Travel and environmental implications of school siting.

Details

• Corporate Creators:
  United States. Environmental Protection Agency
• Subject/TRT Terms:
  • Air pollution
  • Automobile travel
  • Bicycle travel
  • Environmental impacts
  • Location
  • Mode choice
  • School children
  • Schools
  • Travel behavior
  • Walking
  More +
• Publication/ Report Number:
  EPA 231-R-03-004
• Resource Type:
  Research Paper
• Geographical Coverage:
  United States
• TRIS Online Accession Number:
  972637
• OCLC Number:
  77481529
• Corporate Publisher:
  United States. Environmental Protection Agency
• Abstract:
  Over the next few decades, thousands of schools will be built ; or renovated. ; The planning decisions ; around that construction and renovation will have important implications for education and community quality of ; life. ; Recent trends in travel to ; school have raised concerns at ; federal, state, and local levels. In 2001, less than ; 15 percent of ; students between the ages of five and ; 15 walked to or from ; school, ; and 1 percent biked. ; In ; 1969, 48 percent of students walked or biked to ; school. In response, governments ; at every ; level ; have ; launched a variety ; of policy initiatives. ; These include state and local “Safe Routes to School ; Programs,” ; and a federal Kids Walk-to-School Campaign. In addition, a variety of initiatives ; are helping schools stay ; or locate at the center of communities. ; This study evaluates the travel and environmental implications of ; these latter initiatives, and of trends toward constructing schools that are not located at the center of ; communities, ; and are not reachable by ; walking or bicycling. In short, it seeks to find the implications of ; school location for travel and the environment. ; This ; study is the first to ; empirically examine the relationship between ; school location, the built environment ; around schools, ; mode choices for trips to school, and ; air ; emissions impacts of those choices. It finds that: ; 1. School proximity to students matters. Students with shorter walk and bike times to or from school are more likely to walk and bike. ; 2. The built environment influences travel ; choices. ; Students traveling ; through higher-quality ; environments ; are ; more likely to bicycle and walk. ; 3. Because of travel behavior differences, school location has an impact on air emissions. Centrally ; located schools that can be reached by walking and ; bicycling reduce air pollution. ; The results suggest that actions to improve students’ walking environments, and to support communities ; that wish to locate schools in neighborhoods, will result in increases in student ; walking and ; biking to ; school. Increased walking and biking can reduce emissions related to auto travel ; and improve ; environmental quality.
  More +
• Format:
  PDF
• Funding:
  68-W-99-054
• Download URL:
  https://rosap.ntl.bts.gov/view/dot/16169/dot_16169_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 1.30 MB]
• Collection(s):
  US Transportation Collection
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha256:61ae36aca828f0e60b5baa62d5fecc2185a84f4ca2d574cec18657594148fde9