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Geographies of inequality: Child pedestrian injury and walking school buses in Auckland, New Zealand

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  • Collins, Damian C. A.
  • Kearns, Robin A.

Abstract

In the face of mounting concern at traffic congestion in the vicinity of schools and the associated risks of child pedestrian injury, the 'walking school bus' (WSB) idea has been rapidly adopted within metropolitan Auckland. WSBs involve volunteers guiding children to and from school in an orderly manner following established walking routes. This paper reports on a survey of the 34 Auckland primary schools which had adopted the scheme by November 2002. Despite rates of child pedestrian injury being highest in areas of socio-economic deprivation, our survey found WSB developments highly concentrated in low deprivation neighbourhoods. The inequitable socio-spatial distribution of WSBs in Auckland suggests that the ability to respond to road safety issues is closely correlated with socio-economic privilege. While our respondents identified a number of individual and community health benefits accruing from WSBs, we conclude that the initiative has a limited ability to address public health challenges originating within an inequitable and car-dominated urban political system.

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  • Collins, Damian C. A. & Kearns, Robin A., 2005. "Geographies of inequality: Child pedestrian injury and walking school buses in Auckland, New Zealand," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 60(1), pages 61-69, January.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:socmed:v:60:y:2005:i:1:p:61-69
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    2. Mehrdad Rafiepourgatabi & Alistair Woodward & Jennifer A. Salmond & Kim Natasha Dirks, 2021. "The Effect of Route Choice in Children’s Exposure to Ultrafine Particles Whilst Walking to School," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(15), pages 1-16, July.
    3. Pérez-Martín, P. & Pedrós, G. & Martínez-Jiménez, P. & Varo-Martínez, M., 2018. "Evaluation of a walking school bus service as an intervention for a modal shift at a primary school in Spain," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 64(C), pages 1-9.
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    5. Kim N. Dirks & Jennifer A. Salmond & Nicholas Talbot, 2018. "Air Pollution Exposure in Walking School Bus Routes: A New Zealand Case Study," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 15(12), pages 1-12, December.
    6. Schwanen, Tim & Banister, David & Anable, Jillian, 2012. "Rethinking habits and their role in behaviour change: the case of low-carbon mobility," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 24(C), pages 522-532.
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    8. Catherine E. Bean & Robin Kearns & Damian Collins, 2008. "Exploring Social Mobilities: Narratives of Walking and Driving in Auckland, New Zealand," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 45(13), pages 2829-2848, December.
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    13. Nikitas, Alexandros & Wang, Judith Y.T. & Knamiller, Cathy, 2019. "Exploring parental perceptions about school travel and walking school buses: A thematic analysis approach," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 124(C), pages 468-487.
    14. Macmillan, A.K. & Hosking, J. & L. Connor, J. & Bullen, C. & Ameratunga, S., 2013. "A Cochrane systematic review of the effectiveness of organisational travel plans: Improving the evidence base for transport decisions," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 29(C), pages 249-256.
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    17. Collins, Damian & Kearns, Robin A., 2010. "Walking school buses in the Auckland region: A longitudinal assessment," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 17(1), pages 1-8, January.

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