Stude nt Tra vel Tally – Se lect Q uestions / Key Fi ndings

STUDENT TRAVEL TALLY – SELECT QUESTIONS / K EY FINDINGS

For comple te student tra vel tally results , see Appe ndix B .

The student travel tally survey is used to quantify students’ travel both to and from school by travel mode. The tally form is administered in school, by teachers. The count is administered school-wide in one single school week. Doing the tally on all three mid-week days (Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday) is greatly preferred but two of three midweek days is acceptable. Monday and Friday are avoided as possible weekend plans and/or holidays are more likely to affect students’ regular travel behaviors on those two days. Students are asked by a show of hands how they arrived at school that day and then how they plan to leave for home after school. This survey also records weather conditions morning and afternoon separately on each particular day, as inclement weather can have an obvious effect on children walking or biking to and from school.

ROTHSAY SCHOOL – ELEMENTARY STUDENTS

The student travel tally was conducted in the fall of 2016 and includes results only for elementary school grades K through 5th at the Rothsay school. It is not understood why only these students were counted and not at least up to 8th grade.

Question – How did you arrive at school today? How do you plan to leave for home after school?

Travel mode results from the student travel tally generally match up with the travel mode results from the parent survey. According to the tally as seen in Figure 51, the combined rate of walking and biking to school in the morning was two percent (zero percent walking, two percent biking). This combined rate of walking and biking stays exactly the same in the afternoon. As for motorized modes, 60 percent of students rode the school bus in the morning and 68 percent in the afternoon while 36 percent of students arrived in the family vehicle in the morning and 29 percent in the afternoon. Finally, two percent carpooled in the morning and one percent in the afternoon. This mode shift towards the school bus in the afternoon is consistent with patterns seen at other schools. The higher use of a family vehicle in the morning is in all likelihood due to the convenience of dropping off students while parents are headed to work.

P a g e 110 | Chapter 8: Standardized SRTS Survey Analysis