Table 16: Travel Mode by Weather Condition.
Travel Mode by Weather Condition
Percentages may not total 100% due to rounding.
DISCUSSION Results from both the parent surveys and student tallies are comparable and for the most part did not contradict one another. The one small exception was the bicycle mode share percentages being several times higher in the Student Travel Talley (Parent Survey – o.8 percent, Student Travel Talley – 3 and 4 percent) which is likely due to the different data capture methods used in each survey. All things considered however, the similarities of the results between both data collection instruments reinforce the credibility and reliability of the final results.
Distance from home to the school appears to be the predominant factor as to whether students either walk or bike, or take a motorized mode to and from school. Distance was also the main barrier cited by parents who currently do not allow their children to walk or bicycle to and from school. This is not a surprise. After distance, safety factors such as traffic speed and traffic volume were chosen more frequently as barriers, more so than crime or violence. The real and/or perceived safety concerns with walking and biking to school should not be dismissed. However for those that live within the Walk / Bike Zone of Glyndon-Felton Elementary School, these concerns are not insurmountable barriers.
While the results from the parent surveys and student travel tallies provide valuable baseline data, several limitations exist. The parent survey was self-reported information, which may self-select and bias the results to a socially desirable response. Furthermore, the three-day time frame for student travel tallies, taken only during one school week out of the entire year, limits the likelihood of collecting data in all weather conditions. Additional analysis, particularly a second student travel tally at a different time of the year, would be helpful to better understand student travel behaviors and how the weather influences travel mode decisions. P a g e 86 | Chapter 8: Standardized SRTS Survey Analysis
