By Foot, Bus or Car: Children's School Travel and School Choice Policy

Elizabeth J Wilson, Julian Marshall, Ryan Wilson and Kevin J Krizek
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Elizabeth J Wilson: Humphrey Institute of Public Affairs, University of Minnesota, 301 19th Ave S., Minneapolis, MN 55455, USA
Julian Marshall: Department of Civil Engineering, University of Minnesota, 301 19th Ave S., Minneapolis, MN 55455, USA
Ryan Wilson: Active Communities/Transportation (ACT) Research Group, Humphrey Institute of Public Affairs, University of Minnesota, 301 19th Ave S., Minneapolis, MN 55455, USA
Kevin J Krizek: Active Communities/Transportation (ACT) Research Group, Environmental Design Building, University of Colorado, Campus Box 314, Boulder, CO 80309-0314, USA

Environment and Planning A, 2010, vol. 42, issue 9, 2168-2185

Abstract: Many school districts in the United States allow parents to choose which school their child attends ('school choice’ or ‘magnet schools’) while other school districts require students to attend their nearest (‘neighborhood’) school. Such policies influence children's transportation. We survey elementary-school parents in St. Paul and Roseville, Minnesota, to discover how children travel to school and underlying factors influencing parent's choice of their child's travel mode. From this information we develop a statistical model of travel mode choice. We find that children's commute mode and parental attitudes towards school selection differ by school type (magnet versus neighborhood), income, and race. Relative to neighborhood schools, magnet schools draw from broader geographic regions, have lower rates of walking, bicycling, and commuting by automobile, and higher busing rates. Parent attitudes towards transportation also differ by race and school type. For example, parents of nonwhite and magnet school students placed greater-than-average importance on bus service and quality. This paper highlights the potentially unintended influence of school district policy on school commute mode.

Date: 2010
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:sae:envira:v:42:y:2010:i:9:p:2168-2185

DOI: 10.1068/a435

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