TY  - JOUR
PY  - 2008//
TI  - Walking school buses in Christchurch - do they encourage or discourage independent mobility?
JO  - World transport policy and practice
A1  - Kingham, Simon
A1  - Ussher, Shannon
SP  - 27
EP  - 38
VL  - 14
IS  - 1
N2  - This article considers the benefits of a Walking School Bus, defined as parents or other adults escorting a group of children on a set route to school.  The first Walking School Bus (WSB) was started in Canada in 1996 and can now be found in a variety of countries, including New Zealand.  The authors describe the use of WSBs in Christchurch, New Zealand, focusing on the administrative steps in establishing a WSB program, the health benefits to children walkers, the general safety of walking, reductions to traffic congestion, the impact of the WSB on a child's development of independence, the development of lifelong habits of walking, and the encroachment of automobile transportation onto other aspects of city life, notably safe pedestrian movement.  The authors summarize a number of relevant research studies in this area and conclude that walking school buses may encourage independent mobility in children at a younger age than if they had not been involved in them. (TRID abstract)<p />
LA  - en
SN  - 1352-7614
UR  - http://dx.doi.org/
ID  - ref1
ER  -