Identifying Key Factors Affecting Students' Travel Modes Using the Multi-Perspectives Diagnosis Approach

In this paper, survey data of students' travel modes from both parents and students were collected at 18 schools (16 elementary and 2 middle schools) in Pinellas County, Florida. A new diagnosis approach was used to pin down the factors significantly affecting students' travel modes. Multi-perspective diagnosis results identified different factors that significantly affect the walking/biking rate for different groups of students. Generally, students living in different distance intervals are subject to different barriers. Security and safety are the primary factors of concern for short distance interval people, while distance is the primary factor of concern for those who live farther away from the school. The multi-perspectives diagnosis proved to be an effective method to mathematically search for the necessary-sufficient condition for increasing students' walking/biking rate.