School mobility management case study: German School of Oporto (Deutsche Schule zu Porto)

In recent years we have witnessed an increase in the number of parents driving children to school in several developed countries, with increases of, for instance, 35% in the USA, 12% in the United Kingdom and 44% in Australia. These changes have been responsible for several negative impacts ranging from the general increase of Greenhouse Gas emissions and traffic congestion, to more individualized impacts on the health and safety of students. In this context, special attention has been given to introducing mobility management strategies for school trips aimed at creating healthier and more sustainable travel behaviours in students and their parents. Regardless of the vast research, the knowledge on the effects of mobility management measures is still limited, particularly for the soft measures aimed at voluntary travel behaviour change. This paper aims to assess the effects of soft mobility management measures in the travel patterns of pre-university students, namely, Carpooling, Park & Stride, School Route Map, Safe Parking Banners, and the Tree of Life Contest. The assessment of such effects is developed in a particular context, in which the school implementing the measures does not benefit from any institutional or financial support. The research followed the implementation phase during one semester using before and after surveys to assess effects on travel behaviour. This research displayed the difficulties of a school lacking funding and technical expertise in successfully implementing soft mobility measures when compared with other case-studies where government support was provided. Although a direct influence on the mobility patterns due to the implemented measures was not clear, the results suggest that they were able to create awareness and intentions of change, strengthening the role of such measures in increasing sustainable mobility within the student community.