PATRONATO DE TURISMO DE MELILLA ACUERDO DE COLABORACIÓN PARA LA

As noted in Appendix C, the decile rating of a school is determined by five factors, namely: Household income; Occupation; Household Crowding’ Educational Qualifications; and Income Support. The decile rating is measured from 1 at the lowest to 10 at the highest.

5.6.2.1 Decile and Mode Choice

In most transportation environments there is a clear positive correlation between income and car usage. Increasing income is generally accompanied by increasing car usage. There does not appear to be a similar correlation between decile rating and car usage for school travel.

Figure 19, below, shows the relationship between decile and school travel mode choice.

Figure 19 School Decile vs Mode Choice

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% Decile Car 36% 31% 68% 60% 65% 62% 49% 49% 58% 56% 47% 43% 42% 46% 66% 60% 63% 59% 51% 49% Bus 4% 4% 2% 3% 3% 3% 1% 1% 1% 1% 0% 0% 1% 1% 2% 4% 0% 2% 0% 1% Bike 9% 9% 5% 5% 11% 11% 15% 16% 8% 7% 14% 12% 1% 2% 4% 4% 7% 6% 4% 4% Scooter 0% 0% 1% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 3% 3% 0% 0% 9% 4% 0% 0% 8% 5% 15% 14% Walk 51% 56% 25% 31% 21% 25% 34% 33% 31% 32% 40% 44% 47% 48% 29% 32% 22% 28% 30% 33% Tot Other 64% 69% 32% 40% 35% 38% 51% 51% 42% 44% 53% 57% 58% 54% 34% 40% 37% 41% 49% 51% To Fr To Fr To Fr To Fr To Fr To Fr To Fr To Fr To Fr To Fr 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

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Car usage in excess of 60% was observed at the Decile 2,3,8 and 9 schools, between 50% and 60% at the Decile 5 schools, and less than 50% at the Decile 1, 4, 6, 7, and 10 schools.

As noted in section 5.2.1 above, Rowley Avenue and Waimairi School results have not been included in these results. Average car usage recorded from pupils’ surveys at Rowley Avenue (Decile 1) was 20%. At Waimairi School (Decile 10) average car usage was 33%.

Observed school trip car usage is low at either extreme of the socio economic spectrum, and quite variable in the centre. Factors which could be influencing this phenomenon have been explored, and are discussed below.

5.6.2.1.1 School Roll

As discussed in section 5.6.1 above, bigger schools are likely to have a greater proportion of pupils using cars for school journeys.

Table 8, below, lists the size of the sample for each Decile group; calculates the sample size as a percentage of the total sample; lists the size of the roll for the schools in each Decile group, and calculates the average roll for each decile group. The average roll is then assessed as Low (L), Medium (M), or High (H), where:

• Low (L) < 300 pupils;

• Medium (M) 300 to 450 pupils; and

• High (H) > 450 Pupils.

The school trip car usage is assessed as Low (L), Medium (M) or High (H) where:

• Low (L) < 50% car usage;

• Medium (M) 50% to 60% car usage; and • High (H) > 60% car usage.

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Table 8 Decile Group Sample Size and Roll Numbers

Decile 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Sample Size 55 251 147 131 323 147 94 443 225 208 Sample % of Total 3% 12% 7% 6% 16% 7% 5% 22% 11% 10% Roll 1 288 151 204 292 362 111 103 444 295 601 Roll 2 506 309 357 468 470 196 626 520 288 329 257 325 415 291 150 535 408 601 Average Roll L M L M M L L H M H Car Usage L H H L M L L H M L

Comparing the average roll assessment and the car usage assessment for each decile group suggests that there is some correlation between the school roll and observed car usage in most instances.

However, the Decile 3 schools have a “low” average roll and “high” car usage, while the Decile 10 schools have a “high” average roll and “low” car usage. The Decile 2 and 4 schools have “medium” average roll, and “high” and “low” car usage, respectively.

5.6.2.1.2 Parent Occupation and Education

Factors considered in the decile rating include the proportion of parents in the lowest skilled occupational groups, the proportion with no tertiary or school qualifications, and the proportion receiving a benefit.

Decile 1 schools are likely to have a large proportion of parents on a benefit, and very low household incomes. Many households in this group may find the expense of running a car prohibitive, but there may be more time available to accompany children to and from school on foot.

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At the other extreme, Decile 10 schools are likely to have a large proportion of parents in highly skilled occupations, requiring tertiary qualifications. These sorts of occupations tend to have more flexible work arrangements than low skilled or manual occupations. It is also possible that Decile 10 schools have a higher proportion of two parent families where the income of one parent is sufficient to enable the second parent to not work, or to work only limited hours.

The travel choice options for pupils at low to medium decile schools may be more constrained by financial or time factors than pupils at very high decile schools.

5.6.2.1.3 Scooter Usage

Information for scooter usage is only available for nine of the schools surveyed. This information is therefore not as comprehensive as the information for the remainder of the case studies. However, based on the information available, there appears to be a trend suggesting that scooter usage is much more pronounced at high decile schools than at low decile ones.

5.6.2.2 Decile and Independent Travel

Figure 20 below shows the relationship between School Decile and the percentage of pupils travelling with and adult or independently.

Figure 20 School Decile vs Independent Travel

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100% Decile With Adult 55% 50% 87% 81% 80% 77% 86% 86% 82% 80% 72% 70% 80% 83% 88% 83% 90% 86% 89% 85% Alone 45% 50% 13% 19% 20% 23% 14% 14% 18% 20% 28% 30% 20% 17% 12% 17% 10% 14% 11% 15% To Fr To Fr To Fr To Fr To Fr To Fr To Fr To Fr To Fr To Fr 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

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There is a relationship between independent travel and car usage for school travel. All primary school pupils who travel by car must be driven by an adult.

This relationship between car usage and independent travel is reflected in the high levels of independent travel at the Decile 1 schools, and the moderate levels at the Decile 6 schools. However, it is not reflected in the low levels of independent travel at the Decile 10 schools.

Unger’s argument that middle and upper middle class families tend to be very protective of their children (refer Chapter 2, section 2.5.5) seems to be borne out by the comparatively high levels of independence observed at the Decile 1 school, when compared to other schools surveyed.

5.6.2.3 School Decile and Significance of Influencing Factors

Figure 21, below shows the relationship between School Decile and the average weight given by parents to the factors identified as influencing travel choices.

Figure 21 School Decile vs Factors Influencing Travel Choice

0.0 0.5 1.0 1.5 2.0 2.5 3.0 3.5 4.0 4.5 5.0 Decile A v e ra g e W e ig h ti n g Distance 3.3 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.1 3.5 3.2 3.1 3.7 3.6 Weather 3.6 3.2 3.4 3.6 3.0 3.3 3.1 3.2 3.0 3.3 Convenience 2.6 3.0 3.0 2.9 2.8 3.4 3.1 3.2 3.2 3.2 Safety - Stranger 3.9 4.4 4.4 4.3 4.1 4.0 4.1 4.2 3.7 4.1 Safety - Road 4.3 4.5 4.6 4.5 4.3 4.4 4.5 4.5 4.2 4.4 Cost 2.3 1.8 1.9 1.4 1.9 1.2 1.4 1.5 1.5 1.2 Exercise is Healthy 3.9 3.8 4.0 3.9 3.7 3.7 4.2 3.6 3.6 3.7 Condition of Footpaths 2.7 2.3 2.6 2.1 2.0 1.8 2.7 2.1 1.9 1.9 Pleasant Environment 3.1 2.9 3.0 2.9 2.6 2.9 3.0 2.9 2.7 2.7 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

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This data suggests that there is little correlation between the decile rating of a school and the factors which parents consider to be important in decisions regarding their children’s travel to and from school.

As expected, the importance of cost in travel choices reduces with increasing decile rating. The average weighting of cost for decile 1 schools is 2.3. This reduces to 1.2 for decile 10 schools.

The weightings of all other factors are quite variable, with few readily discernable trends.

5.6.2.4 Summary

The travel choices of the primary school pupils surveyed do not follow the widely accepted understanding that car usage increases with increasing socio economic indicators. Car usage reduces at both extremes of the socio economic spectrum, and follows no clear pattern in the centre.

Employment and time flexibility may be a factor in the reduction in car usage for Decile 10 schools.

The changes in car usage observed in the centre decile groups may be partially attributable to other factors such as school roll.