Discussion / Comparison

Individual student travel tally counts for the elementary students and another for the high school students were performed. These tallies will serve as baseline tallies with follow-up tallies conducted for each school group at least every year, if not two times per year.

Student travel tally results indicate that the combined walking and biking mode share for elementary students walking and biking is on track with the national average. In the morning, 15% of elementary students walk or bike to school; the national average is 15.2%. In the afternoon, 19% of elementary students walk or bike home, with the national average at 18.4%

For Hawley High School, the numbers are slightly lower than the national average. In the morning, 12% of students walk or bike to school, compared to the national average of 15.2%. In the afternoon, 17% of students walk or bike home, compared to the national average of 18.4%

DISCUSSION

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.

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