Exploring differences in school travel mode choice behaviour between children and youth

A child's school travel behaviour may change with the transition toward adolescence. However, the topic remains understudied in current literature. This paper examines school travel mode choice behaviour of 11-year-old children and 14-15 year old youth in Toronto, Canada. Morning period school trip data was analysed using multinomial logit models. Distance to school was the most important barrier to walking for both age groups; neighbourhood built environment characteristics (i.e., major street intersections, retail density and block density) had a stronger association with a child's odds of walking; and access to transit was correlated with only a youth's travel mode outcome. In addition, a male youth was more likely to walk than a female youth; gender of a child was not associated with school travel mode. As school travel related programmes are beginning to be adapted to the high-school context, our results indicate that a current North American model that is largely designed around capital improvement of transport infrastructure may not be very successful. Rather, programmes and initiatives should emphasize education, and perhaps attempt to understand and reshape the culture of youth mobility, in order to encourage healthy and sustainable travel practices.