Is Children's Independent Mobility Really Independent? A Study of Children's Mobility Combining Ethnography and GPS/Mobile Phone Technologies1

Mikkelsen, Miguel Romero; Christensen, Pia

doi:10.1080/17450100802657954

Cited by 181 publications

(142 citation statements)

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“…Like previous research with children at younger ages, [152][153][154] we found that socialising with peers was a pervasive aspect of, and influence on, young people's mobility. This emphasis on sociability was fundamental to understanding the impact of the scheme for the well-being of young Londoners, for a number of reasons.…”

Section: Young People's Well-beingsupporting

confidence: 61%

On the buses: a mixed-method evaluation of the impact of free bus travel for young people on the public health

Green

Steinbach

Jones

et al. 2014

Public Health Research

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BackgroundIn September 2005 London introduced a policy granting young people aged < 17 years access to free bus and tram travel. A year later this policy was extended to people aged < 18 years in education, work or training. This intervention was part of a broader environmental strategy in London to reduce private car use, but its primary aim was to decrease ‘transport exclusion’, and ensure that access to goods, services, education and training opportunities were not denied to some young people because of transport poverty. However, there were also likely to be positive and negative health implications, which were difficult to assess in the absence of a robust evidence base on the impact of transport policies on health and well-being.ObjectivesTo evaluate the impact of free bus travel for young people in London on the public health. Specifically, to provide empirical evidence for the impact of this ‘natural experiment’ on health outcomes and behaviours (e.g. injuries, active travel) for young people; explore the effects on the determinants of health; identify the effects on older citizens of increased access to bus travel for young people and to identify whether or not the intervention represented value for money.DesignQuasi-experimental design, using secondary analysis of routine data, primary qualitative data and literature reviews.SettingLondon, UK.ParticipantsYoung people aged 12–17 years and older citizens aged ≥ 60 years.InterventionThe introduction of free bus travel for those aged < 17 years living in London in 2005, extended to those aged < 18 years in 2006.Main outcome measuresQuantitative: number of journeys to school or work; frequency and distance of active travel (i.e. walking and/or cycling), bus travel, car travel; incidence of road traffic injuries and assaults and socioeconomic gradients in travel patterns. Qualitative: how free bus travel affected young people and older citizens’ travel and well-being.MethodsQuantitative component: change-on-change analysis comparing pre–post change in the target age group (12–17 years) against that seen in ‘non-exposed’ groups [for travel mode, road traffic injury (RTI) and assaults]. Qualitative component: interviews analysed using both deductive and inductive methods. Economic evaluation: cost–benefit analysis (CBA).Data sourcesLondon Area Transport Survey (LATS) and London Travel Demand Survey (LTDS) (travel mode); STATS19 Road Accident data set (RTI); Hospital Episode Statistics (HES) (assaults); interviews with young people and older citizens; and cost data from providers and literature reviews.ResultsThe introduction of free bus travel for young people was associated with higher use of bus travel by adults and young people [31% increase, 95% confidence interval (CI) 19% to 42%; and 26% increase, 95% CI 13% to 41%, respectively], especially for short journeys, and lower car distances relative to adults (relative change 0.73, 95% CI 0.55 to 0.94); no significant overall reduction in ‘active travel’ [reduction in number of walking trips but no evidence of change in distance walked (relative change 0.99, 95% CI 0.92 to 1.07)]; significant reduction in cycling relative to adults (but from a very low base); a reduction in road traffic injuries for car occupants (relative change 0.89, 95% CI 0.84 to 0.95) and cyclists (relative change 0.60, 95% CI 0.55 to 0.66), but not pedestrians; an overall modest increase in journeys to work or school (relative change 1.09, 95% CI 1.06 to 1.14); equivocal evidence of impact on socioeconomic gradients in travel behaviour and no evidence of adverse impact on travel of older people aged > 60 years. An increase in assaults largely preceded the scheme. Qualitative data suggested that the scheme increased opportunities for independent travel, social inclusion, and a sense of belonging and that it ‘normalised’ bus travel. The monetised benefits of the scheme substantially outweighed the costs, providing what the Department for Transport (DfT) considers ‘high’ value for money.ConclusionThe free bus travel scheme for young people appears to have encouraged their greater use of bus transport for short trips without significant impact on their overall active travel. There was qualitative evidence for benefits on social determinants of health, such as normalisation of bus travel, greater social inclusion and opportunities for independent travel. In the context of a good bus service, universal free bus travel for young people appears to be a cost-effective contributor to social inclusion and, potentially, to increasing sustainable transport in the long term. Further research is needed on the effects of both active and other travel modes on the determinants of health; the factors that influence maintenance of travel mode change; travel as ‘social practice’; the impact of driving license changes on injury rates for young adults and the value of a statistical life for young people.FundingThe National Institute for Health Research Public Health Research programme.

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Section: Young People's Well-beingsupporting

confidence: 61%

On the buses: a mixed-method evaluation of the impact of free bus travel for young people on the public health

Green

Steinbach

Jones

et al. 2014

Public Health Research

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“…O'Brien et al 2000). Writing against the grain, Mikkelsen and Christensen (2009) argue that children's mobility is, in fact, rarely independent -their travels maybe undertaken with parents, friends, pets and various others -and that, therefore, their 7 relative 'independence' is not necessarily an indicator of the quality or worth of their movements. Developing relational geographies of age, I return to the relationality of emotions, specifically, at several points in this paper.…”

Section: Going Beyond 'Voice' And/or (Independent) 'Agency'?mentioning

confidence: 99%

Beyond ‘voice’, beyond ‘agency’, beyond ‘politics’? Hybrid childhoods and some critical reflections on children's emotional geographies

Kraftl

2013

Emotion, Space and Society

203

133

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In this paper I argue that a significant proportion of research on children's emotional geographies has been deployed to reinforce the importance of children's 'voices', their (independent) 'agency', and the various ways in which voice/agency maybe deemed 'political'. Without wishing to dismiss or dispense with such approaches, I explore potential ways to go 'beyond' concerns with voice/agency/politics. Initially, I review studies of children's participation (and participatory methods), activism and everyday lives that mobilise emotion and affect in productive ways. I contrast such studies with important questions raised by a reinvigoration of interest in the need for children to be able to represent themselves. I then explore the possibilities raised by so-called 'hybrid' conceptions of childhood -which go beyond biosocial dualisms -to enable further strides beyond voice/agency. Drawing on examples from alternative education and contemporary attachment theories, I explore some potential implications for children's emotional geographies and relational geographies of age of what I term 'more-than-social' emotional relations. Yet I do not offer an unequivocal endorsement of these hybrid emotions. Thus, I end the paper by issuing some words of caution -both in terms of the critical questions raised by more-thansocial emotional relations, specifically, and in terms of engendering broader debate about how and why scholars do (children's) emotional geographies. KeywordsChildren's geographies; emotion and affect; biosocial dualism; alternative education; attachment theory; family and intergenerational relations 2

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“…(MIK-KELSEN;CHRISTENSEN, 2009) Quando combinados, os dados enfatizaram a necessidade de levar em consideração a diversidade de movimentos das crianças. O GPS e a pesquisa pelo celular revelaram semelhanças e diferenças importantes entre os padrões de mobilidade das crianças que vivem em vilas rurais e no subúr-bio.…”

Section: Combinando Etnografia E Novas Tecnologias: Trabalhando Com Cunclassified

Mobilidades cotidianas das crianças: combinando etnografia, GPS e tecnologias de telefone móvel em pesquisa

et al. 2014

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RESUMO:Este artigo discute o desenvolvimento de uma abordagem com métodos mistos para o estudo da mobilidade diária das crianças. O estudo aqui apresentado combinou pesquisa etnográfica com a tecnologia de GPS (Global Positioning System) e um questionário interativo que as crianças completaram via telefone celular. Esta metodologia permitiu produzir uma compreensão mais ampla dos movimentos cotidianos das crianças por meio de um rico conjunto de dados, documentando as experiências subjetivas das crianças, as observações sistemáticas, o mapeamento e levantamento de dados. Conclui-se que o sucesso de uma pesquisa usando métodos mistos requer uma estreita cooperação através do diálogo interdisciplinar e engajamento mútuo e coordenação de atividades e perspectivas. Palavras-chave:Cidade. Infância. Mobilidade. Children's everyday mobilities: combining ethnography, GPS and mobile phone technologies in researchABSTRACT: This article discusses the development of a mixed methods approach to the study of children's everyday mobility. The study presented here combined ethnographic fieldwork with GPS (Global Positioning System) technology and an interactive questionnaire that the children completed via mobile phone. This methodology permitted the researchers to generate a fuller understanding of * Uma versão ampliada do artigo foi publicada em: CHRISTENSEN, P. et al. Children, Mobility, and Space: using GPS and mobile phone technologies.

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Is Children's Independent Mobility Really Independent? A Study of Children's Mobility Combining Ethnography and GPS/Mobile Phone Technologies1

Cited by 181 publications

References 23 publications

On the buses: a mixed-method evaluation of the impact of free bus travel for young people on the public health

On the buses: a mixed-method evaluation of the impact of free bus travel for young people on the public health

Beyond ‘voice’, beyond ‘agency’, beyond ‘politics’? Hybrid childhoods and some critical reflections on children's emotional geographies

Mobilidades cotidianas das crianças: combinando etnografia, GPS e tecnologias de telefone móvel em pesquisa

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