A walking school bus (WSB), a group of children walking to school under adult supervision, has social, environmental, and public health benefits. Although WSBs may require a certain neighborhood density and street configuration to recruit and organize groups, our spatial analysis showed that when 20% of students living near their school join WSBs, those students could form an adequately sized WSB group. Our parent survey showed that about 40% of parents were likely to allow their children to walk to school if a friend accompanies them. Thus, we conclude that WSBs are feasible in a low-density suburban neighborhood setting.
AgrawalAsha WeinsteinSchlossbergMarcIrvinKatja. 2008. “How Far, By Which Route and Why? A Spatial Analysis of Pedestrian Preference.” Journal of Urban Design13 (1): 81–98.
2.
Bringolf-IslerBettinaGrizeLeticiaMäderUrsRuchNicoleSennhauserFelixBraun-FahrländerCharlotte. 2008. “Personal and Environmental Factors Associated with Active Commuting to School in Switzerland.” Preventive Medicine46 (1): 67–73.
3.
CarverAlisonTimperioAnnaCrawfordDavid. 2008. “Playing It Safe: The Influence of Neighbourhood Safety on Children’s Physical Activity—A Review.” Health and Place14 (2): 217–227.
4.
ChillónPalmaEvensonKellyVaughnAmberWardDianne. 2011. “A Systematic Review of Interventions for Promoting Active Transportation to School.” International Journal of Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity8 (1): 10.
5.
CollinsDamianKearnsRobin. 2001. “The Safe Journeys of an Enterprising School: Negotiating Landscapes of Opportunity and Risk.” Health and Place7 (4): 293–306.
6.
CollinsDamianKearnsRobin. 2010. “Walking School Buses in the Auckland Region: A Longitudinal Assessment.” Transport Policy17 (1): 1–8.
7.
DavisonKirstenWerderJessicaLawsonCatherine. 2008. “Children’s Active Commuting to School: Current Knowledge and Future Directions.” Preventing Chronic Disease5 (3): A100.
8.
DellingerAnnStauntonCatherine. 2002. “Barriers to Children Walking and Biking to School: United States, 1999.” Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report51 (32).
9.
DuanyAndresSorienSandyWrightWilliam. 2009. SmartCode Version 9.2. Miami, FL: The Town Paper Publisher.
10.
EngwichtDavid. 1993. Reclaiming Our Cities and Towns: Better Living with Less Traffic. Philadelphia: New Society Publishing.
11.
FaulknerGuyRichichiVanessaBuliungRonaldFuscoCarolineMoolaFiona. 2010. “‘What’s Quickest and Easiest?’: Parental Decision Making About School Trip Mode.” International Journal of Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity7 (1): 62.
12.
GordonDavidVipondShayne. 2005. “Gross Density and New Urbanism: Comparing Conventional and New Urbanist Suburbs in Markham, Ontario.” Journal of the American Planning Association71 (1): 41.
13.
HincksonErica. 2016. “Perceived Challenges and Facilitators of Active Travel Following Implementation of the School Travel-Plan Programme in New Zealand Children and Adolescents.” Journal of Transport & Health3 (3): 321–325.
14.
KearnsRobinCollinsDamianNeuweltPatricia. 2003. “The Walking School Bus: Extending Children’s Geographies?”Area35 (3): 285–292.
15.
KerrJacquelineRosenbergDoriSallisJamesSaelensBrianFrankLawrenceConwayTerry. 2006. “Active Commuting to School: Associations with Environment and Parental Concerns.” Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise38 (4): 787.
16.
KinghamSimonUssherShannon. 2005. “Ticket to a Sustainable Future: An Evaluation of the Long-Term Durability of the Walking School Bus Programme in Christchurch, New Zealand.” Transport Policy12 (4): 314–323.
17.
KinghamSimonUssherShannon. 2007. “An Assessment of the Benefits of the Walking School Bus in Christchurch, New Zealand.” Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice41 (6): 502–510.
18.
KongAlbertaSussmanAndrewNegreteSylviaPattersonNissaMittlemanRachelHoughRichard. 2009. “Implementation of a Walking School Bus: Lessons Learned.” Journal of School Health79 (7): 319–325.
19.
KTA Preservation Specialists/Archaeological Survey. 2011. Updated Reconnaissance Level Survey of Historic Resources, edited by Historic Preservation Commission. Town of Amherst.
20.
LeeMurrayOrensteinMarlaRichardsonMaxwell. 2008. “Systematic Review of Active Commuting to School and Children’s Physical Activity and Weight.” Journal of Physical Activity and Health5 (6): 930–949.
21.
McDonaldNoreen. 2007. “Active Transportation to School: Trends Among US Schoolchildren, 1969–2001.” American Journal of Preventive Medicine32 (6): 509–516.
22.
McDonaldNoreen. 2008. “Children’s Mode Choice for the School Trip: The Role of Distance and School Location in Walking to School.” Transportation35 (1): 23–35.
23.
McDonaldNoreenAalborgAnnette. 2009. “Why Parents Drive Children to School: Implications for Safe Routes to School Programs.” Journal of the American Planning Association75 (3): 331–342.
24.
McDonaldNoreenSteinerRuthLeeChanamSmithTori RhoulacZhuXuemeiYangYizhao. 2014. “Impact of the Safe Routes to School Program on Walking and Bicycling.” Journal of the American Planning Association80 (2): 153–167.
25.
McDonaldNoreenSteinerRuthPalmerMathewBullockAllisonSisiopikuVirginiaLytleBenjamin. 2016. “Costs of School Transportation: Quantifying the Fiscal Impacts of Encouraging Walking and Bicycling for School Travel.” Transportation43 (1): 159–175.
26.
McMillanTracy. 2007. “The Relative Influence of Urban Form on a Child’s Travel Mode to School.” Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice41 (1): 69–79.
27.
MendozaJasonWatsonKathyBaranowskiTomNicklasTheresaUscangaDorisHanflingMarcus. 2011. “The Walking School Bus and Children’s Physical Activity: A Pilot Cluster Randomized Controlled Trial.” Pediatrics128 (3):e537–e544.
28.
MendozaJasonWatsonKathyChenTzu-AnBaranowskiTomNicklasTheresaUscangaDorisHanflingMarcus. 2012. “Impact of a Pilot Walking School Bus Intervention on Children’s Pedestrian Safety Behaviors: A Pilot Study.” Health & Place18 (1): 24–30.
29.
MikkelsenMiguel RomeroChristensenPia. 2009. “Is Children’s Independent Mobility Really Independent? A Study of Children’s Mobility Combining Ethnography and GPS/Mobile Phone Technologies.” Mobilities4 (1): 37–58.
30.
MoudonAnneHessPaulSnyderMaryStanilovKiril. 1997. “Effects of Site Design on Pedestrian Travel in Mixed-Use, Medium-Density Environments.” Transportation Research Record: Journal of the Transportation Research Board1578: 48–55.
National Center for Safe Routes to School. 2015a. Creating Healthier Generations: A Look at 10 Years of the Federal SRTS Program. Chapel Hill: Federal Highway Administration, Department of Transportation.
35.
National Center for Safe Routes to School. 2015b. Trends in Walking and Bicycling to School from 2007 to 2013. Chapel Hill: Federal Highway Administration, Department of Transportation.
36.
PanterJennaJonesAndrewVan SluijsEstherGriffinSimon. 2010a. “Attitudes, Social Support and Environmental Perceptions as Predictors of Active Commuting Behaviour in School Children.” Journal of Epidemiology & Community Health64 (1): 41–48.
37.
PanterJennaJonesAndrewVan SluijsEstherGriffinSimon. 2010b. “Neighborhood, Route, and School Environments and Children’s Active Commuting.” American Journal of Preventive Medicine38 (3): 268–278.
38.
PontKarinaZivianiJennyWadleyDavidBennettSallyAbbottRebecca. 2009. “Environmental Correlates of Children’s Active Transportation: A Systematic Literature Review.” Health & Place15 (3): 849–862.
39.
RajaSaminaBaekSo-RaKangBumjoonMachnicaElizabethAttardNathanKhojastehMaryamBulkilvishSamanthaJeanneLecceseDiaoChunyuanSternHaileyIbrahimAbdulrahman. 2016. Moving Together: Promoting Active Commuting to School in the Sweet Home Central School District and the Town of Amherst. New York: Department of Urban and Regional Planning, School of Architecture and Planning, University at Buffalo, The State University of New York.
40.
SchlossbergMarcGreeneJessicaPaulsen PhillipsPageJohnsonBethanyParkerBob. 2006. “School Trips: Effects of Urban Form and Distance on Travel Mode.” Journal of the American Planning Association72 (3): 337–346.
41.
SidharthanRaghuprasadBhatChandraPendyalaRamGouliasKonstadinos. 2011. “Model for Children’s School Travel Mode Choice: Accounting for Effects of Spatial and Social Interaction.” Transportation Research Record: Journal of the Transportation Research Board2213: 78–86.
42.
SirardJohnAlhassanSofiyaSpencerTirzahRobinsonThomas. 2008. “Changes in Physical Activity from Walking to School.” Journal of Nutrition Education and Behavior40 (5): 324.
43.
SmithLizNorgateSarahCherrettTomDaviesNigelWinstanleyChristopherHardingMike. 2015. “Walking School Buses as a Form of Active Transportation for Children: A Review of the Evidence.” Journal of School Health85 (3): 197–210.
44.
SouthworthMichael. 1997. “Walkable Suburbs? An Evaluation of Neotraditional Communities at the Urban Edge.” Journal of the American Planning Association63 (1): 28–44.
45.
StewartOrion. 2011. “Findings from Research on Active Transportation to School and Implications for Safe Routes to School Programs.” Journal of Planning Literature26 (2): 127–150.
TimperioAnnaCrawfordDavidTelfordAmandaSalmonJo. 2004. “Perceptions about the Local Neighborhood and Walking and Cycling Among Children.” Preventive Medicine38 (1): 39–47.
48.
Tudor-LockeCatrineAinsworthBarbaraPopkinBarry. 2001. “Active Commuting to School: An Overlooked Source of Children’s Physical Activity?” Sports Medicine31 (5): 309–313.
Supplementary Material
Please find the following supplemental material available below.
For Open Access articles published under a Creative Commons License, all supplemental material carries the same license as the article it is associated with.
For non-Open Access articles published, all supplemental material carries a non-exclusive license, and permission requests for re-use of supplemental material or any part of supplemental material shall be sent directly to the copyright owner as specified in the copyright notice associated with the article.
