Children's School Commutes in Distinct Urban Neighbourhoods

A Case of Visakhapatnam, India

Abstract

Commuting to school is one of the major activities of children in their daily lives. Over the last two decades, children's school commutes in Indian urban areas have significantly transitioned from active to passive modes. Expansion of school choice policies, new schools and the growth of automobiles are the leading factors of the increased home-to-school distance and diverse commute modes in India. This study investigates the children's school commute patterns in distinct urban neighbourhoods. This study employed a questionnaire-based cross-sectional study in four urban neighbourhoods in Visakhapatnam, India. The neighbourhoods were selected based on location (inner metropolitan, suburban established, suburban isolated and transient neighbourhoods), land use proportion, temporal changes and access to transportation facilities. Chi-square tests were employed to assess the association among the variables, and a multilevel multinomial logistic regression was performed to predict the odds of various commute modes across neighbourhoods. The results show a significant association of neighbourhood-specific factors in children's school commute mode. The threshold of walking and cycling varied among the neighbourhoods. Urban planners and policymakers should focus on pedestrian and cycle-friendly infrastructure in neighbourhood environments to encourage and promote active school commutes.