UROP Proposal Introduction Draft

I. Introduction

This study provides geographic analysis to supplement research characterizing parental attitudes toward children’s transportation to school. The study investigates the correlation between home location and characteristics of the built environment, and transportation behavior of elementary school students. The project is an extension of a PhD dissertation in planning that tests the efficacy of case-specific approach in active travel policy design. The goal of the study is to identify the parents and students most likely to respond to organized efforts encouraging walking and biking to school. Ultimately, the study will provide insight into methods to increase the efficiency and effectiveness of active transportation intervention, as coordinated by school initiatives and the national Safe Routes to School program.

Specific Aims:
1.) Identify target population for active transportation intervention based on parental attitude clusters.
2.) Further narrow target population using geographic information systems to:
a.) Identify trends in home locations of parent clusters
b.) Identify significant barriers to walking and biking to school that exist within the built environment
c.) Investigate environmental qualities of home and school neighborhoods
3.) Investigate case-specific influences of children’s transportation to school and stated ways of encouraging walking and biking to school.

Constituencies for the project include students, parents, school officials, educators, Safe Routes to School programs and partners, children’s organizations, planners, policy makers, health and public service professionals.

The majority of the research will be conducted in the environmental design laboratory using geographic information systems (GIS) computer modeling software. Additional data, in the form of photographs and on-site observation, will be gathered from the school neighborhoods. This environmental documentation will be crucial to better characterize and correctly interpret the maps modeling the built environment.

Full Steam Ahead

It's been an intense week for me - conducting a lit review and writing the introduction and background to the UROP proposal. So far I have 11 solid sources that I have been drawing from: 5 of which Kelly recommended and 6 that I scrounged up on my own. I spent the early part of the week knee deep in peer-reviewed journals, trying to begin to process the deluge of information that is a literature review. A quick outline of my process: read, underline, jot down notes, gather main points of article, sort articles based on similar themes, create an outline of themes, look for gaps and overlaps, form questions, narrow questions. 

I met with Kelly again on Friday morning for what was another thoroughly rewarding conversation. I came prepared with a brief agenda, and yet we still managed to talk for well over an hour. She spoke in depth about her dissertation - background, reasons behind methodology, constituencies, difficulties so far, next steps, overall goals, and we discussed exactly where I fit into everything. We even tried to come up with a thesis for my project, but had an equally difficult time articulating my project into a succinct sentence or title that could be comprehended by a non-expert. We decided to leave that for a bit later.

I scribbled out 3 pages of notes during the conversation which I then had the divine task of formulating into an introduction for my UROP proposal. Four slightly painful hours later, and I had managed to describe just what the heck I'm doing for this research project! (I'm almost embarrassed to admit it took me that long to write 3/4 of a page, but there was much processing and wording and re-wording and re-re-wording that took place.) I will post the introduction following this post. 

The background section of the proposal I feel is thorough, though perhaps a bit wordy and still vague - especially to a non-expert. I'm still not convinced I managed to convey exactly how my project will contribute to the "conversation" of children's transportation to school, which means I have one, or several, revisions to look forward to.

On tap for this week: GIS! I downloaded some data from the City of Denver website last friday, so I have some layers to start working with. I need to create a base map and begin to plot data points. Time to break out the ArcGIS textbook and brush up on my computer lingo. 

Working Reference List

Black, C., Collins, A., & Snell, M. (2001). Encouraging walking: The case of the journey-to-school trips in compact urban areas. Urban Studies, 38(7), 1121-1141.

Bringolf-Isler, B., Grize, L., Mäder, U., Ruch, N., Sennhauser, F. H., & Braun-Fahrländer, C. (2008). Personal and environmental factors associated with active commuting to school in Switzerland. Preventive Medicine, 46(1), 67-73.

Clifton, K. J., & Handy, S. L. (2001). Qualitative methods in travel behavior research. International Conference on Transport Survey Quality and Innovation.

McDonald, N. C. (2007). Active transportation to school: Trends among U.S. schoolchildren, 1969–2001. American Journal of Preventive Medicine, 32(6), 509-516.

McDonald, N. C. (2007). Travel and the social environment: Evidence from Alameda County, California. Transportation Research Part D: Transport and Environment, 12(1), 53-63.

McDonald, N. C. (2008). Critical factors for active transportation to school among low-income and minority students: Evidence from the 2001 national household travel survey. American Journal of Preventive Medicine, 34(4), 341-344.

McDonald, N. C. (2008). Household interactions and children’s school travel: The effect of parental work patterns on walking and biking to school. Journal of Transport Geography, 16(5), 324-331.

McMillan, T. E. (2005). Urban form and a child's trip to school: The current literature and a framework for future research. Journal of Planning Literature, 19(4), 440-456.

McMillan, T. E. (2007). The relative influence of urban form on a child's travel mode to school. Transportation Research Part A, 41, 69-79.

Müller, S., Tscharaktschiew, S., Haase, K. (2008). Travel-to-school mode choice modelling and patterns of school choice in urban areas. Journal of Transport Geography, 16(5) 342-357.

Schlossberg, M., Greene, J., Phillips, P. P., Johnson, B., & Parker, B. (2006). School trips: Effects of urban form and distance on travel mode. Journal of the American Planning Association, 72(3), 337-346.

Changing Course

After our group meeting last friday, it became very to clear to me that I did not have nearly enough support for this project. I tried contacting my supposed mentors at the beginning of the week, but never got a response. I also tried contacting the Boulder Valley School District student transportation coordinator to see about getting some basic statistics on trips to school, but again did not receive a reply.

Feeling thoroughly discouraged, I took a day to reflect on what exactly I am trying to accomplish with this independent study, and what are reasonable expectations for myself. I realized I do not have the expertise, time, or resources to form my own study from the ground up. At least not to the extent that would be required if I were to continue pursuing the high school student/cycling behavior theme. As confirmed in his two-sentence email reply from Kevin "there really is so absolutely little out there for youth and cycling behavior..." This 'need for research' was one of the reasons I was attracted to the theme in the first place, but without enough initial literature, and without any supporting/guiding influence I felt it was perhaps not the best course of action to continue my futile attempts at progress.

With that in mind, I decided to contact Kelly Zuniga, a PhD student in transportation planning. After meeting with her this morning, Kelly has generously agreed to work with me using data from her dissertation study which she has collected this past year. Kelly is using qualitative interviews to determine why parents do or do not let their children walk or bike to school. My project will build upon Kelly's data using GIS to conduct a spatial/environmental analysis of the transportation behavior trends reported by the surveys. I am exited about incorporating GIS into my study, as it is something I was interested in doing from the beginning. 

I am really looking forward to working with Kelly, and I think we both feel our collaboration will be mutually beneficial. Her organization and enthusiasm are truly refreshing, considering my difficulty in finding a mentor that was genuinely interested in engaging with me. This change of direction is somewhat discouraging considering how much effort I put into trying to form my own study, but I think this new direction will yield a much more comprehensive project and rewarding experience.

I will end with the progress goals that Kelly and I discussed for the coming week:

• Conduct a literature review and summarize the 'conversation' about the journey to school. Consider how my research will contribute to this conversation.
• Begin to enter data into ArcGis. Obtain basic data sets. Generate a base map to begin considering options for analysis.

Progress Outline for 10/3 Group Meeting

Topic
Transportation behavior
Project/Mentor
Kevin Krizek, CU Denver
Chris Hagelin, Marni Ratzel, GO Boulder
Transportation behavior of high school students in Boulder.
Key questions want to research
Rate of cycling among high school students in Boulder
Comparison to other modes of transportation
Perception of cycling by high school students
Incentives/Barriers
Is it cool/not cool/safe/convenient/fun/healthy
Preferred bike type
Preferred route type
Rate of helmet use
Perception of wearing a helmet
Backpack type. Panniers?
Average weight of school backpack
Parents perceptions/comparison to parents travel behavior
Friends perception/comparison to friends travel behavior
Age – drivers license
Average time and distance of a high school bicycle commute
Hypothesis/thesis statement
Perception of cycling by high school students: Determining incentives and barriers to cycling to school
Constituencies
City of Boulder, Safe Routes to School, students, parents, planners, health professionals
Goals for the semester and for project
Write a great proposal. Continue in spring and possibly summer. Make some contacts that may possible lead to job opportunities or internships.
Next Steps
Communicate more with mentors. Lit review. Find the right lit to review. Get background statistics from the City or Safe Routes
Where you are stuck/questions for input
I need more constant communication. Kelly still an option for a resource??