Impact of private schooling on transportation, Evidence from South-East Queensland, Australia

Abstract

Schooling has changed dramatically in China in the last fifty years. There is an increasing proportion of children being educated in private schools. But what impacts do such changes have on travel behavior? This preliminary investigation looks at what has happened in Western nations where high rates of private schooling have emerged. This included a review of previous literature and an in-depth analysis of the geography of schools and travel behaviors in South East Queensland, Australia. Data from the South East Queensland Travel Survey was analyzed. Geo-matching of regional household travel survey trip records to known school locations was used to create one of the first-ever databases of school locations by type. The results indicate that, at least in the Australian context, high rates of private schooling lead to longer trips by car and fewer walking and cycling trips to school. A key finding from our logistic model is that compared to using private motor vehicles, public school students are 1.5 times more likely to travel to school by walking or cycling than their private school counterparts, after controlling for trip distance and the other urban/socio-demographic variables. Problems with how schools are funded, planned, located, and the ways in which many private schools are exempted from infrastructure charges, may all need to be confronted to produce more active school travel and reduce congestion, road safety, and the other negative externalities that can be caused by school travel. A research agenda for Chinese cities is needed. This includes the new geography of schooling in China, dormitory vs. live-at-home schools, travel behaviors including car drop-off vs. public transport use, and the conception of what it means to be a “good parent” in China – whether that is to drive your child to school, or to give them the independence to travel without adult accompaniment.