Factors Influencing Children’s Active Travel to School in an Urbanising Municipality in Ghana

Abstract

This study examines the factors influencing walking and cycling to school from the perspective of school children. Understanding such factors is a crucial step to developing appropriate policy interventions for promoting active travel to school (ATS). Primary data for the study were gathered from a cross-sectional questionnaire survey with a sample of 613 school children (6 to 15 years old) from 25 public and 7 private schools in Yendi, Ghana. Bicycle ownership, bicycle sharing and early exposure of children to active travel are among the significant motivators for ATS with increasing school distance being a potential barrier. The findings suggest that policies to increase ATS will be particularly effective if bicycle ownership is promoted among the students together with sufficient training to use the bicycles. Also, specific days may be dedicated for ATS to make cycling and walking more appealing to the school children. Addressing the potential barrier of distance through appropriate spatial planning policy can also bring significant positive behavioural change towards ATS.