Bild: Mostphotos.
Difficult to Travel by Public Transport with Children, Parents Say
“I care about transport sustainability, but I have children” is the spoken title of a new study which shows that parents perceive several challenges when travelling by public transport with children. High costs, a lack of perceived safety, and difficulties when needing to make several stops are some of the comments provided by the parents.
“Like many others today, they want to lead active lives while living in an environmentally responsible way, but they find the logistics difficult to manage,” says Elnaz Sarkheyli, Senior Lecturer in Urban Planning and Design at Malmö University and a K2 researcher, who is responsible for the study.
Every year, Svensk Kollektivtrafik — the industry and membership organisation for Sweden’s regional public transport authorities and county transport operators — carries out the national travel survey Kollektivtrafikbarometern . Around 120,000 people respond to the survey, which includes open-answer questions. These are the responses the researchers have explored in depth, and more specifically, those comments that relate to travelling by public transport with children.
Important viewpoints conveyed
“Most people ignore open questions, but those who respond often do so to express criticism about something they cannot find a question about in the survey, and that they are genuinely keen to communicate,” says Elnaz Sarkheyli.
Around 15 per cent of respondents answered the open questions, and approximately 3 per cent (415 people in 2022 and 588 people in 2023) specifically mentioned the word ‘children’. By examining these responses, the researchers identified four significant issues that limit the ability of children and their guardians to travel by public transport: (1) time pressure, (2) concerns about price and value, (3) safety concerns, and (4) limitations relating to comfort and convenience.
“Many mention the time aspect. They may need to drop one child at one school, the second child at another, and then continue on to work. When the workday is over, they need to collect them and continue on to after-school or sports activities,” says Elnaz Sarkheyli.
More research is needed
According to Elnaz Sarkheyli, the challenges within this logistical chain have been discussed and highlighted in transport planning, but more studies and data on this specific issue are required.
“In transport planning, such chained journeys are often overlooked or not sufficiently understood. For these types of journeys, cars are often perceived as more convenient and sometimes even cheaper than other modes of transport,” she says.
Activities may become restricted to the local area
If families do not have access to a car, and public transport is not sufficiently affordable, reliable, safe and comfortable, the result may be that they restrict their activities to those available close to home.
“The fact that people spontaneously raise challenges associated with travelling with children shows that there is a problem that needs to be addressed if we want more people with children to use public transport,” says Elnaz Sarkheyli, who conducted the study together with Azadeh Sarkheyli, Senior Lecturer at Halmstad University.
The results of the study have been published in the scientific journal Travel Behaviour and Society:
“I care about transport sustainability, but i have children”: Open-text surveys highlight the concerns of families with children – ScienceDirect
Text: Magnus Jando, Malmö University
Image: Mostphotos
This text was previously published on Malmö University’s website.