest potential for the uptake of WSB schemes. These present characteristics that are favourable conditions for walking but with less than ideal current walking mode shares. They have large numbers of school aged children, lower level of work trips by car and higher parents’ availability. ConclusionsOur SMDCA method for WSB target development is highly transferable and can be applied to other cities in the UK or around the world; providing genuine applied value as an apparatus for supporting, informing and systematising the implementation of potentially successful (in engagement and usage terms) WSB schemes.

The Perspective Projects Promoting Sustainable Mobility by Active Travel to School on the Example of the Southern Poland Region

The paper presents a discussion concerning the development of projects regarding active travel with the policy of sustainable mobility, with active school transport in southern Poland being taken into special consideration. The implementation of the idea of sustainable school travel planning involves linking several social groups, including traffic planners and organizers, school administrators, governments, parents, and children. This, in turn, requires considering the criteria reported by all parties when choosing a scenario for the region’s development in terms of transport solutions. The following study was based on the methodological foundations of multicriteria decision-making analysis. The research purpose of this paper is to identify and classify the actions, policies, and scenarios of active travel projects for the sustainable development of mobility based on the cities of southern Poland. The evaluation was carried out through expert methods with multicriteria decision-making tools based on the MULTIPOL (MULTI-criteria and POLicy) prospective analysis technique. It allowed for the selection of the most probable policy, which covered the six actions considered by the experts to be the most significant for the development of the active school transport system in the analyzed region. Such actions are as follows: identification of walking school bus routes, modernization of crosswalk lines, planning of walking and cycling routes to schools, promoting safety educational programs, distribution of active school transport booklets and cycling, and pedestrian skills training workshops. The paper presents a new method to evaluate the policies and actions regarding promoting sustainable (active) travel to school. The innovative approach results from assembling a mixed group of people (stakeholders) as experts. The mix of experts consisting of users (pupils and parents), practitioners, and scientist experts in this field allowed us to score policies, actions, and scenarios, enabling a wider spectrum of assessment than before.

Barriers to Active Travel: Among Primary School-Aged Children in Wellington

Active school travel (walking, biking, scootering or skating to and from school) is declining in Wellington. This is concerning becauseactive forms of transport benefit children’s mental and physical health, as well as producing wider societal benefits such as lessnoise, reduced air pollution, lower congestion and fewer greenhouse gas emissions. This article explores the barriers to active schooltravel among primary school-aged children in Wellington, based on an anonymous online survey of parents. The results indicatethat the main barriers to active school travel are related to safety concerns, family schedule complexities, and the efficiency of othermodes of transport. Possible solutions include a walking school bus programme and more flexible working hours for parents, specifically during school drop-off and pick-up times.

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

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.

Implementation contextual factors related to community-based active travel to school interventions: a mixed methods interview study

BackgroundActive travel to school contributes to multiple physical and psychosocial benefits for youth, yet population rates of active travel to school are alarmingly low in the USA and many other countries. Though walking school bus interventions are effective for increasing rates of active travel to school and children’s overall physical activity, uptake of such interventions has been low. The objective of this study was to conduct a mixed methods implementation evaluation to identify contextual factors that serve as barriers and facilitators among existing walking school bus programs.MethodsSemi-structured interviews guided by the Consolidated Framework for Implementation Research (CFIR) were conducted with leaders of low-sustainability (n = 9) and high-sustainability (n = 11) programs across the USA. A combination of quantitative (CFIR-based) coding and inductive thematic analysis was used. The CFIR-based ratings were compared between the low- and high-sustainability programs and themes, subthemes, and exemplary quotes were provided to summarize the thematic analysis.ResultsIn both the low- and high-sustainability programs, three of the 15 constructs assessed were commonly rated as positive (i.e., favorable for supporting implementation): student/family needs and resources, implementation climate, and planning. Three constructs were more often rated as positive in the high-sustainability programs: organizational incentives and rewards, engaging students and parents, and reflecting and evaluating. Three constructs were more often rated as positive in the low-sustainability programs: student/family needs and resources - built environment, available resources, and access to knowledge and information. Four themes emerged from the thematic analysis: planning considerations, ongoing coordination considerations, resources and supports, and benefits.ConclusionsEngagement of students, parents, and community members were among the factors that emerged across the quantitative and qualitative analyses as most critical for supporting walking school bus program implementation. The information provided by program leaders can help in the selection of implementation strategies that overcome known barriers for increasing the long-term success of community-based physical activity interventions such as the walking school bus.

Impact of Walking School Bus Programs on Self-Efficacy and Outcome Expectations.

A walking school bus (WSB) consists of students and adults walking to and from school and promotes active commuting to school. Self-efficacy (SE) and outcome expectations (OE) are behavioral constructs associated with active commuting to school. The authors sought to assess the impact of a WSB program on child SE, and parent SE, and OE. The authors conducted a cluster randomized controlled trial of a WSB intervention from 2012 to 2016 among 22 elementary schools serving racially diverse, low-income populations in Houston, TX and Seattle, WA. Surveys collected data from third- to fifth-grade students and their parents, (n = 418) child-parent dyads, before school randomization and at the school year's end. Child surveys included 16 SE items, while parent surveys included 15 SE items and 14 OE items. Scores were averaged from responses ranging from 1 to 3. The authors compared changes in SE and OE between groups over time and accounted for clustering using linear mixed-effects models. The intervention group had increases in child SE of 0.12 points (P = .03), parent SE of 0.11 points (P = .048), and parent OE of 0.09 points (P = .02) compared to controls over time. As hypothesized, the WSB improved child SE, parent SE, and parent OE related to active commuting to school.

Walking School Bus Programs: Implementation Factors, Implementation Outcomes, and Student Outcomes, 2017-2018.

Purpose and ObjectivesWalking school bus programs increase children’s physical activity through active travel to school; however, research to inform large-scale implementation of such programs is limited. We investigated contextual factors, implementation outcomes, and student outcomes in existing walking school bus programs in the United States and internationally.Intervention ApproachWalking school bus programs involve a group of children walking to school together with an adult leader. On the trip to school, these adults provide social support, address potential traffic and interpersonal safety, and serve as role models to the children while children increase their physical activity levels.Evaluation MethodsWe conducted surveys with existing walking school bus programs identified through internet searches, referrals, and relevant email listservs. Leaders from 184 programs that operated at least 1 trip per week completed the survey. We used regression analyses to compare differences in contextual factors by area income and location, associations between contextual factors and implementation outcomes, and associations between implementation outcomes and student outcomes. ResultsWalking school bus programs in low-income communities had more route leaders and engaged in more active travel to school-related activities of being sustained than those in higher income. Programs that had no external funding, multiple route leaders, and coordination by a school or district staff member (as opposed to a parent) had greater student participation than other programs. Providing more trips than other programs per week was associated with reduced tardiness, reduced bullying, and improved neighborhood walkability. The greatest barriers to implementation were recruiting and maintaining students and identifying and maintaining route leaders.Implications for Public HealthWalking school bus programs can be implemented successfully in many contexts using various models. The involvement of several people in leadership roles is critical for sustainability. Evidence-based implementation strategies that overcome barriers can improve reach, implementation, and sustainability of walking school bus programs and can increase children’s physical activity.

Encouraging active transportation to school: Lessons learned from implementing a walking school bus program in Northeastern Ontario

IntroductionFew Canadian children meet physical activity guidelines. Active transportation to school may be a way to increase physical activity and walking school buses have shown promise; yet, few studies consider Northern settings. MethodsExperiences of individuals and factors related to implementation of a walking school bus pilot in Northeastern Ontario were explored using semi-structured interviews (parents), and focus groups (students and conductors). Data were audio-recorded, transcribed verbatim, and categorized using thematic analyses. ResultsSix themes emerged from the data: (1) Health and Social Benefits; (2) Learning Safety Skills; (3) Participant Satisfaction; (4) Environmental Factors; (5) Implementation Challenges; and (6) Moving Forward. Taken together, an increase in physical activity, socializing and community participation, being outdoors, benefits to mental health, knowledge of road safety, and perceptions of environmental influences were revealed as positive outcomes. Although conductors and students were worried about distance, parents perceived the distance as acceptable. Despite initial challenges, participants generally agreed the pilot was well organized. University student volunteers played a large role in success. ConclusionsIn Northeastern environments, opportunities for active transportation to school and physical activity are influenced by many factors. Sustained initiatives are needed to improve upon the determinants of active transportation to school at the various ecological levels where they can be most effectively targeted.

School walkability index: Application of environmental audit tool and GIS

IntroductionActive school travel is an important way to promote children's physical activity, but it requires supportive environments that can safely and comfortably accommodate children's walking and biking. Few existing indices explicitly consider school neighborhood environmental factors related to children's walking to school. In this study, we used a street audit tool and Geographic Information System (GIS) to evaluate walkability near low-income elementary schools in Seattle, WA. MethodsThe audit-based school walkability index was developed based on all street segments (n = 841) within a 0.4 km network buffer from each study school (n = 18). The GIS-based school walkability, a combination of road connectivity, vehicular traffic exposure, and residential density, was also measured in a 2 km network buffer around each school. The participants were individuals aged 8–11 years (n = 315) who participated in the Walking School Bus randomized controlled trial project. Mixed-effects logistic and linear models were used to examine the association of the index's representations of the built environment with children's school travel mode (walking or biking to school 1+ times per week) and with objectively measured moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA, average weekday minutes during the 90-min before-school period). These associations were tested with the total sample as well as the subsample of children living within 1.5 km from their schools. ResultsThe audit-based school walkability index (WI) was positively associated with both active commuting to school among the subsample living within 1.5 km from their schools and with children's before-school MVPA among the subsample and the total sample. The GIS-based school WI showed significant associations with children's before-school MVPA but no relationships with active school travel among the subsample and the total sample. ConclusionThe audit-based school walkability index can be used as a complementary tool for measuring walkability near low-income elementary schools along with existing GIS-based school walkability index.

The Walking School Bus: Critical Community-Engaged Learning in Action?

The U.S. K–12 public education system is fundamentally unequal. What efforts can facilitate students to become deeply immersed in the realities of the system and to embody the need for social change? This article investigates scaffolded, semester-long writing assignments to demonstrate patterns in the three tenets of critical community-engaged learning (authentic relationship development, reducing power differentials, social change orientation). The assignments come from three cohorts of a Sociology of Education course in which undergraduates spent early mornings walking with elementary school children. As efforts were made to deepen the community-engaged partnership, there is corresponding evidence in (1) the ways students humanized social problems through authentic relationship development, (2) the ways they detailed moments of youth-led activities in which power differentials were diminished, and (3) how students’ reflective thoughts more frequently focused upon social change.

Parent Perceptions on a Walking School Bus Program Among Low-Income Families: A Qualitative Study.

The walking school bus (WSB) is a promising intervention to increase walking to school and physical activity in school-age children. The aim of this qualitative study was to assess parent perceptions of a WSB program that was part of a randomized controlled trial to inform future programs. The authors interviewed 45 parents whose children had participated in a WSB program in the Seattle area, in which third- and fifth-grade students walked to/from school with adult chaperones along a set route. The authors performed a qualitative analysis of the interview transcripts and coded interview segments into 4 broad categories as follows: facilitators, barriers, general positive sentiments, and proposals. Most parents spoke of the benefits of the WSB program; in particular, parents frequently applauded exercise/physical health benefits. Of the barriers, the most frequently cited was time, with work schedule and commute changes leading some families to walk less frequently. Most parents voiced support for the WSB program as a means to improve child health, to learn pedestrian safety, and to interact with positive adult role models. Parents made several suggestions to improve the program, including better recruitment methods, logistical improvements, and a platform for communicating with other parents.

Does participation in targeted programs such as Walking School Bus or Safe Routes to School increase physical activity in school-aged children?

University of Wisconsin Department of Family Medicine and Community Health, Madison, WI The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

Exploring parental perceptions about school travel and walking school buses: A thematic analysis approach

Establishing a less car-oriented mobility ethos through initiatives targeting, among others, children’s travel to school could be a key for unlocking the potential for a more sustainable future. A Walking School Bus (WSB) is a relatively new and scarcely evaluated commuting mechanism that in theory provides a creative scheme capable of inspiring voluntary travel behaviour change for children and parents. Through a series of in-depth focus group sessions that were conducted in Bradford, UK this article explores the perceptions of parents that are ultimately the decision-makers about how their children go to school. This work improves the understanding of the different challenges and opportunities underpinning travel to school, in general, and WSBs, in particular, by identifying and discussing six thematic areas of critical importance that explain the decision-making behind potential WSB uptake. These are namely: logistics, safety, trust, health and wellbeing, emotional needs and educational opportunities. Finally, the paper provides policy recommendations about how WSB initiatives can become more effective and attractive mobility tools for local communities.

Walking School Bus Program Feasibility in a Suburban Setting

A walking school bus (WSB), a group of children walking to school under adult supervision, has social, environmental, and public health benefits. Although WSBs may require a certain neighborhood density and street configuration to recruit and organize groups, our spatial analysis showed that when 20% of students living near their school join WSBs, those students could form an adequately sized WSB group. Our parent survey showed that about 40% of parents were likely to allow their children to walk to school if a friend accompanies them. Thus, we conclude that WSBs are feasible in a low-density suburban neighborhood setting.

Air Pollution Exposure in Walking School Bus Routes: A New Zealand Case Study.

Walking School Buses (WSBs), organized groups for children to walk to school under the supervision of adults, help reduce traffic congestion and contribute towards exercise. Routes are based largely on need, traffic safety and travel time, with exposure to air pollution not generally considered. This paper explores whether reductions in exposure can be achieved based on the side of the road travelled using data collected in Auckland, New Zealand. Exposure to air pollution was measured for a 25-min commute consisting of a 10-min segment along a quiet cul-de-sac and a 15-min segment along a main arterial road with traffic congestion heavier in one direction. Two participants were each equipped with a portable P-Trak ultrafine particle monitor and a portable Langan carbon monoxide monitor, and walked the route on opposite sides of the road simultaneously, for both morning and afternoon, logging 10-s data. The results suggest that pedestrians travelling on the footpath next to the less congested side of the road in the morning avoid many short-term peaks in concentration and experience significantly lower mean exposures than those travelling on the footpath next to the more congested side. Significant reductions in air pollution exposure could be made for children by taking into account the side of the road in WSB route design.

Designing Pedibus Lines: a Path Based Approach

We study the problem of designing walking school bus lines (Pedibus) limiting the deviation with respect to the shortest path for each child, with the objective of minimizing the number of accompanying persons and the perceived risk of the selected trajectories. The problem is formulated using a path model and a column generation approach is proposed. Computational experiments compare the lower bounds and the solutions of the proposed approach with the arc model and a simple heuristic proposed in a previous work.