How school location impacts children’s air pollution exposure and their ability to walk and bike to school has been a growing policy issue. Smart growth advocates encourage districts to locate schools in “walkable” locations, often near high-volume roadways while health professionals emphasize the importance of minimizing exposure to high levels of air pollution and distance schools from major roads. As states consider or implement laws to site schools away from high-volume roadways, such policies can lead to school locations disconnected from neighborhoods and accessible only by motorized transport modes. This study analyzes children’s air pollution exposure across an average school day, analyzing variation across roadway characteristics, local school and home environment, and mode choice for school commute. This research compares daily average exposures for children walking to a local school in a high-traffic area versus exposures if they were required to be bussed or driven to a distant, “greener” school located in a low-traffic environment. Daily average exposures to air pollution were estimated across an average school day (AM Commute, Unload, School Day, Load, PM Commute). The analysis also assesses how pollution exposure can be mitigated through clean school bus technology, improved HVAC systems, and no-idling policies. Bussing children from a high-traffic neighborhood to a distant school in a low-traffic environment resulted in average daily exposures from 2 to 4 times higher than children walking to their local school. The authors' simulated school siting policy assessment found that bussing children to a distant school in a “cleaner” air quality school site did not reduce average daily personal exposure of children who would otherwise walk or be driven/bussed to their local school in a “dirtier” air quality site. Mitigation measures like a clean bus fleet greatly reduce exposures for children bussing longer distances to a distant school while school HVAC improvements in a heavy-diesel/heavy-traffic school environment yield more conservative reductions.
Published Jun 1, 2017
Wolfe, M., McDonald, N., Arunachalam, S., & Valencia, A. (2017). Air Pollution Exposure during School Commutes. Journal of Transport & Health, 5, S48–S49. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jth.2017.05.339