A Mode Choice Model of Elementary School Trips based on ParentalDecisions

Alleviating traffic congestion and improving air quality at the school zones, motivating independent decision making abilities and obtaining skills in social networking, as well as combating the increasing rate of obesity requires a comprehensive investigation of mode choice among the children in their daily trips to/from the schools. Little attention paid in the literature to educational trips of students in primary schools, besides a rather sophisticated process of decision making and modeling parameters encouraged the authors to investigate the significant variables in parental decision making regarding mode choice for the primary school students. 290 Questionnaires were distributed among students in four elementary schools (including public and private boys and girls schools) to fill out by the parents in May 2013 in Rasht. The questionnaire contained validated instruments to collect socio-economic and environmental variables as well as the mode they use to take for their kids in daily educational trips. After refining the disaggregated data, 162 questionnaires were entered into analysis and Multinomial logit model was used to explain the probability that particular modes (namely school bus, walking and the private car of household) are selected by the parents for their kids. The number of vehicles the family owns, the father occupational status, household income, gender of student, distance to school and level of physical exercise of the parents (in a weekly basis) were all recognized statistically significant in the mode type selected for the student. This means that encouraging parents to physical exercise and enhancing the quality of schools to enable parents to choose closer schools in the living area are among the policies to encourage the active mode choice by the children.