How do students get to school? What would help more families walk, bike, and roll instead of using a car? What barriers prevent families from using active school transportation?

In Canada, we don’t have standardized data measuring what factors influence school travel choices across the country. In the absence of this data for communities across Canada, we’re planning student transportation in the dark. Without this data, community partners and government leaders may struggle to address barriers to active school travel, which is key to reducing the proportion of students being driven to school and increasing how many are walking or wheeling. This shift is critical in addressing the negative health and environmental burdens associated with car travel that have a disproportionate impact on children today, as well as future generations.

To address this gap, Green Communities Canada convened a pilot project to show  what’s possible as well as what’s needed to scale up school travel data collection to a national level.

Our National School Travel Data Collection Pilot: Key Findings Report shares results from an Ontario and BC school travel data collection pilot and outlines recommendations to make future school travel data collection initiatives easier, more consistent, and more useful for action across Canada.