The objectives of a project to reduce children's car use are as follows: to examine the effects of car use on children's physical activity and health; to examine the effects of car use by children on their potential long-term car dependency; and to develop a framework to evaluate the impacts of travel-to-school initiatives systematically. In order to achieve these objectives, the project has been divided into a set of work packages, which are: questionnaire surveys of over 800 children in ten schools in Hertfordshire and their parents plus anthropometric measurements of the children; analysis of children's activity patterns using RT3 portable monitors and relating this to their lifestyles; evaluation of travel-to-school initiatives, focusing initially on walking buses; analysis of the attitudes of teenagers to the car; analysis of the effects of car use on children's cognitive and mental development; and analysis of the role of women in children's travel decisions. Progress with these projects is described. For the covering abstract see ITRD E126595.
Abstract