Development of a Commuting Burden Index and Its Association with Academic Performance Among College Students

AbstractLong-distance commuting is an important factor that may influence the academic performance andwell-being of college students. The present study aims to develop a simple Commuting Burden Index(CBI) and examine its association with students’ academic performance. Data were obtained from 512college students through a structured questionnaire covering travel distance, travel time, transportationreliability, sleep, stress, and academic performance. A composite Commuting Burden Index wasproposed by combining selected commuting-related factors into a single score. Descriptive statisticalmethods were used to summarize the characteristics of the students. The relationship betweencommuting burden and academic performance was examined using appropriate non-parametricstatistical methods, including Spearman’s rank correlation and chi-square analysis. Students were alsoclassified into low, moderate, and high commuting-burden groups based on their index scores. Thestudy further examined the association between commuting burden and selected well-being factorssuch as sleep deprivation, stress, tiredness, and transportation-related difficulties. The proposed indexprovides a simple mathematical measure for representing the overall commuting burden experiencedby students. The findings are expected to provide useful information about the relationship betweendaily commuting conditions and students’ academic outcomes and well-being. The study demonstrateshow a simple composite index can be applied to questionnaire data to obtain an overall measure ofcommuting burden. The proposed approach may also be useful for educational institutions inidentifying students who experience greater difficulties due to commuting and in developingappropriate academic and transportation support measures.