Children's everyday freedoms: Local government policies on children and sustainable mobility in two Australian states

While the significant contribution of transport in greenhouse gas emissions is well researched, the pivotal role that children's transport plays in these trends is not fully understood. This paper assesses the potential of integrating the hitherto separate literature and policy bodies of sustainable travel planning with that of child friendly cities, in order to better inform policy development. Based on a review of literature on child friendly cities and sustainable travel, we have developed a new operational framework for child centred sustainable travel policies. The framework measures consideration given to sustainable travel in children's policies and promotion of children and young people's needs and rights in sustainable travel policies from the point of view of children as equal citizens. We then review 25 child friendly policy and guidelines and 19 sustainable travel policies from Australian local governments, using this framework. This policy review finds limited integration between policies on child and youth friendliness and sustainable mobility, despite the recognition of the reduced rates of active travel amongst children.