Assessing Walking and Cycling around Schools

Abstract

To encourage students to walk and cycle to school and ensure their health and safety, it is essential to provide safe and operationally efficient infrastructure around schools. This study used an audit tool to assess the infrastructure and environment around schools in the city of Doha, Qatar, with a particular emphasis on active transport (walking and cycling). The aim was to identify strengths, weaknesses, and areas for improvement. Twenty-two schools with varied education levels were assessed. Among all assessed categories, active transport items scored the lowest, requiring the most improvements. A detailed analysis was conducted based on school type (elementary, primary, high, and mixed-schools) and revealed similar results except for elementary schools (scored acceptable for active transport). The study revealed that adding bike lanes, installing bicycle parking, and providing good separation of travel modes are the most needed improvements at school sites. In summary, improving active transport could significantly improve the overall quality of the infrastructure around schools in Qatar. Such improvements could greatly encourage more school children to walk and cycle to school instead of being primarily dropped-off and picked up by their parents’ vehicles or school buses.

Impact of College Provided Transportation on the Absenteeism and Academic Performance of Engineering Students

“…It should be noted that young female driving is limited in Qatar for different cultural and social reasons (Shaaban, 2019b;Shaaban, Gaweesh, & Ahmed, 2018, 2020. This is the main reason for providing such service especially with the limited public transportation facilities in Qatar (Shaaban & Hassan, 2014;Shaaban & Kim, 2016;Shaaban & Maher, 2019) and limited walking and cycling facilities (Shaaban, 2019a(Shaaban, , 2020Shaaban & Abdur-Rouf, 2020). This transportation service is the focus of this study.…”

Evaluating the Effect of Dynamic Message Signs and Lane Control Signs on Driver Behavior in a Developing Country

“…As a result, private vehicle utilization increased significantly, resulting in limited use of public transportation and active transportation alternatives. [23,24]. This condition has resulted in a number of traffic safety [25,26], traffic operations [25,27], emission pollution [28], and noise pollution issues [29,30].…”

Identifying Optimal Locations for Speed Enforcement Cameras

“…A case study from Qatar, a developing country in the Middle East, was used to demonstrate the different methods. The country's infrastructure has expanded rapidly over the last decades (45)(46)(47). However, road safety problems that have persisted over time include distracted driving, non-compliance at intersections, and different aggressive driver behaviors (48)(49)(50)(51)(52)(53).…”