School bikeability index: A case study of primary schools in Stockholm

In most developed countries, active travel to and from school has declined over the past few decades. In Sweden, active travel among children and young adults declined by 40% between 1995 and 2014. To remedy and reverse this trend, it is crucial to understand and establish the necessary preconditions for promoting active school travel, i.e. built environment and infrastructural provisions. Within that context, this paper presents a school bikeability index for Stockholm, focusing primarily on built environment indicators. These indicators were weighted according to their importance as perceived by children’s guardians in Stockholm. The study provides insights into possible correlates of importance of bikeability indicators, suggesting different valuations by guardians depending on their gender and children’s age. The spatial analysis shows a variability of school bikeability across the city. Findings suggest that overall many of the primary schools could significantly enhance their bikeability by implementing measures such as, bicycle parking, traffic calming signage and connecting school entrances directly to cycle paths. Closer investigations of some of the highest- and lowest-scoring schools and selected school pairs inform that even the high-scoring schools are often lacking in implementation of some children-friendly cycling infrastructure, and that low-scoring schools could benefit from implementing some, relatively low-cost improvements. An equity analysis shows no significant differences between school bikeability scores and average income. Open access data were utilised, allowing the methodology to be replicable in other cities. For future iterations of the index, it would be beneficial to refine and validate the index weights while incorporating additional indicators. This process should account for their complexity and the varying valuations assigned by different groups, including children themselves.