Changes in travel to school patterns among children and adolescents in the São Paulo Metropolitan Area, Brazil, 1997-2007

This paper describes the changes in how children and adolescents travel to school in the São Paulo Metropolitan Area (SPMA), Brazil. Data were from children (6-11 year) and adolescents (12-17 year) who reported at least one trip to school at the SPMA Household Travel Survey for the years 1997 (15,491 people; 31,909 trips) and 2007 (11,992 people; 24,428 trips). We estimated: the proportion and respective 95% confidence interval, median interquartile range, and total trip time in each mode of travel (active, private, public transport) according to sex and quintiles of family income. The analysis was stratified by age group and weighted to make the sample representative of the studied population. Results suggest that the use of public transport and active transport in school travel decreased between 1997 and 2007, whereas the use of private transport increased, especially among children. An inverse relationship between median time in private transport and income was also observed for both children and adolescents. Median time of transport to school remained stable in the study period. This scenario suggests that little effort was put into improving independent mobility of children and adolescents to school by the local authorities. Policies focused on facilitating the acquisition of private vehicles implemented in the study period might have contributed to worsen the situation. Remodeling local environments (both built and social) to make them more suitable for children and adolescents׳ mobility might be part of a broader, long-term policy destined to enhancing the use and share of the cities׳ streets in a sustainable, equitable, and healthy way.