Factors explaining level of preference for non-motorised travel for commuting to school

The parent's travel choice regarding their children's school trips is a complex decisionmaking process that largely depends on the built environment, socioeconomic and psychological factors. Parents' preferences can be divided into non-motorised (active travel) and motorised (passive travel) based on travel choices. Active travel to school (ATS), commonly used for NMT in school trips, is widely studied in the developed world; however, fewer studies were conducted to explore factors determining the NMT in school trips in developing countries, especially India. Thus, the present study provides first-hand information on factors deciding the level of NMT as per actual use and desired preference to continue it in school trips in the tire-II city. The determinants of travel choices and barriers related to nonmotorised travel (NMT) in school trips in Dehradun were explored. The cross-sectional study was focused on quantitative data collection through a survey questionnaire and triangularisation of finding through qualitative in-depth interviews and focus group discussion (FGD) of the respondents (parents of the students) based on action planning tools from two public and two private schools. Results revealed that built environment variables like distance from home to school, number of major crossings on the way, and socioeconomic factors such as gender of the child, the income of the household, and education of father and mother were negatively correlated with the NMT. However, the quality of NMT infrastructure (where present) and school status were correlated positively with the level of NMT. Among the psychological factors, safety from traffic and the presence of stray animals were the significant determinants against NMT. Male students preferred to switch from other modes to NMT more in comparison to female students. NMT is good for health and the environment and a good solution to traffic congestion, but it is a time taking commuting mode, was agreed by most respondents. These determinants were also identified in the interview and FGD. However, respondents from public schools identified the presence of stray animals and financial constraints as determinants of NMT, while private schools FGD recognised unavailability of NMT-friendly infrastructure and having a car as social status after traffic-related issues as inhibitors of NMT. Thus, determinants of NMT were different for respondents of public and private schools, which largely depended on household income and social status in Indian culture. Due to many factors discussed in the thesis, NMT was used in school trips as a compulsion, but respondents prefer electric vehicles in the future in Dehradun.