Abstract

1. Abstract This study examines the factors that influence the mode choice of students traveling to and from school. A paper survey was developed and conducted to collect information from a large stratified sample of 7,443 students between ages 7 and 17 in 78 schools in the city of Mashhad, Iran. The results confirmed the hypothesis that students between ages 7 and 14 are more likely to walk and bike to school compared to ages 15 to 17. The results of the analysis conclude that students with lower incomes are more likely to walk or bike. In addition, girls are less likely than boys to prefer walking or biking relative to traveling by school buses and cars. The research reported in this paper studied students’ travel behavior and the barriers to them walking and biking to school. It was found that only 50 percent of these Iranian students walk or bike to school. Results showed that the top barriers to students are fear of social/cultural stigma, school distance and safety. To encourage more students to walk and bike to school, it is recommended to prioritize developing Safe Routes to School programs in those schools where students are less likely to walk and bike. Methodology A student travel survey was designed to identify the school trips of students between 7 and 17 years old using a stratified sample. The survey includes three parts. The first part asked a student to write his/her age, gender, grade and class. The second part consists of two questions about going to school and coming back from school mode. Each of the questions includes 9 possible student travel modes to school: parents’ car, carpooling, school bus, public bus, taxi, walking alone, walking in a group, biking alone and biking in a group. In the third part, students were asked to determine the reasons for not walking or biking to or from school. This survey involved a large sample of students: 7,443 students in 78 schools, in Mashhad, Iran. Acknowledgements Dr. Mohammad R. Ahadi, Semnan University and Ferdowsi University of Mashhad, Dr. Robert Bertini and STEP Analysis of Factors Influencing the School Access Mode Choice of Students MeeadSaberi K., Portland State University Mohammad R. Rezaeian, Semnan University, Iran Empirical Comparison of German and U.S. Traffic Sensor Data and Impact on Driver Assistance Systems Steven Hansen and Dr. Robert L. Bertini, Portland State University Location of sampled schools in the Mashhad database The graph to the right shows the modal split for students between ages 7 and 17 years old for school travel. Nearly 60% of high school students between ages 15 and 17 use motorized modes to travel to school. Elementary schools due to their traditional design (neighborhood) may support more students walking and biking compared to secondary and high schools. The results confirmed the hypothesis that students between ages 7 and 14 are more likely to walk and bike to school compared to ages 15 to 17. However, in high schools, use of school buses decreases with an increase in age. The results of the analysis also confirm that students in neighborhood schools are more likely to walk and bike to/from school compared to students at non-neighborhood schools. Closer distance between school and home is the main reason of this likelihood. Results indicate that girls are less likely to prefer walking or biking while they are more likely to use the school bus to travel to/from school. Only 42 percent of girls walk/bike to school while more than 50 percent of boys prefer walking or biking. Results show that 38 percent of girls and 22 percent of boys use the school bus to travel to school. The research reported in this poster also shows possible reasons that students choose not to walk or bike to school. The findings in the literature indicate that concerns for safety, school distance and the young age of the children are the top three reasons parents do not let their child walk or bike to school. The graph on the left shows the results of our study of barriers to male and female students walking and biking. The most common reason for girls not walking and biking is fear of social/cultural stigma while the most common reason for boys is school distance. In general, the top four barriers for students, both girls and boys, walking and biking to school are fear of social/cultural stigma, school distance, safety and dangerous intersections. This finding argues for safe routes to school and neighborhood schools. The graph on the left shows that 79 percent of students with a low level of income walk or bike to school while this number for students with higher levels of income is only 19 percent. The results also show that the use of public transit does not substantially vary among students with different incomes. Traveling by school bus is chosen by 51 percent of students with a high level of income while only 5 percent of students with low level of income use the school bus to travel to school. Steve Hansen, Dr. Robert Bertini, Portland State University Semnan University, Iran www.its.pdx.edu FerdowsiUniversity of Mashhad, Iran www.its.pdx.edu