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Is “Attending Nearby School” Near? An Analysis of Travel-to-School Distances of Primary Students in Beijing Using Smart Card Data

Author

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  • Cong Liao

    (Institute of Remote Sensing and Geographical Information Systems, Peking University, No. 5 Yiheyuan Road, Haidian District, Beijing 100871, China
    Beijing Key Laboratory of Spatial Information Integration & Its Applications, Beijing 100871, China)

  • Teqi Dai

    (Beijing Key Laboratory for Remote Sensing of Environment and Digital City, School of Geography, Faculty of Geographical Science, Beijing Normal University, No. 19, Xinjiekouwai Street, Haidian District, Beijing 100875, China)

Abstract

The distance between home and school is crucial for children’s mobility and education equity. Compared with choice-based enrollment systems, much less attention has been given to the commuting distance to school in proximity-based systems, as if the institutional arrangement of assigning children to nearby schools can avoid the problem of long commuting distances. Using student-type smart card data, this study explored the spatial characteristics of the commuting distance to primary schools by public transport and the residence-school spatial pattern under the proximity-based system in Beijing. The relationships between long school commutes and house price/age were investigated under the context of school gentrification. For the identified primary student users, fewer than 35% of the students travelled fewer than 3 km to school, while more than 80% of students travelled long distances greater than 5 km, which indicated that the policy of “attending nearby school” did not guarantee a shorter commuting distance to school. Long distances to school greater than 5 km correlate negatively with a lower average house price/building age and fewer students. This finding verified the assumptions from China’s school gentrification that people might buy older school-district houses but live far from the school district for a new house. These findings provide a complementary view of previous survey studies and reveal the actual commuting distance by public transport for a group of primary students in a proximity-based enrollment system.

Suggested Citation

  • Cong Liao & Teqi Dai, 2022. "Is “Attending Nearby School” Near? An Analysis of Travel-to-School Distances of Primary Students in Beijing Using Smart Card Data," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(7), pages 1-12, April.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:14:y:2022:i:7:p:4344-:d:787888
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