{
  "abstract": "Background Promoting active travel can be beneficial for the health of people and the planet. Travel to school is a potential intervention target because driving children to school contributes substantially to motor vehicle traffic at peak times and children’s respiratory systems are particularly vulnerable to the harmful effects of air pollution. In recent years, local authorities in collaboration with schools have implemented traffic restriction schemes, where access to some roads outside schools is restricted for motor vehicles at drop off and pick up times. We aimed to examine the impacts of these traffic restriction schemes on (i) active travel to school (e.g. walking, cycling and scooting), (ii) private motor vehicle travel to school, and (iii) differences across groups.Methods In this controlled before-and-after natural experimental study we used data collected by primary schools in England and Scotland on children’s mode of travel to school between 2012 and 2023. We matched each intervention school to two controls based on area-level deprivation, urban-rural status, school size, baseline levels of active travel to school, and nation/region (England excluding London, London, and Scotland) using Mahalanobis distance to determine their nearest neighbours. Characteristics of intervention and control schools were compared using chi-squared and t-tests. Linear regression was used to conduct difference-in-difference analyses in a) percent active modes and b) percent private motor vehicle, with adjustment for putative confounding factors. Differential effects were examined using analyses stratified by nation/region, method of enforcement, area-level deprivation and urban-rural status.Results Ongoing analyses used data from 519 schools (including 132 intervention schools in London, 6 in the rest of England and 35 in Scotland) at which 69% of children travelled to school by active modes at baseline, with no difference between intervention and control schools (p=0.62). Difference-in-difference analyses showed that active travel mode share increased by 5.9% in intervention schools relative to control schools (95%CI: 2.4;9.4) with motor vehicle use decreasing by 5.0% (2.2;7.8). This pattern was consistent across nation/region, although several of these area-specific estimates had confidence intervals crossing zero. No clear patterns were seen in other stratified analyses.Conclusion We found that schools that implemented traffic restriction schemes saw the share of journeys to school by active modes increase and by motor vehicle decrease. These findings suggest that wider roll-out of traffic restrictions schemes around schools might contribute to population-level increases in active travel to school, but more data collection and evaluation is required.",
  "authors": [
    {
      "affiliations": [
        "MRC Epidemiology Unit, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, Cambridgeshire, UK"
      ],
      "name": "Richard Patterson"
    },
    {
      "affiliations": [
        "MRC Epidemiology Unit, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, Cambridgeshire, UK"
      ],
      "name": "Emma Carey"
    },
    {
      "affiliations": [
        "MRC Epidemiology Unit, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, Cambridgeshire, UK"
      ],
      "name": "Kate Garrott"
    },
    {
      "affiliations": [
        "MRC Epidemiology Unit, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, Cambridgeshire, UK"
      ],
      "name": "Yuru Huang"
    },
    {
      "affiliations": [
        "MRC Epidemiology Unit, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, Cambridgeshire, UK"
      ],
      "name": "David Ogilvie"
    },
    {
      "affiliations": [
        "MRC Epidemiology Unit, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, Cambridgeshire, UK"
      ],
      "name": "Olivia Alliott"
    },
    {
      "affiliations": [
        "Bristol Medical School, University of Bristol, Bristol, Bristol, UK"
      ],
      "name": "Lucy Anderson"
    },
    {
      "affiliations": [
        "South Gloucestershire Council, Kingswood, Gloucestershire, UK"
      ],
      "name": "Catherine Jacobs"
    },
    {
      "affiliations": [
        "MRC Epidemiology Unit, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, Cambridgeshire, UK"
      ],
      "name": "Esther van Sluis"
    },
    {
      "affiliations": [
        "MRC Epidemiology Unit, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, Cambridgeshire, UK"
      ],
      "name": "Jenna Panter on behalf of the wider project team"
    }
  ],
  "title": "OP37 Effectiveness and equity impacts of traffic restriction schemes outside of schools: a controlled natural experimental study",
  "uid": "c88bc35c-4d4b-58e8-a8ab-b9b26fc5e3cc"
}