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.
Get full access to this article
View all available purchase options and get full access to this article.
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).
References
Allard, M. (2007). “La course aux écoles: Boom dans les écoles primaires internationals.” La Presse, Jan. 23, A4.
American Medical Association (AMA). (2002). “Barriers to children walking and biking to school—United States, 1999.” MMWR Morb. Mortal Wkly. Rep., 51(32), 701-704.
American Medical Association (AMA). (2005). “Barriers to children walking to or from school—United States, 2004.” MMWR Morb. Mortal Wkly. Rep., 54(38), 949–952.
Boarnet, M. G., Anderson, C. L., Day, K., McMillan, T., and Alfonzo, M. (2005). “Evaluation of the California safe routes to school legislation: Urban form changes and children's active transportation to school.” Am. J. Prev. Med., 28(2), 134–140.
Canadian Institute for Health Information (CIHI). (2006). Improving the health of Canadians: Promoting healthy weight, Ottawa.
Cervero, R. (1998). The transit metropolis. A global inquiry, Island Press, Washington, D.C.
Church, R. L., and Murray, A. T. (1993). “Modeling school utilization and consolidation.” J. Urban Plann. Dev., 119(1), 23–38.
Collins, D. C., and Kearns, R. A. (2001). “Safe journeys of an enterprising school: Negotiating landscapes of opportunity and risk.” Health & Place, 7(4), 293–306.
Davis, A., and Jones, L. (1996). “Children in the urban environment : Issue for the new public health agenda.” Health & Place, 2(2), 107–113.
Demers, M. (2006). Walk for your life! Restoring neighborhood walkways to enhance community life, improve street safety and reduce obesity, Vital Health Publishing, Ridgefield, Conn.
Dixey, R. (1998). “Improvements in child pedestrian safety: Have they been gained at the expense of other health goals?” Health Educ. J., 57(1), 60–69.
European Commission (EC). (2002). “Kids on the move.” Office for Official Publications of the European Communities, ⟨http://ec.europa.eu/environment/youth/original/air/kids_on_the_move_en.pdf⟩ (Jan. 7, 2008).
Ewing, R. (2005). “Can the physical environment determine physical activity levels?” Exerc. Sport Sci. Rev., 33(2), 69–75.
Ewing, R., Schieber, R. A., and Zegeer, C. V. (2003). “Urban sprawl as a risk factor in motor vehicle occupant and pedestrian fatalities.” Am. J. Public Health, 93(9), 1541–1545.
Fotel, T., and Thomsen, T. (2003). “Surveillance of children’s mobility.” Surveillance and Society, 1(1), 535–554.
Frank, L. D., Andresen, M. A., and Schmid, T. L. (2004). “Obesity relationships with community design, physical activity, and time spent in cars.” Am. J. Prev. Med., 27(2), 87–96.
Groupe de recherché Ville et mobilité (GRVM). (2008). “Active travel and schools in Montreal and Trois Rivières: Analysis of active travel by elementary school students in Quebec.” Summary Rep., Université de Montréal, Montreal, ⟨http://www.villeetmobilite.ca/⟩ (May 25, 2009).
Groupe de recherché Ville et mobilité (GRVM). (2009). “Le transport actif et le système scolaire à Montréal et à Trois-Rivières. Analyse du système d'acteurs concernés par le transport actif des élèves des écoles primaires au Québec.” Final Rep., Université de Montréal, Montreal, ⟨http://www.villeetmobilite.ca/⟩ (Oct. 4, 2010).
Handy, S., Cao, X. Y., and Mokhtarian, P. L. (2006). “Self-selection in the relationship between the built environment and walking: Empirical evidence from northern California.” J. Am. Plan. Assn., 72(1), 55–74.
Kyttä, M. (2003). Children in outdoor context: Affordances and independent mobility in the assessment of environmental child friendliness, Helsinki Univ. of Technology, Helsinki, Finland.
Lewis, P., and Torres, J. (2010). “Les parents et les déplacements entre la maison et l’école primaire: quelle place pour l’enfant dans la ville?” Enfances, Familles, Générations, 12, 44–64.
McMillan, T. (2005). “Urban form and a child's trip to school: Current literature and a framework for future research.” J. Plann. Lit., 19(4), 440–456.
Ministère de l’Éducation du Loisir et du Sport du Québec (MELS). (2006). “Statistiques—Effectif scolaire à temps plein et à temps partiel du secteur des jeunes 2001–2002 à 2005–2006.” ⟨http://www.mels.gouv.qc.ca/sections/publications/index.asp?page=statistiquesEducation⟩ (June 18, 2008).
Ministère de l’Éducation du Loisir et du Sport du Québec (MELS). (2007). “Statistiques—Effectif scolaire à temps plein et à temps partiel du secteur des jeunes 2002–2003 à 2006–2007.” Québec, ⟨http://www.mels.gouv.qc.ca/sections/publications/index.asp?page=statistiquesEducation⟩ (July 18, 2008).
Montreal Metropolitan Transportation Agency (AMT). (2003). “Origin-destination survey, Montreal.” ⟨http://www.cimtu.qc.ca/enqOD/Index.asp⟩ (May 22, 2009).
Prezza, M., Alparone, F. R., Cristallo, C., and Luigi, S. (2005). “Parental perception of social risk and of positive potentiality of outsdoor autonomy for children: Development of two instruments.” J. Environ. Psychol., 25(4), 437–453.
Rissotto, A., and Tonucci, F. (2002). “Freedom of movement and environmental knowledge in elementary school children.” J. Environ. Psychol., 22(1-2), 65–77.
Sallis, J. F., and Glanz, K. (2006). “Role of built environments in physical activity, eating, and obesity in childhood.” Future Child, 16(1), 89–108.
Timperio, A., Crawford, D., Telford, A., and Salmon, J. (2004). “Perceptions about the local neighborhood and walking and cycling among children.” Prev. Med., 38(1), 39–47.
Tudor-Locke, C., Ainsworth, B. E., and Popkin, B. M. (2001). “Active commuting to school: Overlooked source of childrens’ physical activity?” Sports Med., 31(5), 309–313.
U.S. EPA. (2003). “Travel and environmental implications of school siting.” ⟨http://www.epa.gov/dced/pdf/school_travel.pdf⟩ (May 22, 2009).
World Health Organization (WHO). (2006). “Obesity and overweight.” Fact Sheet No. 311, ⟨http://www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs311/en/index.html⟩ (June 14, 2008).
Zhou, H., Zhao, J., Hsu, P., and Rouse, J. (2008). “Identify factors affecting number of students walking or biking to school.” Proc., 8th Int. Conf. of Chinese Logistics and Transportation Professionals, ASCE, Reston, Va.
Ziviani, J., Scott, J., and Wadley, D. (2004). “Walking to school: Incidental physical activity in the daily occupations of Australian children.” Occupational Therapy Int., 11(1), 1–11.
Information & Authors
Information
Published In
Copyright
© 2010 ASCE.
History
Received: Feb 1, 2009
Accepted: Oct 8, 2009
Published online: Nov 15, 2010
Published in print: Dec 2010
Authors
Metrics & Citations
Metrics
Citations
Download citation
If you have the appropriate software installed, you can download article citation data to the citation manager of your choice. Simply select your manager software from the list below and click Download.