Citation

Kingham S, Ussher S. World Transp. Policy Pract. 2008; 14(1): 27-38.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2008, Eco-Logica)

DOI

unavailable

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

This article considers the benefits of a Walking School Bus, defined as parents or other adults escorting a group of children on a set route to school. The first Walking School Bus (WSB) was started in Canada in 1996 and can now be found in a variety of countries, including New Zealand. The authors describe the use of WSBs in Christchurch, New Zealand, focusing on the administrative steps in establishing a WSB program, the health benefits to children walkers, the general safety of walking, reductions to traffic congestion, the impact of the WSB on a child's development of independence, the development of lifelong habits of walking, and the encroachment of automobile transportation onto other aspects of city life, notably safe pedestrian movement. The authors summarize a number of relevant research studies in this area and conclude that walking school buses may encourage independent mobility in children at a younger age than if they had not been involved in them. (TRID abstract)