Travel to School: The Distance Factor

The Federal Highway Administration's Office of Policy has published Travel to School: The Distance Factor. The independent research using data from the National Household Travel Survey explores how children's mode of travel to school has changed over time. Highlights include:

• In 1969, over 40 percent of children walked or biked to school as compared to about 15 percent in 2001.
• Distance from school may be a large factor as the percent of children living within a mile of school has dropped significantly since 1969.
• In 2001, approximately 80 percent of children living within a 1/4 mile walked or biked to school.

The Brief contains results from an analysis of data from the first national survey completed in 1969 and compared it to the 2001 National Household Transportation survey, which is the latest national travel data available as of January 2008.

Resource File: 

Travel_To_School.pdf