TECHNICAL PAPERS
Nov 15, 2010

Primary Schools’ Territorial Policy and Active Commuting: Institutional Influences in Montreal and Trois-Rivières

Publication: Journal of Urban Planning and Development
Volume 136, Issue 4

Abstract

Active commuting to school has decreased in the last decades, replaced by motorized transportation and especially by the car. Beyond the environmental factors, the schools' territorial policies explain this trend. Drawing on a policy analysis and a survey of 1,495 parents carried out in 2007 in Montreal (1,297 parents) and Trois-Rivières, Canada (198 parents), this paper explores the relationship between active commuting and different school categories. The analysis shows important changes in schools’ service areas in a context of demographic change and institutional restructuring. Meaningful differences are observed between school categories in terms of mean home-school distance and modal share for commuting to school.

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Acknowledgments

The research was carried out by the Groupe de recherche Ville et Mobilité (www.villeetmobilite.ca) at Université de Montréal, and jointly supported by the Fonds québécois de la recherche sur la société et la culture (FQRSC), the Fonds de recherche en santé du Québec (FRSQ), the Ministère de la santé et des services sociaux (MSSS), the Centre de recherche en prévention de l’obésité (CRPO), the Ministère des Transports du Québec (MTQ), and the Institut national de santé publique du Québec (INSPQ). Besides the three writers, the following persons participated in the research: Marion Carlier (Université de Montréal), Katerine Fortin-Lacasse (Université de Montréal), Sébastien Gagné (Université de Montréal), Lucie Lapierre (Québec en forme), Marie Lessard (Université de Montréal), and Marie José Thivierge (Université de Montréal).

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Information & Authors

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Published In

Go to Journal of Urban Planning and Development
Journal of Urban Planning and Development
Volume 136Issue 4December 2010
Pages: 287 - 293

History

Received: Feb 1, 2009
Accepted: Oct 8, 2009
Published online: Nov 15, 2010
Published in print: Dec 2010

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Authors

Affiliations

Juan Torres, Ph.D.
Professor, Institut d’urbanisme, Université de Montréal, Montreal, QC, Canada.
Yves Bussière, Ph.D.
INRS-UCS, Université du Québec, Quebec City, QC, Canada/Professor, Benemérita Universidad Autónoma de Puebla, Puebla, Mexico.
Paul Lewis, Ph.D.
Professor, Institut d’urbanisme, Université de Montréal, Montreal, QC, Canada.

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