Studies and other resources we find helpful.
Featured
Bike safety for kids
It’s a beautiful day — what could be more perfect than a bike ride? But wait! Before you pull your bike out of the garage, let’s find out how to stay safe on two wheels.
Ontario Active School Travel
OAST is a program of green communities canada. Their mission is to create a culture of active school travel – a world in which every day active transportation for Ontario students is safe, easy, and enjoyable
Supportive Policy for Active School Travel
This report aims to map policies and procedures that affect family and student choice of transportation modes when traveling to and from school, as well as identifying evidence-based recommendations for policies supporting AST in Ontario.
The DSR Community Update
The Community Update shares the DSR in its latest form – why it exists, what it is, and how we are executing it.
More Resources
Active School Travel Around Ontario
SchoolTravel.ca
SchoolTravel.ca is a resource hub created by Green Communities Canada, which aims to provide best practices being established throughout Ontario.
Smart Commute Hamilton
Smart Commute is a Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area (GTHA) program that helps individuals and organizations travel efficiently and sustainably.
Articles
How the simple act of moving your body can improve mental health
Whether running around a track or simply stretching in your living room, physical activity can go a long way toward making you happier.
How to boost your child’s health and school performance
Start small: walk to school once a week and see the difference it can make to your child’s physical and mental health and school performance and enjoyment.
Why walking to school is better than driving for your kids
A PhD candidate from the University of Toronto discusses the walk to school and explains the many advantages of taking the car out of the morning commute.
Best Practices - Built Environment
City of Ottawa’s 30 km/hr Residential Street Design Toolbox
The Design Toolbox identifies a catalogue of speed reduction measures that can be applied to a range of local residential street project contexts. This is a great resource showing what is possible to enhance pedestrian/cyclist safety on local roads. We often refer to this resource when discussing safety concerns with school communities.
City of Ottawa’s Protected Intersection Design Guide
the Protected Intersection Design Guide [ 12.1 MB ] technical guidance document under delegated authority. The purpose of this document is to provide guidance on the design of protected intersections within the City of Ottawa. We feel that this is an important resource because it explains what is possible at our intersections to enhance pedestrian/cyclist safety. We […]
National Association of City Transportation Officials
NACTO is an association of 86 major North American cities and transit agencies formed to exchange transportation ideas, insights, and practices and cooperatively approach national transportation issues.
PedBikeSafe
The Pedestrian Safety Guide and Countermeasure Selection System is intended to provide practitioners with the latest information available for improving the safety and moblity for those who walk.
Sustainable Safety
Sustainable Safety is the Dutch approach for achieving road safety. The goal of sustainable safety is to prevent crashes before they occur through design.
Vision Zero Canada
Vision Zero is a multi-national road traffic safety project that aims to achieve a highway system with no fatalities or serious injuries involving road traffic.
Hamilton's Transportation Environment
City of Hamilton Traffic Calming Policy
This resource describes the process for used by Hamilton’s Public Works department for traffic calming, including assessment and implementation of best practices based on road typologies, driver behaviours, and traffic volumes. This is relevant to student active transportation, as unsafe traffic conditions are often considered a limitation to walking/wheeling to school.
Complete Streets design manual
Complete Streets are defined as roadways that are planned and designed to balance the needs of all road users. The goal of Complete Streets is to allow people to get around safely no matter their age, ability or how they choose to move. The Complete Streets concept is closely tied to the Safe Systems and […]
Cycling Master Plan Review and Update Hamilton
This is a review and update of Hamilton’s Cycling Master Plan, which provides an overview of the City’s plan for integrating cycling into the wider transportation network.
Hamilton Transportation Master Plan
We have shared links to the City Documents that we have found most useful to the DSR. For a more general overview of the transportation environment and other interesting documents, see the Hamilton Transportation Master Plan
Hamilton Vision Zero 2019-2025 Action Plan
Vision Zero uses a data-based approach to road safety with the goal of reducing traffic-related serious injuries and fatalities towards the only acceptable goal: zero. Read more about how Hamilton is aiming to achieve this goal.
HWCDSB Active and Sustainable School Travel (ASST) Charter
A commitment between the School Board and the City to create a culture of active and sustainable transportation.
Parking Near Schools
In an effort to improve traffic safety around schools, various parking regulations have been enacted. Drivers are encouraged to obey these regulations to create a safer environment for school children.
Sustainable Mobility Program Review Hamilton
This is a review of Hamilton’s Sustainable Mobility Program, which is intended to shift travel modes, reduce driving trips, and place people and their destinations closer together.
The Role of Health in the Built Environment Hamilton
This is Hamilton’s background report on the role of the built environment, including transportation systems, on improving the health of the community.
Vision Zero – Roadway Safety
Vision zero has a simple and clear goal: zero fatalities or serious injuries on roadways.
Research
Children’s perspective on neighbourhood barriers and enablers to active school travel: a participatory mapping study (2018)
We like this study because it is focused on getting children’s perspectives. The authors emphasize that children have a meaningful insight to offer towards a better understanding of how their local environment influences active school travel behaviours. We use this same philosophy in our work.
Does the social environment influence active travel? An investigation of walking in Hamilton, Canada (2013)
We think the social environment is a critical piece to influencing travel behaviour, particularly for school-aged kids. This study, conducted in Hamilton, found that role models and social fabric of the neighbourhood influence walking time.
Is active travel a breath of fresh air? Examining children’s exposure to air pollution during the school commute (2019)
Researchers wanted to understand if exposure to emissions were different between students who are driven and students who walk to school. They found out that those who walked were exposed to lower levels of emissions.
Shortening the trip to school: Examining how children’s active school travel is influenced by shortcuts (2015)
We like this study because it echoes our own thinking: that students have a transportation network of their own, even though it is not ‘legitimized’. This study examines how shortcuts can facilitate active school travel by decreasing the distance children must travel to get to and from school.
The “Path” not taken: Exploring structural differences in mapped-versus shortest-network-path school travel routes
This is a really interesting study conducted in Toronto. A major takeaway was that the shortest path to school is not always the path taken. This can be influenced by the child’s social network, extracurricular activities, errands, and/or the perceived risk of different possible routes to school.
Understanding child and parent perceptions of barriers influencing children’s active school travel (2018)
This study examined how parent and child perceptions of barriers influence active school travel behaviour. The researchers found that child and parent perceptions of barriers are different and have different impacts on children’s travel behaviour.
Safety Tips
CAA Safety Tips
The return to school this year will be unlike any other. Keep these tips in mind to make your kid’s journey safe.