The 'Civitas Destinations' project is aiming to the promotion and development of sustainable mobility in six European cities. Participating cities are Limassol (Cyprus), Madeira (Portugal), Las Palmas (Spain), Valletta (Malta), Elba (Italy) and Rethymno (Greece).
The measure 'Safe Routes to School' aims to promote the use of sustainable and safe modes for students to move to and from school. More specifically, it concerns travelling to school on foot, by bike, by bus or with carpooling. The use of sustainable mobility modes ensures a safer transfer with the minimum footprint to the environment.
Stratagem Energy Ltd and the Limassol Tourism Board, in the framework of the European program 'Civitas Destinations', have organized workshops in Primary Schools in the Limassol region regarding 'Safe Routes to school'. In total 18 primary schools have participated in this action while 801 parents were surveyed during the period March – May 2018.
The primary schools that have participated in this action include C' Primary school of Ypsona, C' Primary school of Limassol, D' Primary school of Limassol, Primary school of Erimi, Primary school of Linopetra, Primary school of Monis-Monagroulli, Primary school of Katw Polemidia IZ Melinas Merkouri, Primary school of Moutagiaka, Primary school of A. Athanasiou B', Primary school of A. Andrea Z', Primary school of A. Antwniou, Primary school of A. Iwanni E', Primary school of Germasogias A' and Germasogias B', Primary school of Apesias, Primary school of Agrou, Primary school of Lanitio and Primary school of Pareklissias.
The questionnaire that was distributed to parents was focused on the most common way of transportation of their children to/from school, the time needed for children to get to/from school, the main reason they have chosen the specific way of transportation and suggested solutions for the effective transportation of their children to/from school. Also a video material was prepared about safety to use sustainable modes of mobility (walking, cycling, use of public transport and carpooling) and was promoted to schools during the workshops.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wjuLrkfozqI
According to the survey, 78 of participants said that their child go to/from school by the car of their parents, 8 said that their child go to/from school by the car of a relative, 8 said that their child use the bus and only 6 said that their child walk to/from school.
Moreover, 39 of the participants said that they have chosen the specific mode of transportation because it is the safest way of transportation, 32 said that it is the most convenient way of transportation, 25 said that it is the only way of transportation, 20 said that it is the quickest way of transportation, 2,5 said that it is an economic way of transportation and only 1,5 said that it is an environmentally friendlier way of transportation.
The results of the survey indicates that the carpooling is not a common way of travel since 78 of parents carry only 1 child to school, while only 22 of parents carry 2 or more children to school. Additionally, regarding the time needed for children to get to/from school, 54,5 of parents said that they need maximum 5 minutes, 29 said that they need 5-10 minutes, 12 said that they need 10-15 minutes and 5 said that they need 20 minutes to get to/from school.
Furthermore, 54 of parents suggested the implementation of a private bus as the most preferable way of transportation, 45 preferred the 'walking bus' – where children would walk to school accompanied by volunteers or parents, 26 preferred the carpooling, 24 preferred the implementation of a 'bicycle bus' – where children would cycle to school accompanied by volunteers or parents.
In conclusion, this survey indicates that the majority of students use a car as the most common mode of transportation to get to/from school as it is considered the safest, quickest and the most convenient way to travel, while efforts could be made to promote the carpooling and thus to develop more environmentally friendly behaviors. Also, the time needed for children to get to/from school is quite small revealing short distance of their home to school, therefore the promotion of alternative sustainable modes of transportation including walking and the use of bus could be possible. Last but not least, the results show the urgent need for a change and take measures that will help to change the whole situation and promote sustainable modes of transport.