Chapter 8: Standardized SRTS Survey Analysis

A take-home, self-report parent survey and a teacher-administered, in-class student travel tally were conducted in the fall and winter of 2017 - 2018. These surveys and survey documents have been designed by the National Centers for Safe Routes to School (National Centers) (http://www.saferoutesinfo.org/). These surveys and survey forms are the national standard for reporting SRTS data in the United States and help the National Centers keep track of walking and biking rates. The parent survey was distributed to parents of elementary students (grades K – 6), and the student travel tallies were conducted with students at both the elementary school and high school (grades K – 12).

The parent survey questionnaire is a two-page form that was taken home by students for parents to complete. The survey asked about their child’s school travel behaviors and the parents’ perceptions regarding whether walking and biking to school is appropriate and fitting for their child. The results provide valuable information about parental attitudes and opinions relevant to SRTS and create a benchmarking baseline against which future analysis can be compared.

The student travel tally is administered by teachers and conducted over three days (Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday) in one single school week throughout the entire school. Teachers record weather conditions for each day, in the morning and afternoon. Then the teachers ask about students’ travel modes to school that particular day and how they plan on going home. These too provide a benchmarking baseline by which future analysis can be compared.

Once the paper forms were completed and collected for both surveys, the data is entered online into the National Centers’ database by staff at WCI. This is done to maintain data entry continuity and as a service to the school. After the survey data is entered, those with access to the National Centers’ database can produce automated individual reports from each school for both the parent survey and the student travel tally. These reports provide a breakdown of the basic statistics that first establish a baseline for future measurement. The reports generated by the National Centers are the origin of most of graphs and tables in this chapter. The 2017 / 2018 surveys will be used to establish baseline data for students at Hawley Public Schools. Moving forward, it is recommended that the parent survey be done once every two to three years and the teacher-administered student travel tally will be done at least once, but preferably twice per school year (fall and spring). Follow-up surveys should be conducted so that over time local, state, and national officials can monitor trends in the travel habits of students traveling to and from school.

This chapter only reproduces the most important survey results and provides some analysis.

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