‘There is a lot of traffic at the school gate in the morning which makes me nervous’: Exploring children’s current and desired school commutes

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Abstract

Although children are the primary users of many spaces, their voices are often unheard in transport planning. We therefore do not know much about children’s barriers or wishes regarding mobility. What is known, however, is that children have become less independent in their daily mobility, with parents (or guardians) increasingly driving children instead of allowing them to walk and cycle. The decline in active mobility is worrisome, since active mobility is beneficial to children, but incorporating children’s voices in transport planning can be conducive to increased active mobility of children. The objective of this paper is to explore the wishes and barriers of children regarding school commuting. Data was collected from a survey completed by 1251 pupils and through workshops with four schools in a residential neighbourhood in Brussels, Belgium. We found that there is a significant gap between the current and desired transport modes of pupils, with an important untapped potential for cycling. We also found that traffic safety is a predominant worry of pupils. Additionally, when suggesting the re-design of their school neighbourhood, the most recurring suggestions from pupils included walking and cycling infrastructure, and reduced access to the school neighbourhood for cars.
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)926-943
Number of pages18
JournalChildren's Geographies
Volume22
Issue number6
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 13 Sep 2024

Bibliographical note

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Keywords

  • children's mobility
  • school commuting
  • active mobility
  • active travel to school
  • participation

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