Healthy Routes for Active Modes in School Journeys

Healthy Routes for Active Modes in School Journeys

P. Ribeiro J.F.G. Mendes

C-TAC, Department of Civil Engineering, University of Minho, Portugal

Page: 
591-602
|
DOI: 
https://doi.org/10.2495/SDP-V8-N4-591-602
Received: 
N/A
| |
Accepted: 
N/A
| | Citation

OPEN ACCESS

Abstract: 

In recent years, walking and cycling to school have decreased conversely to the use of private cars due to its greater level of comfort and safety. However, the use of active modes of transport for short journeys is more economically and socially adequate as well as a healthier way of traveling. Active modes of transport can be defined as means of travel and transportation at low speed, which take up little space on the road, are air and noise non-pollutant, thus being regarded as more sustainable and a real alternative to cars. On the other hand, urban sustainable mobility implies the definition of policies and actions that rely on the promotion of less pollutant, economic, and more equitable modes of transport. To promote this modal shift, some policies focus on the facilities and urban form improvements to increase safety, namely for pedestrians. In this paper a different way to promote the use of active modes in school journeys is proposed and presented, which essentially uses and integrates information from noise and air pollution in the route-planning process to generate healthy routes. The concept of generation of healthy routes was triggered by the need to reduce the exposure to noise and air pollution in school journeys, which can affect the children's health and quality of life. The healthy route model involves the contamination of the distances of the transport network, according to the urban environmental noise levels and the concentration of particles – PM10, thus allowing the defi nition of the less polluted, less noisy and healthier route for active modes. The performance of the model is assessed by calculating the noise and air pollution exposure rates in the obtained routes, in comparison with the shortest route. To validate the model and its potential for the promotion of active modes, a case study is presented in a city center located in North of Portugal for three different school journeys.

Keywords: 

active modes, air pollution, cyclists, health, noise, pedestrians, PM10

  References

[1] Ribeiro, P. & Mendes, J.F.G., Route planning for soft modes of transport: healthy routes. WIT Transactions on the Built Environment, 116, pp. 677–688, 2011. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.2495/UT110571

[2] EC, Cycling: the way ahead for towns and cities. Brussels, available at http://ec.europa.eu/environment/cycling/cycling_en.pdf

[3] EC, Attitudes on issues related to EU Transport Policy. Brussels, available at http://ec.europa.eu/public_opinion/fl ash/fl _206b_en.pdf

[4] Hall R.P. & Sussman J.M., Promoting the concept of sustainable transportation within the Federal System – The need to reinvent the U.S. DOT, TRB Paper 07-0565, 2006.

[5] Jones, P., Natalya, B. & Marshall, S. Link & Place-A Guide to Street Planning and Design, Landor Publishing: London, 2007.

[6] WCED, Our Common Future (Brundtland report), Oxford University Press: Oxford (U.K.), 1987.

[7] FHWA, Federal Highway Administration University Course on Bicycle and Pedestrian Transportation. US Department of Transportation: Washington, D.C. 2006.

[8] Ribeiro, P., Mendes, J.F.G. & Fontes, A., A mobilidade sustentável em aglomerados de pequenas dimensões. Revista Minerva – Pesquisa & Tecnologia, 5(2), pp. 149–158. ISBN: 978-8585205-84-3, 2008.

[9] Morris, J.N. & Hardman, A.E., Walking to health. Sports Medicine, 23(5), pp. 306–332, 1997. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.2165/00007256-199723050-00004

[10] EC, Green Paper: Towards a new culture for urban mobility, available at http://ec.europa.eu/transport/clean/green_paper_urban_transport/doc/2007_09_25_gp_urban_mobility_en.pdf

[11] Google maps, available at http://maps.google.pt

[12] Galanis, A. & Eliou, N., Grading methodology of the pedestrian urban road environment. WSEAS Transactions on Environment and Development, 6(7), pp. 157–166, 2011.

[13] Eliou, N., Galanis, A. & Proios, A., Evaluation of the bikeability of a Greek city: case study “city of Volos”. WSEAS Transactions on Environment and Development, 8(5), pp. 545–555, 2009.

[14] World Health Organization, WHO Air Quality Guidelines for particulate matter, ozone, nitrogen oxide and sulphur dioxide: global update 2005. World Health Organization, Report on a Working Group meeting, 2005.

[15] European Environment Agency, Good practice on noise exposure and potential health effects, European Environment Agency Technical report – No 11, ISSN 1725-2237, 2010.

[16] Ribeiro, P., Healthy routes for soft modes of transport. PhD Thesis. Universidade do Minho, Portugal. (in Portuguese), 2011.

[17] McDonald, N.C., Children's mode choice for the school trip: the role of distance and school location in walking to school. Transportation, 35(1), pp. 23–35, 2008. doi: http://dx.doi.org/ 10.1007/s11116-007-9135-7

[18] Millonig, A. & Schetchtner, K., Decision loads and route qualities for pedestrians — key requirements for the design of pedestrian navigation services. Pedestrian and Evacuation Dynamics 2005, 2, pp. 109–118, 2007.

[19] Alves, R.M., Duarte, S.A. & Calcinha, M.I. Travel to school and urban structure in medium and small sized cities: a case study of Castelo Branco. WIT Transactions on the Built Environment, 116, pp. 341–352, 2011. doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.2495/UT110291