1

The Car versus Sustainable Transportation:

A Case Study of Youth Attitudes, Values, and Behaviours at PCVS

Peterborough, Ontario 2002-2003 School Year

Lyndsey Corrigan Department of Geography, Trent University

2

3

Acknowledgements

I would like to thank everyone involved for all his or her help in putting together this project. In particular I

would like to thank: Bob Roddie for his assistance and coordination with the school; Jackie Donaldson and Peterborough Green-Up for providing resources and support; and all the members of E.C.O.S. for reminding me why I am studying what I am.

I would also like to thank, PCVS staff and students, all volunteers who participated in the study, Pizza Pizza,

Jen Bowe & the Trent Centre for Community Based Education, students of Geography 470, Trent University’s Map librarians, and my professors, A. Brunger and A. Bain.

4

5

Abstract

Youth and teenagers, not yet adults, no longer children, are a group with unique needs and wants with

respect to transportation. With the deteriorating state of the natural environment and air quality, the youth in particular have much at stake for their own futures. Research has yet to assess how the attitudes and values of youth towards transportation shape behaviour and use of specific types of transportation. This study with students at Peterborough Collegiate Vocational School attempts to understand how youth feel towards the car and sustainable transportation, how this is shaped by age, and how environmental knowledge shapes student behaviours.

Using written survey questionnaires, focus groups, and participant observation I undertook this study viewing

the students as the experts. Students know their own needs and their friends better than the adult community and this study provided an opportunity to explore how youth really feel about the topic. This research suggests that the youth of today appropriately understand the effects of increased car-use and recognise the need for a reduced dependence on the automobile. It further suggests, however, that with age, students begin to see less opportunity for this change until they are their parents’ age. This study identifies the barriers to decreasing car-use and increasing sustainable transportation use through youth experience. Identifying the major barriers and creating opportunities for student-led initiatives provides youth with the opportunity to empower themselves and create the change they want to see.

6

7

Table of Contents

Acknowledgements iii.

Abstract v. List of figures and tables ix.

List of appendices xi.

1.0 Introduction………………………………………………………………………. 1 2.0 Literature Review………………………………………………………………… 2 2.1 Environmental Attitudes 2.2 Psycho-Spatial Dimension of Environmental Perceptions 2.3 Environmental Knowledge 2.4 Geography of Children and Youth 2.5 Automobile Use

3.0 Methodology………………………………………………………………………9 3.1 Student Survey Questionnaire 3.2 Focus Groups 3.3 Participant Observation 4.0 Results…………………………………………………………………………….14

4.1 Survey Questionnaire 4.2 Focus Groups 4.3 E.C.O.S. and Gr. 12 Presentations

5.0 Discussion…………………………………………………………………………24 6.0 Conclusion………………………………………………………………………...27 7.0 References………………………………………………………………………..29

8

9

List of Figures and Tables Figure 1.1 Modal travel in Canada, 1995 1 Figure 3.1 Lelerk Scale Error 11 Figure 4.1 Expenses of a Car Compared to Other Modes of Transit 14 Figure 4.2 Concern Levels of Peterborough Air Pollution Compared 15

to Toronto Figure 4.3 The Vehicle as a Perceived Source of Air Pollution Under 16 15 Figure 4.4 The Vehicle as a Perceived Source of Air Pollution 16 & Older 15 Figure 4.5 % Students Rating Statement as 'Very Important/Important' by Zone 16 Table 4.1 Main Reasons for Driving/Getting a Ride to School (Percentage 14

of Students within Age Categories) Table 4.2 Plans to obtain a license within 2 years 14 Table 4.3 Top Modal Choice to School by Zone 17 Table 4.4 Green Community Project- Various Characteristics by group 23 Table 4.5 Parkway Proposal Assignment- Various Characteristics by group 23

10

11

List of Appendices

Appendix A: Youth Attitudes Fact Sheet 33 Appendix B: Survey Questionnaire & Map 35 Appendix C: Research Introduction Letter 39 Appendix D: Consent Form 40 Appendix E: Focus Group Questions/Themes 41 Appendix F: Map of PCVS Catchment Area 43 Appendix G: Top 3 Modal Choices to School by Age 45 Appendix H: Top 3 Sources of Air Pollution by Age 46 Appendix I: Attitudes towards Selected Modes of Sustainable 46

Transportation by Age

Appendix J: a) Green Community Project 47 b) Peterborough Parkway Environmental 48

Assessment Task

Appendix K: Map: % of Students/Zone Ranking of the ‘Car’ as the 49 Top Means of Transportation to School Map: % of Students/Zone Ranking ‘Walking’ as the 51 Top Means of Transportation to School

Appendix L: Maps of Youth Attitudes of Various Statements by Zone

‘I would like the freedom and independence that driving 53 a car may give me.”

‘Having a driver’s license.’ 55 ‘Owning your own car one day.’ 57 ‘Using a fuel-efficient car.’ 59 ‘Being physically active.’ 61 ‘Being environmentally conscious.’ 63

12

Fig. 1.1 Travel in Canada 19952%

3%

3%

4%

88%

Intercity Rail and Bus

School Bus

Urban Transit

Air

Personal Vehicles

1.0 Introduction

The issue of private automobile use is of great interest to Canadians at the moment. The ratification of the

Kyoto Protocol calls upon each and every Canadian to make considerable lifestyle changes in order for Canada to meet its targets for the reduction of greenhouse gases set out in our international commitments. Most importantly

this would include one of the largest sources of greenhouse gases and yet the most popular from of transit: the private automobile1. Can we give up our love affair with the car? Can we put ourselves on a future path to sustainability? Doing so would require the decision-makers and car buyers of the future, the youth of today, to establish patterns of behaviour surrounding transit that reduces the use of personal vehicles.

Understanding youth attitudes and values towards the automobile and sustainable modes of transit is thus essential to curb the continued growth of personal vehicle use.

Car use within North American society has been a large focus of the environmental movement, and since the early seventies, the geography of children and youth has begun to receive further attention, noting that children and youth use the urban environment in very different ways from adults. Research on relationship between youth car-use and the geography of children and youth however is lacking. While environmental attitudes and their relationship to car use have been well documented within the environmental discourse, research on the formation of attitudes of youth and how these attitudes are reflected in their use of space is also limited. Furthermore, despite the documented research on the formation of environmental knowledge with respect to use of the city, barriers inherent in the built environment inhibiting youth use of the city and hence use of their environmental knowledge, is an area requiring further research.

The study of Youth Attitudes and Values at Peterborough Collegiate Vocational School in Peterborough is carried out in an effort to bridge the gap between the geographies of youth, environmental knowledge, and car-use. Through a quantitative and qualitative analysis, this study is an attempt to assess youth attitudes towards the private automobile and sustainable modes of transit2 and understand how these attitudes affect the geographies of youth. The study as well attempts to identify the barriers in place that discourage youth use of sustainable modes of transit and in which ways these barriers could be removed. 1 Statistics from Transport Canada as displayed in Learning for a Sustainable Future: Sustainable Transportation 2 Sustainable Transportation: defined as any mode of transportation more environmentally sustainable than the single-occupancy vehicle use. Includes cycling, walking, rollarbalding, skateboarding, schoolbus, public transit, carpooling.

13

This study adds to the growing literature on the geography of children and youth3, with a specific focus on the

somewhat neglected category of youth and teenagers. Much of the current and past research on the geographical perceptions and use of city space has been centred on elementary-school aged children.

This study also takes a step beyond much of the other research in that it is an attempt to identify ways in which the students can be empowered though identifying their own needs. Environmental issues such as air quality and car-use are not inherently local, creating feelings of futile efforts for even the able adult. Since city design has typically not taken the needs of the child and youth into consideration, feelings of empowerment for change of the use of the urban environment can be further diminished for youth. If environmental advocates hope to encourage lowered rates of private vehicle use among youth, it is an effort that must be undertaken with the active participation of youth, promoting meaningful lifestyle changes for themselves.

2.0 Literature Review Over the past thirty years environmental concern has been growing rapidly. In particular, air quality and

climate change are two issues that have been greatly contested. With Canada’s ratification of the Kyoto Protocol on climate change in December of last year, many Canadians may have to reassess their transit options. This may prove difficult to do in many areas built after WWII, as they have tended to centre upon the private automobile as the primary means of transit. This shift in transit planning and land use has resulted in an over-dependence on the automobile that has had great consequences in terms of health, lowered ecological integrity, and diminishing community vivacity. While the automobile is a product of modern technology that has come to be a defining feature of modern life, it has not come without many social consequences. Children and youth are no such exception.

When assessing youth attitudes and perceptions towards sustainable transit options versus the private automobile, it important to understand the theoretical background of how environmental issues are perceived, how this environmental knowledge affects the behaviour of youth, and how this affects the geography of children and youth in terms of their use of the built environment. There are several themes that are important to address. Firstly one must look at the societal attitudes towards environmental issues in general. Collective societal attitudes help to define the limits and boundaries both physically and psychologically, of the individual within society. As many environmental issues are vast in perspective, often on a global scale, it is important to understand how the individual distinguishes his or her perceptions between the local and the global scale and how this may affect his or her 3 Geography of Children: According to the Dictionary of Human Geography, it is a sub-discipline which examines how children’s perceptions, experiences and opportunities are socially and spatially structured and how the reproduction of culture is reproduced through children. General definitions tend to include youth ad teenagers in the geography of children. For the purposes of this study the geography of children is taken to mean youth and teenagers and their spatial perceptions of car-use and sustainable transportation.

14

behaviours. Next one must understand how the car becomes so socialized into our everyday lives. Why exactly is the technology of the automobile so loved within our society? Lastly, one must understand the geography of children. This includes the constructions of age, both socially and spatially, the exclusionary nature of youth within our society, how youth form identity and sense of place within the urban landscape, and how the automobile influences the process of identity construction. Through developing a better understanding to the situations for children’s participation and distinguishing important identities constructed within the urban landscape, urban planners, parents, teachers and schools can facilitate youth participation within decisions surrounding the built environment to create a physical landscape that is not exclusionary by nature. 2.1 Environmental Attitudes

There are many ways that environmental attitudes can be assessed. One of the most common ways to

assess them is in relation to the self-other construction between humans and the environment. According to Berleant, it is even a misconception to think of the natural surroundings as “the environment” as this objectifies it (1992, 3). Through objectifying it we are able to see ourselves as separate and distinct from nature. When we see ourselves as separate, we begin to lose our sense of responsibilities towards ‘the other’. This other eventually comes to define what we are not. The dualism of the self and other is not a concept new to philosophy, nor is it unique to environmental issues. This self-other dualism has excluded youth from full use of the urban landscape as well as participation within its creation through creating a dependence on the automobile, which creates a built environment that has limited access to those without a car.

In terms of the environment, this dualism can quite clearly be seen within the nature-culture construct (Tuan 1974; Evernden 1985; Berleant 1992; Sibley 1995). Nature has become the other placed in opposition to culture. To be civilised is to separate one’s self from the harshness of nature for the order of society. Growing materialism and consumption of society further jeopardizes human connections of place as a part of nature. This view of the world is generally known as a Cartesian view, or humanism, where human reason is valued over nature (Crang 1998, 404). Berleant feels there is a need for society to rid these ontological dualisms if the natural environment is to be fully experienced.

Environmental perception must move beyond these divisions, experientially as well as conceptually, and toward a sense of the continuities that join integrated human persons with their natural and cultural condition. The concept of a unified human world is still a foreign idea in much of Western thought. (Berleant 1992, 18) The philosopher Martin Heidegger posed a contrary view to the Cartesian view known as existentialism4.

According to Crang, “existential space is informed by cultural structures as much as perceptions” whereas cognitive 4 Existentialism: According to the Dictionary of Human Geography is a philosophy concerned with human’s existential being in the world. This philosophy regards that all persons are typically estranged from their worlds of intrinsic creativity and live instead in worlds of ‘externalized things’. This philosophy is important in understanding environmental attitudes as estrangement from these ‘things’ inhibit

15

space is how we abstractly model our spatial relationships (1998, 110). There are many elements for modern society that can be seen to further humans from the experiential nature of existentialism, changing how we interact with place and hence how we come to define place.

People do not simple locate themselves, they define themselves through a sense of place…as we go about our daily lives we learn patterns of interaction, patterns of behaviour, that become taken for granted. (Crang 1998, 102) Arguably one of the most influential inventions of modern society that has facilitated this change has been

the automobile. The increasing use of the private automobile can be seen as an example of this ‘learned behaviour’ that has been made easier through the separation of humans and nature. According to Hough,

Our urban design tradition has been dominated by a view of nature as humanized landscape…landscape in cities, and indeed wherever design is imposed on the land, represents nature under control. (Hough 1990, 67) This dominating urban design centred in recent years around the automobile has not only had implications of

youth access to the urban environment, but also with respect to political expression for change. Although Canadians have a fairly high level of concern for the environment (Bennett 1997, Frizzel 1997), it has yet to substantially change behaviours. Environmental concern is not only a reflection of the relationship between the individual and nature but also between individuals and their social environment because environmental problems are culturally and socially defined (Linden 1998, 35). Having said that, it is environmental perception through societal definitions that also influence behaviour. 2.2 Psycho-Spatial Dimension of Environmental Perceptions If environmental issues are in part a social construction, how nature is projected during our youth will have great influence on our behaviours in the future. According to Karl Mannheim, the first twenty years of life form the most important socialization period (Linden 1998, 36). A. Linden’s studies in Sweden help to exemplify this fact. She found that older generations while they have low environmental knowledge tend to be high in “good” ecological behaviour whereas the younger generations although higher in environmental knowledge, tended to be lowest in “good” ecological behaviour. This discrepancy is due to the generational differences in cultural and societal situations in which each generation spent it’s most influential socialization period. Younger generations, particularly the youth of today, have grown up in a highly modernized world where technology has become so ingrained in society, it has become hard to define our survival without it. She concludes that the step from theoretical knowledge to everyday behaviour is large (Linden 1998, 36). This step is further complicated by the spatial dimension of many environmental issues. This is evident when examining the relationships between car use and global warming/climate change and air pollution, two pressing human ability to truly realize the human impact on nature. It is considered a process of ‘othering’, which in turn changes the ways in which

16

issues that are not inherently local. Environmental problems do not respect regional and local boundaries and as such, the spatial perceptions of the problems have a certain amount of influence on reaction behaviours. According to David Uzzell in his study of the local-global dichotomy of environmental issues, it is an area in which little research has been done (2000). In reviewing past research, he concludes that individuals are not as concerned about environmental problems at the global level, but rather at the local level where they are less abstract, more visible, and perceived as a greater personal and immediate threat (ibid, 308). Through his research he concluded that “perceived individual responsibility for the environment is greatest at the neighbourhood level and decreases as the area level becomes more remote” (ibid, 312). However, he also concludes, “environmental problems were considered to be more serious as the geographical distance from the perceiver increased” (ibid, 311). This creates a catch-22 situation in that decreasing car use would be best served when perceived as a local environmental issue, yet climate change is inherently a global issue that is difficult to define in a purely local context. Having established it is local environmental knowledge that creates perceptions and influences behaviour, it is important to understand how youth gain the environmental knowledge shaping their perceptions and to what extent this influences their behaviour. 2.3 Environmental Knowledge

Research suggests that with knowledge comes responsibility reflected in three areas (Smith 1997, 123): 1. increased environmental consciousness 2. increased support for pro-environmental politics 3. increased likelihood to engage in environmentally-friendly behaviours

This holds the implication that without environmental knowledge, decreased car-use cannot be attained. Rissotto and Tonucci (2002) have studied the relationship between environmental knowledge and freedom of

movement of children in terms of the walk to school. Although their study was of elementary school children and not adolescents, they make some conclusions that could seriously affect the child’s perception of space and environment as he or she grows into adolescence. It was concluded that the increase in parents driving children to school (as well as escorting when walking, although to a lesser degree) has had serious consequences in the development of children’s spatial skills and thus have a limited perception of the environment (Rissotto and Tonucci 2002, 67). It is also noted that spatial knowledge is only one aspect of the relationship between the child and the environment and that much further research is needed into the emotional dimension.

On the contrary, Uzzell’s study of the effectiveness of formal environmental education, found that children were only marginally more concerned about environmental problems after the educational course (Uzzell 2000, 313). He hypothesizes this is because the children do not actually experience the environmental problem itself, nor do they the human constitutes spatiality through social life.

17

receive education on the problem’s social, cultural, economic and political context and thus, rejects the idea that environmental knowledge is an important precursor for change in environmental behaviour (Uzzell 2000, 314). This point is also reflected in Linden’s study as mentioned earlier. Behavioural change aside, there are also questions concerning how car use and city design affects spatial access of the built environment to youth. Regardless of level of environmental knowledge and concern of youth, if the spatial environment of youth is such that their knowledge cannot be used in a productive way, increasing environmental knowledge becomes futile. 2.4 Geography of Children and Youth

How youth and children define and perceive their space is an important precursor to understanding environmental knowledge of youth. There has been much work done on the geography of children (See for example, Pain 2001; Holloway & Valentine 2000; Jones 2000; Mathews et al. 2000, Fielding 2000; Kong 2000; Bunge & Bordessa 1975) and teenagers (Massey 1998; Katz 1998; Breitbart 1998; Pain 2001 for example). Within this growing body of work and research on the geographies of children and youth, little attention has been directed towards environmental perceptions and its influence on children and youth’s spatial environments.

In understanding the geographies of children and youth it is necessary to understand how the boundaries for the categories of children and youth are defined. Age is the characteristic that usually defines the boundaries of these groups. However, age is primarily a social construction (Holloway and Valentine 2000; Jones 2000; Pain 2001), which can be spoken of, only in relative terms rather than absolute (Pain 2001). This suggests the creation of “other”, creating categories of which children and youth are to define themselves and their use of space within the built environment (Holloway and Valentine 2000). Within society barriers are socially constructed to delimit age, for example, starting school or getting a driver’s license (Pain 2001, Sibley 1995). This has direct implications for the freedom of movement of children and youth. Continuing with the example of getting a driver’s license, when youth reach the legal age to obtain one, and assuming they have access to a car, the restrictions on their access to certain public space greatly diminishes.

In the routines of daily life, most people are not conscious of domination and the socio-spatial system is reproduced with little challenge…there are some groups for whom exclusion is a part of their daily experience…but their spaces of control are too small to interrupt the reproduction of socio-spatial relations. (Sibley 1995, 76)

In terms of youth sense of place and belonging, there are very powerful cultural ideals coming out of the capitalist economies of the West, and lowering the use of the private automobile in a society that glorifies what it represents, is a difficult challenge for youth. Geographies of youth are unquestionably shaped by the ideals of those ‘in charge’ of society whomever that may be. While this control can be manifested in many ways, it is in terms of societal attitudes towards and use of the

18

private automobile that influences and shapes the ways in which youth feel towards the car and other modes of transit. Whether it be through the car-dependent infrastructure development or societal attitudes and values towards the car, the geography of youth is tremendously defined by the private automobile. 2.5 Automobile Use

Effects of automobile use on the environment and communities, as well as the sustainable transit alternatives, have been well documented within the environmental and geographical discourses (see Shilts 2002; Miller 2000; Newman & Kenworthy 1999; Raad & Kenworthy 1998; Yeates 1998). Infrastructure development and post-war urban design has meant that access to areas of the city and places within the city are severely restricted to those without an automobile, youth and adults alike, particularly in smaller areas which are not as likely to be served by adequate public transit.

The automobile has in many instances become a social necessity, as well as a geographical necessity for youth. After the age of sixteen (or the legal age for a driver’s license) not only does obtaining a driver’s license change the relationship of a youth as a dependent of his or her parents, but also in terms of his or her social status with his or her peers. According to Flink,

The extensive use of this new tool by the young has enormously extended their mobility and the range of alternatives before them…among the high school set, ownership of a car by one’s family has become an important criterion of social fitness: a boy almost never takes a girl to a dance except in a car. (Flink 1988, 159) This has direct implications on the geographies of youth. Social activities being highly attached to the use of

the car means those without access to a car at home or through friends, lack access to certain social realms and the places these groups may frequent. The growth in auto use has also been well documented with respect to journey to school. Growing twice as fast as trips made for average use (Black et al 2001, 1122). In Black et al. study of elementary school children in the UK, some worrying conclusions are drawn from increased car use. Besides the fact that children are less active and engaging in lower levels of environmental knowledge exposure, they note that,

…young children become accustomed to this pattern of car use. This has the potential to communicate unsustainable values to children from an early age, which may become increasingly difficult to change as they get older, particularly since cognitive rules are already well developed. In this way, car use and car-dependent lifestyles become established at very young ages, assisted by the psychological reinforcement presented by numerous media and cultural images of cars that feature in the environment of many children. (Black et al 2001, 1125) Similarly, in a study done on high school students ideas about the car’s health implications, it was concluded

that teenagers are the next generation of car owners and their choices will impact the vehicle emissions on the

19

environment (Boyes and Stanisstreet 1998). In this case it was found that the cognitive base in which individual decisions are based is somewhat weak, and while overall general environmental knowledge may be fairly high, the connections to the implications for health and the environment are not fully developed (Boyes and Stainsstreet 1998, 113).

This again, implies research in the connections between environmental knowledge, perceptions and car use, possibly relating to the fact these children grew up in a car-era. Similarly, the psychological reasoning of increased auto use in the context of the self-other dualism, as root causes have not been adequately dealt with in regards to children and youth. There is certainly no lack of literature in each of these areas as separate and distinct categories. Environmental studies and geography have yet to come together in the literature in terms of how the automobile defines one’s sense of place and redefines the perspectives youth, and in particular adolescents, have about the environment. Through my placement at PCVS Secondary School I will attempt to bring together these disciplines, trying to understand how youth attitudes and values towards the car and sustainable transportation influence their use geographies and use of the city.

20

3.0 Methodology

PCVS is a school located within the downtown core of the City of Peterborough. As such, it has a large proportion of students within walking distance yet because of its Integrated Arts Programme, many students are bused in from outside the formal catchment area5 from the surrounding Peterborough County. PCVS is thus an ideal school to study youth perceptions of their geographies, with different levels of dependence on the private automobile, assumed to increase as distance from the school increases. It is also an ideal school to study youth attitudes about the private automobile compared to more environmentally sustainable modes of transit as it location in the downtown core creates the highest possible access to public transit, and the residential areas of many students are not of suburban design. I hypothesize that once students reach the age of 16, the legal age to obtain a driver’s license, there will be a change in attitudes towards the private automobile with greater value placed upon it. Similarly, I have hypothesized that environmental knowledge plays a relatively large factor in attitude and value formation of students. Therefore the targeted groups within PCVS are a cross-section of students of all ages in two categories, under 16 and 16+, as well as research with the environmental studies class and the environmental club, Environmental Coalition Of Students (E.C.O.S.) to understand to what extent environmental knowledge influences and changes attitudes. The objectives of the study are threefold:

1. To understand how age, under 16 and 16+, affects youth use and perception of the city. 2. To understand how environmental knowledge shapes attitudes towards the car and sustainable transit. 3. To identify the barriers in place reducing usage of sustainable modes of transit and the steps that can be

taken to reduce single-occupancy vehicle use through youth led initiatives. The study has been undertaken under feminist philosophy. Under feminist ideology, power is recognized to

be unequally divided between the masculine and feminine dominates. Often within non-feminist research, it is the masculine way of representing problems through positivist scientific methods that objectify what is being studied. In the context of feminist research, the research is approached as an opportunity to explore the subjective thoughts, values, and beliefs of the subject. Although my research is not approached with a gendered lens, it is approached through the context of power relations. Feminist research also stresses the importance of the interaction and the sharing of information between the researcher and participants in the study. Rather than objects to be studied, participants are viewed as humans to be engaged with. It follows that the emotions and values of the researcher and participants cannot be ignored. The researcher must be careful not to stress his or her views in such a way that the participants feel uncomfortable expressing theirs. (see for example Flowerdew & Martin 1997; Bowles & Klein 1983). 5 Catchment Area: The official area set by the schoolboard inside of which students attend a particular school. For the official catchment area for PCVS the maximum walking distance is 3.2 km (see Appendix F).

21

In terms of this study, using a feminist approach is valued, because the main objective of the study is to gain insight into the attitudes and values youth hold and how these attitudes are reflected in their perceived use of the city. Due to the popularity and media attention of the current environmental movement, when approaching environmental issues it can often be hard to differentiate between true beliefs and politically correct ideologies. Using a feminist approach allows me to better understand how youth really feel about vehicle use, sustainable transportation, and their use of space in that I am engaging with them, not viewed as “the expert” but rather someone learning from them. A key component of the research is to understand how to empower youth to take charge of environmental responsibility within their own lives. In doing so it is important that youth are represented as ‘self’ and not as ‘other’. Similarly, understanding dominance and power can be an important mindset when approaching environmental issues as nature has most often been represented as ‘the other’ in western thought and research.

3.1 School-wide Questionnaire (see Appendix B):

The questionnaire was designed in conjunction with ideas from PCVS’ grade 12 Environmental Studies Class and Peterborough Green-Up. The questionnaire was intended to realize research objectives of assessing youth attitudes and perceptions of the car and sustainable transit as well as fulfill certain curriculum requirements of the class and therefore not all questions were analyzed for the purpose of this research. The primary objective of the questionnaire was to quantitatively assess the qualitative values held by students in various categories of the environment, the private vehicle and sustainable modes of transportation. Due to the time constraints of many classrooms today, questions were limited to closed-ended questions, also serving the purpose of easing categorization and analysis of the data. Attitudinal questions were placed in the middle with shorter more closed-ended questions at the beginning and end. PCVS is a relatively large school with over 900 students. It was not necessary to obtain data from each student and two classes per grade were sampled or about 15% of the student population. The homeroom classrooms were chosen on a teacher volunteer basis. Within each grade, one applied and one academic class was sampled to ensure to include all possible varieties of attitudes, not to be skewed by academic level. A map was created with PCVS at the centre and concentric 0.5-km zones surrounding the school labeled zones A though G.

It should be noted however, that some potential of skewing of the results could occur through choice of this method of sampling. While due to the time-management pressure facing many public school teachers, extra “work” such as this survey, is not always possible and I therefore relied upon volunteers. It follows that these teachers most likely have some added environmental interest than the average citizen and as such may bring more environmental themes into their lessons, influencing environmental knowledge of the students. However due to the sample size and that the questionnaires would be assessed upon the basis of age, not classroom/grade, this error can be seen as not playing a major role.

22

An exploratory analysis using contingency tables and graphs was employed to interpret the results of the survey. To assess whether attitudes vary with geographic distance from the school, zones were placed in three categories: 0-1.5 km from the school (zones A, B, C); 1.5-3.0 km from the school (zones D, E, F); and greater than 3 km/ rural (zone G). Questions 5, most frequent modes of transportation to school, and 11, various attitudinal statements were analysed between these three categories of zones.

All questions were assessed with respect to two age categories: under 16 and 16 and older. Through an analysis by legal age to obtain a driver’s license, results show whether or not age plays a role perceptions and use of the city. Although not all students over the age of 16 will have their license, it is assumed for the purposes of this study that he or she has improved access to car as a mode travel if more friends drive. Questions 11, 12 and 13 were designed to gauge student attitudes to various environmental issues. Question 11 is an attitudinal scale, question 12 on sustainable transit modes a Lelerk scale, and question 13 a comparative scale. Question 14 and 15 were designed to gage students’ environmental knowledge of the relationship between car use and air quality.

In terms of question design error, note that in the Lelerk semantic scales in question 12, biking and busing have a different scale from walking and carpooling (see below). This is an unintentional formatting error that may skew analysis of actual attitudes, as certain assumptions will have to be made on the part of the researcher for comparative analysis. With respect to analysis of these scales, instead of each category being treated individually, analysis was split into three. For example, with the value of safety, answers were placed into either 1. Safe, 2. Neutral, or 3. Unsafe

Biking Walking Safe Unsafe Safe Unsafe

Biking Walking Safe Unsafe Safe Unsafe

Additionally, with respect to question 16 pertaining to motivations for increased sustainable transit use, the question was not clear enough to establish good results. Many who walked everyday ticked ‘not applicable’ but many who walked everyday ticked a variety of motivators. It is unclear as to how that would make them, for example, walk more. Although it may be statistically questionable, it still provides relevant qualitative accounts on popular motivators for increasing sustainable modes of travel-to-school journeys. It should also be noted that if the survey was conducted at a different time of year results might vary slightly as weather is more conducive to biking and walking.

23

3.2 Focus Groups:

The focus groups were designed to assess in further detail how age affects and shapes attitudes towards the car and sustainable transit. The focus group was also a method used to assess the relationship between environmental knowledge and car use. Lastly, the focus groups were designed to gain youth experiential knowledge of what barriers limit increased use of sustainable modes of transit. Participants were chosen on a volunteer basis with the only criteria being age. The incentive of lunch (pizza, pop and cookies) was chosen to entice volunteers. It was determined that group size would be ideally 7-8 participants. Three groups would be conducted- two on the basis of age, and one with the E.C.O.S. Groups one and two were intended to gain further insight into how attitudes vary with age and whether not having a license influence their perceived use of the city. The E.C.O.S. group was intended to understand to what extend environmental knowledge plays in attitudes and their perceived use of the city. A primary purpose of all three groups was determining what barriers are in place reducing the use of sustainable transit more and how students can empower themselves with student led initiatives. Ideally the group discussions would have been held in one session. However, due to school rules they had to be conducted during lunch hour under teacher supervision, although the teacher would not be participating in the meeting. Since lunch is only an hour long, two sessions were held with each group on back to back days. Discussion length was designed for 45 minutes so, as to not rush answers and to allow for students to come from class. All sessions were recorded with a mono-cassette recorder to ensure accurate interpretation and analysis of the discussions. In session one, attitudes towards the car and sustainable transportation were addressed. The questions were ordered to address attitudes towards the car before sustainable transportation in order not to lead students to the “politically correct” environmentally friendly answers with respect to the car. Session two focused more on sustainable transportation options, with the last half of the session pertaining to empowerment and student-led initiatives. Originally it was planned to allow the students some time to formulate ideas on their own surrounding a student led campaign to reduce car use. However, after the first focus group with the under 16 age category, it was clear that leaving students on their own to design their campaign for 15 minutes was not going to work. Students had trouble framing the issue and a contingency plan of working with them seemed to enhance progress. As a comparative analysis between groups was to be used, a full transcription of tapes was necessary. Since the group discussions tended to deviate from the specific themes set out by the questions, analysis began with an open-coding, margin colour-coding, and lastly, cutting and sorting into thematic categories. The thematic codes that statements were placed into include:

• Environment • Economy/cost • Health

• Technology • Community/social • Convenience/comfort

• Safety (personal & belongings)

• Freedom/independence

24

3.3 E.C.O.S. and Selected Meetings with the Environmental Studies Class:

These meetings were intended to be a form of participant observation. Here I worked with the students, attending the regularly scheduled meetings of E.C.O.S. and special presentations by the grade 12 Environmental Studies class. These meetings were a method of understanding the relationship that exists between environmental knowledge and attitudes towards the private automobile/sustainable modes of transit. Attending E.C.O.S. meetings was not part of the original research plan. It began as a volunteer project and quickly became apparent that these meetings contain valuable information towards the objective of assessing youth attitudes and values regarding car-use and sustainable transportation. Furthermore, working with E.C.O.S. provided the opportunity to possibly start some student led initiatives. The research in both cases, E.C.O.S. and the Environmental Studies Class, was overt. All students knew who I was and what I was interested in finding out. However, between the two cases, the degree of participatory action differed. The classroom presentations were more a form of observational research, while my attendance at E.C.O.S. took on a more active and engaging role. Youth are more than simply ‘bigger kids’ or ‘little adults’. They are competent citizens with needs within the community that differ from both children and adults. Methodology for this type of research approach lies in that through learning, youth gain the ability to influence their surroundings and develop a greater sense of environmental competence promoting a sense of control (Sutton and Kemp 2002). Other studies have similarly shown the benefits of youth participation in urban planning (Francis & Lorenzo 2002; Breitbart 1998). I saw this added participation with E.C.O.S. as beneficial as these students, many of whom are already active in community events, all had an avid interest in environmental change. Working with them through participant observation created a way to develop their empowerment and initiate change in how the PCVS community uses the built environment for transportation. In addition, working with them throughout the entire school year until April, allowed myself to witness any changes that might occur as the year and projects progress. It is the meetings with E.C.O.S. where the feminist methodologies become most valuable. As mentioned above, feminist methodologies emphasize interaction and sharing with participants. It encourages engaging with them on their level. In many respects, this proved to be relatively easy: as the researcher, I am fairly close to their age and struggling with many of the same empowerment issues as they face with respect to environmental change. I viewed them as the experts on their friends and other students their age in terms of what could capture their interest and could motivate change in modes of transportation use. A comparative analysis between each student group was undertaken for the class presentations, while a qualitative account of my personal observations was undertaken for E.C.O.S.’ meetings.

25

4.0 Results 4.1 Questionnaire (see Appendix B) Recall that the questionnaire was designed to quantitatively assess attitudes and values towards the car and sustainable transportation. In most questions age proved to highlight some notable differences in attitudes and behaviours. Students were asked to rank their top three modes of transit to school (see appendix G). The car was ranked as the top mode of transit to school 44% of the time, both single occupancy and carpools. There is a considerable difference when modal choice is broken down by age. 51% of students 16 and older used the car as their top modal choice compared to only 32% of the under 16 category. Correspondingly, school bus usage drops from 21% to 34% respectively. The main reasons for getting a ride to school varied only slightly by age except in the ‘convenience’ category (see table 4.1). Over double the percentage of 16 & older students considered ‘convenience’ a main reason for to get a ride/drive to school.

School Activity Convenience Late Friends Parents Weather

Under 16 16% 14.8% 27.7% 1.85% 31.5% 25.9%

16 & Older 19.4% 32% 20.3% 3.8% 24.3% 22.3%

Table 4.1 Main Reasons for Driving/Getting a Ride to School (Percentage of Students within Age Categories) Of the students eligible to obtain their license, 59% had it and 41% did not. Of those who did not have their license, 92.5% of students under 16 had intentions of obtaining a license within two years compared to only 79.1% of students 16 and older (see table 4.2). Correspondingly there is an observed difference in how students view the expenses of a vehicle compared to other forms of transportation.

Yes No Undecided

Under 16 92.5% 0% 7.5%

16 & Older 79.1% 9.3% 11.6%

Table 4.2 Plans to obtain license within 2 years

74.5% of students 16 & older rated expenses of the car more than other modes of transit compared to only 61.2% of students under 16 (see fig. 4.1). But generally speaking, most students seemed to recognize the added personal expense of a car, with only one student rating it less than other modes of transit.

01020304050607080

% o

f Stu

dent

s

More A little more Equal

Fig. 4.1 Expenses of Car Compared to other forms of Transit

Under 1616 & UpAll Students

26

0 20 40 60 80

% of Students

More

Less

Equal

Con

cen

Leve

l

Fig. 4.2 Concern levels for Peterborough Air Pollution Compared to Toronto

16 & UpUnder 16

Fig. 4.3 Vehicle Ranked as a Perceived Source of Air Pollution-

Under 16

43%

35%

22%

123

Fig. 4.4 Vehicle Ranked as a Perceived Source of Air Pollution-

16 & Up

22%

56%

22%

123

Students were asked whether they felt Peterborough should be more, less, or equally concerned about air pollution than Toronto- a measure of environmental knowledge and perceptions of air pollution. Here there is a marked difference when assessed by age. In actuality, Peterborough often has lower air quality than Toronto due to air streams moving pollution northeast towards Peterborough. From a very conservative point of view, Peterborough

should be equally concerned, while a more environmental point of view would consider the level of concern should be greater than that of Toronto. A relatively equal percentage of students felt Peterborough should be equally concerned. However 31.5% of younger students felt Peterborough should be less concerned compared to 12.7% of those 16 & older, while 1.9% and 18.6% respectively, felt

Peterborough should be more concerned (see fig. 4.2). However, 95.7% of all students rated vehicle emissions as one of the top three sources of air pollution (see

appendix H). Students who did not rate vehicular emissions in their top three, tended to rate the importance of buying a fuel-efficient car low and driving to school was one of their top 2 modes of transit to school. Again, when assessed in terms of age category, there is a marked difference in opinion (See fig. 4.3 and 4.4). Due to the differing interpretation of question 16 pertaining to motivators for increased use of sustainable transportation, as mentioned above, question 16 did not produce statistically verifiable results, but none-the-less provides a good qualitative description of the most popular motivators. Living closer and better weather tended to be the most popular, followed closely by more bike paths and friends doing it with them. Although students tended to be quite aware of the costs of the car, parking fees was not a huge motivator for increasing the use of modes of travel other than the car.

Semantic scales were used in question 12 to gauge youth attitudes towards selected modes of sustainable transportation, biking, walking, busing, and carpooling. Percentages within each age group were calculated and some

differences between the age groups can be seen (see appendix I). Some of the most noteworthy differences include:

• 42% U16 compared to 51% 16&O felt walking was ‘a hassle’ • 30% U16 compared to 59% 16&O felt busing was ‘a hassle’

27

0%10%20%30%40%50%60%70%80%90%

% o

f stu

dent

s

1 2 3 4 5 6

Statement

% Students Rating each Statement 'Very Important/Important' by Zone

Zone A-CZone D-FZone G

• 28% U16 compared to 40% 16&O felt busing was ‘time-consuming’ • 52% U16 compared to 52% 16&O felt carpooling was ‘safe’ • 54% U16 compared to 70% 16&O felt biking was ‘safe’

It is also interesting to note that the “coolness” of each mode of sustainable transit did not vary very much with age. Selected questions were also analysed by zones to determine the geographical variation of modes of travel to school and attitudes. The attitudinal statements of question 11 were used to analyse geographic variation between zones. The most significant differences occur in the rating of the importance of using a fuel-efficient car (statement 4) and being environmentally conscious (statement 6) (see fig. 4.5).6 Students living in zones A-C, the downtown core, generally rated buying a fuel-efficient car much higher than zones D-F and G; 64%, 43%, and 49% respectively. Similarly students in the downtown core tended to rate the importance of being environmentally conscious much higher than zones D-F and G at 80%, 48%, and 55% respectively (see appendix L).

Considerable differences between most frequent modes of transit to school arose when assessed by zones. The most unexpected findings are with respect to car use by zone (see appendix K). It is assumed that the further

away the samples of students live, there will be an increased dependence on the automobile. In zones D-F, 1.5 to 3 km from the school, only 15% of students surveyed walked as their primary mode while 51% used the car as their primary mode of transit, much higher than the other two zones. It is also interesting to note that percentage of

6 Where students ranked the importance of the statement:

1. I would like the freedom and independence that driving a car may give me. 2. Having a driver’s license. 3. Owning your own car one day 4. Using a fuel-efficient car 5. Being Physically active 6. Being environmentally conscious

Students ranked these statements on a categorical scale from 1 to 5 with a being very important and 5 being completely unimportant. Percentages of students were based on students who rated the statement 1,‘very important’ or 2, ‘important’. For the purposes of this analysis, a ranking of 1 and 2 assumes attitudes deviating from neutral. It is noted that the neutral category 3 worded as ‘slightly important’ may not convey a neutral meaning to survey participants. It therefore should be noted when the percentage of students is calculated to include the ‘slightly important’ category as well as 1 and 2 proportions stay relatively equal except in statements 4 and 6. In these statements percentages calculated with ratings 1 & 2 produced fairly significant differences between zones whereas percentages calculated with the inclusion of rating 3 produces a more balanced proportion between the zones.

28

WALK BUS CAR CARPOOL Zones A-C 65.9% 0% 31.8% 2.3% Zones D-F 15.6% 20.0% 51.1% 8.9%

Zone G 2.3% 55.8% 32.6% 2.3% TOTAL 27.0% 24.1% 37.2% 4.4%

Table 4.3 Top Modal Choice to School by Zone students in zones A-C who use the automobile as primary mode of transit nearly equals that of rural students in zone G (see table 4.3). 4.2 Focus Groups (see appendix E)

The focus groups had both similarities and various distinct differences. In the under 16 group, all students lived in zone G and were either bused in or received a ride most days. The 16 & older group contained mainly students within walking distance and E.C.O.S. had students from a variety of zones. Overall E.C.O.S. tended to have a much stronger environmental knowledge than either one of the other groups, presumably because of their high outside interest and community involvement. Furthermore, there tended to be much more consensus and agreement on most of the issues amongst this group. Nevertheless, all three groups had appropriate knowledge and understanding of the basic issues surrounding air quality and vehicle use.

Generally speaking, the under 16 group tended to fluctuate in their standpoints on various issues. Often students would contradict themselves when we moved on to a new subject. For example in response to my probing about a student’s answer that cars were good for the community, he stated, “Well more people would drive

somewhere instead of walking and you could carpool.” Students in this group could quite clearly outline the negative environmental and health aspects related to car use but often had conflicting ideas with respect to specific themes. Contrary to this, the 16 & older group as well as E.C.O.S. had more conviction in their views. They could more easily distinguish between what others believe from what they believed, whether it be from an environmental standpoint, or economic standpoint etc.

While all groups demonstrated good environmental knowledge of the effects of car-use, the under 16 group often emphasized particular issues in a fairly dramatic way. For example, in response to a question about specific pros and cons of car-use, students note the difficulties of mass change.

“Well for healthwise, and less pollution…and I don’t want to see a lot of people die because of what people are doing to cause it…………it’s almost like murder, but you can’t help it.” “Well we can help it…….” “We can, but it’s really hard and…and people wouldn’t go for it.”

Natalie & Rachael, age 14, Feb. 2003

29

This group was extremely optimistic about Perterborough and the city’s environmental initiatives as well as the opportunity for change in environmental behaviour within the local community. Generally speaking each of the groups did not feel empowered to create change, although the under 16 group did tend to view the opportunity for change much more optimistically than the other two did. In a conversation about how change could occur, two students express their concern for the rate that change is occurring and needs to occur.

“I think old people run the society…and [they] didn’t have recycling and recycling only came in when they realised our landfills are filling up exponentially. And that’s their mindset and you can’t change that, it’s how they grew up. And then their kids grew up with a different mindset but still on the same track. And I think it is shifting. I think that more people are realising we gotta do something because our planet is more than half dead, and it’s our fault. And I think that it’s just taking too long, but it’s changing. But it’s because the people with the “set-in-stone” idea or ideals that suggest that cars are the way to go and you can throw everything out and batteries can be thrown in the garbage. I think they’re still running the country, and that’s why it hasn’t changed and as soon as we get maybe our generation at that age it’ll change a little more.” “It needs a drastic change for our generation.”

James & Jon, age 18, Feb. 2003 It was generally agreed upon that some sort of change was necessary for the environment and personal health. Yet when students engaged in the activity to create a student-led campaign to promote and foster change towards an increase in student use of sustainable transportation, all three groups were silenced and unable to come up with any ideas very easily. Students had trouble focusing the issue and could not seem to separate change within the school from change within society in general. 14 year old Natalie articulates,

“It’s just so much…it’s so overpowering to think about it. If you think about it in your head just gets jumbled up with all this stuff. And you don’t know what to do with it.” Natalie, age 14, Feb. 2003

Similarly, an E.C.O.S. member reveals, “So I don’t know how to disperse this [environmental consciousness] throughout the community…I don’t know how to break that- bring our lifestyles into other people’s lives.” Melissa, age 17, Feb. 2003

When asked to focus just on the micro-community of PCVS and not Peterborough, students still felt change would be difficult, as students who maybe do not need to drive, want to drive.

• “I think it’s hard to say because I think a lot of kids who can drive, want to drive…these kids are still going to want to drive anyways.”

Jen, age 18, Feb. 2003

• “People who drive, can drive. People who can drive, do drive. If you have access to your own car or your parents car, you drive to school.”

Erica, age 17, Feb. 2003

30

In terms of sustainable transportation, the under 16 group tended to feel that it was a positive feature in

terms of environmental and personal health, but saw it as a personal inconvenience. This group had a wider range of sustainable transportation options compared to the 16 & older group that recognized these options but had a much larger focus on better technology of cars and fuel. With the older group when asked how the negative effects of car use could be mitigated, there was a large focus on technology and I had to probe to get the students to elaborate on alternatives to car-use. In response to my probing one student stated,

“There’s always the traditional, like we can use public transportation,” and declares with sarcasm, “Everybody’s been saying that for a long time. There’s no one who really listens to it- ‘everyone should use one car, carpool, bus’- something like that.” James, age 18, Feb. 2003

Contrary to both the under 16 and 16 & older groups, E.C.O.S. viewed sustainable transportation for personal use much more positively. While they did note many flaws with the current system, these modes of transit were seen as less of a hassle as compared to the other groups. All three groups were very enthusiastic about biking, each noting the benefits to personal health and lifestyles. However, a reoccurring theme preventing increased use of walking, biking and rollarblading etc. was the weight of backpacks and textbooks. It became particularly evident that this was a huge deterring factor for students.

All three groups had a large focus on economics and the monetary costs. Costs of driving was a theme expected to come up however the extent to which it was a focus in all three groups was unexpected. Both the under 16 and the 16 & older groups saw the car as being very expensive but not to such a degree that it would serve as a deterrent unless it simply could not be afforded. One student even stated that he puts 1/3 to ½ of his paycheque aside for gas alone. When asked if the costs would make them think twice about getting their license, all of the students in the under 16 group said no, with great conviction! In the discussions with E.C.O.S., monetary costs were brought up in slightly different contexts. The cost of driving was brought up in terms of consumer buying power and as a method of promoting modes of sustainable transportation. Additionally monetary cost was brought up in terms of sustainable transportation. One E.C.O.S. student states how surprised she was to hear that the mayor of Peterborough was planning to spend money on public transit but continues noting that it “might have been a ploy to

get more money from the government for infrastructure development.” Another student similarly recognizes the catch-22 situation between funding and demand for public transit.

Connected to this monetary theme was the theme of world politics. This was a theme that I had expected to come up in discussions with E.C.O.S. due to their extra-curricular and community involvement in these issues; it was rather surprising to see the other groups’ recognition of particular issues. Views on President Bush, Iraq and the oil crisis came up in various contexts. In the under 16 group it was in the context of how the price of gas has gone up considerably since the threat of war. In the 16 & older these themes arose in the context of providing alternative

31

technologies. Note this conversation between two students with respect to the difficulties of alternative fuel development:

“And that’s the sad reality of our world. Our oil companies want a monopoly and it’s like,….when is it going to stop?! “When the oil stops.” “When Bush goes to war and they stop selling us oil.” James & Cory, age 18, Feb. 2003

These themes were amongst many political themes within the discussions with E.C.O.S. These students seemed to make greater connections between land use and environmental behaviours and modal choice. Students in this group agreed that the city needs to take a much more active role in environmental planning. These students, most of whom actively pursue alternative transit such as biking, recognized that it is still not backed enough by the community. One student affirms her frustrations and her ‘right’ to be on the road as a cyclist.

“But we shouldn’t have to use the sidewalk, that’s the thing. We should be able to feel safe on our vehicles and share the same road. Just because we don’t have four walls around us doesn’t mean that you have no right on the road. I don’t know…a lot of bikers put themselves into fairly dangerous situations, well I know I do anyways because I have the right to be on the road- I’m going to be on the road. If I’m on George St. and someone hits me, that’s THEIR fault…but I mean I’ll be practicing my rights.”

Melissa, age 17, Feb. 2003 Moreover they noted that the city often does not allow youth to bike, rollerblade, or skateboard along any sidewalks, even those which are not busy. Although the other two groups touched upon this issue, E.C.O.S. was better able to express how the environmental agenda was not a pressing issue, particularly in a lower-income town such as Peterborough. Societal pressure of car-use was evident in discussions with all three groups although to a limited extent in the under 16 group. One student in the 16 & older group stated he was “forced” to get his license to help with the family, while another student stated he had to get it because his mother didn’t like driving but his brother, an acute asthmatic, had to be driven to the hospital frequently. 18 year old Mark reveals,

“In our lives we’re shown how important [the car is] for doing things and for motivation for getting places and its like now that we can drive that’s what we want to do because we have that ability. And it’s hard to kind of change everybody’s opinions on it because it’s almost obvious how much more convenient it is.” Mark, age 18, Feb. 2003

And 18 year old Jennifer compares increasing car-use to a snowball rolling downhill and “we can’t stop it now that it’s

started.” An E.C.O.S. member affirms the idea that the media largely influences the ‘coolness’ of certain

32

transportation options, while member Erin, explains that people with buying power to create change often are those people with a lot of money who also want status symbols

A consensus among all three groups was that changing choices in transportation will not happen amongst youth with a push for the environmental theme. All groups had a good grasp of the basis issues surrounding air quality and car use, and the negative effects were widely known. In the 16 & older group discussions, rarely did the environment as a theme in and of itself come up, other than in sarcastic references. In the under 16 group, environment as a distinct reason to change modes of transportation did come up fairly frequently. However, in their optimism for the problem in local area as compared to the problem in the global context, they often made reference that it wasn’t as pressing of an issue for Peterborough. In the E.C.O.S. discussions, these students felt that changes needed to be for the intrinsic value of the environment, but similarly noted that change will be difficult if it is pushed through the environmental context.

“You have to find something and relate it back to why it matters to them. Like, you know, even I am sick of the phrase ‘It’s bad for the environment!’ That doesn’t mean anything to anyone anymore. So if you can find some why to [make them understand] ‘This hurts the environment and this hurts you because…’ then you’ve found reasons to make them care about it.” Erica, age 17, Feb. 2003

Simply stated, encouragement of sustainable transportation for youth will not materialize through a focus on the environment. Health was surprisingly a theme that arose much more than expected, as was costs, as mentioned above. The students in each group, although to a lesser extent in the under 16, agreed that decreasing car-use amongst youth will have more success through a focus on these latter two issues. As one E.C.O.S. member notes, “It’s [the environment] cool among a certain group of people.” Going into these discussions, it was assumed that the car would represent an aspect of freedom. In terms of this subject matter, all three groups had very different views. The under 16 group, all living outside the city, strongly felt getting their license would open up the geographic area for them. When I asked them if they were planning to get their license one-day, I received a very enthusiastic ‘yes’ from all! Jon declares, “The day I turn 16!!” Natalie states her desire for getting it as, “Not having to stay and be like, jailed in my house all the way out in the country.” For this group, the car is very much seen as a necessity. The 16 & older group, most of them living within walking distance, had some interesting positions arise in their discussions. In response to my question about why they wanted to get their license, students note,

• “Initiation into adulthood if you will.”

• “It’s the freedom. Larger boundaries.” Students in this group emphasized how their social interactions and circles of friends changed when they began to drive. One student noted how his community now extended outside the Peterborough community, while others noted many of their current friends whom they were not friends with before simply because they did not live near by, and

33

social interaction was limited to school hours. When I asked the only student who did not have his G2 license if he thought that the city would ‘open-up’ for him he answered it would not because, “I always have people to drive me.” The E.C.O.S. group felt distinctly differently about the need for a license. Although all eight girls were of age to have their license, only one had their G2 and one had their G1, and all had made a conscious effort to use environmentally friendly behaviour. These students, while they did not view the car as a necessity, did note that current city planning inhibits their choice to use other modes of transit. Fear for personal safety on many roads meant that fairly direct routes would be lengthened in avoidance of these roads.

“And I find if you try and do the right thing and take your bike it’s really hard. Especially if you’re on Lansdowne St. or George St. It’s really scary.” Emily, age 18, Feb. 2003

City transit scheduling, routes and punctuality were similarly issues that inhibited use of the city without a car amongst all groups. The fact that Peterborough does not offer a Sunday schedule was seen as a problem for students. In terms of how I as the researcher was perceived, it varied between groups. Because I had been working with E.C.O.S. all year, they were quite comfortable in expressing their views and similarly because of the closeness in age between myself and the over 16 group, I was treated like an insider. The under 16 group did seem to treat me more as an adult figure and it took them longer to become as comfortable expressing their views. These focus groups were conducted with an adult assistant monitor. When this assistant was unable to attend the second E.C.O.S. discussion, I noticed a distinct change in the atmosphere. It all of a sudden became more of a discussion among peers, rather than a discussion from a particular angle. For future research I would highly recommend having the moderator as close in age as possible to the students. Not only for the openness of the discussions, but also because the closer in age the researcher is to the participants the easier it is to relate to the experiences. Because I was only three or four years older than the students in the over 16 and E.C.O.S. it was much easier for me as a researcher to find out what the students thought, than it was for me to relate with the experiences of the younger group.

4.3 E.C.O.S. and Presentations by Environmental Studies Class I attended two sets of presentations made by the grade 12 Environmental Studies/Geography class. The first centred on ‘Green Communities’ where students working in groups, were to implement their views through designing an environmentally sustainable neighbourhood in Peterborough (see appendix Ja). In total, 6 groups presented their designs. In terms of transportation, a variety of designs were proposed (see table 4.4). While it was stated in the instructions that the automobile must not be the primary means of transportation, many designs still had an auto-centric design with cars banned.

34

Table 4.4 Green Community Project- Various Characteristics

Group

Car-Promoting Design Characteristics

Sustainable Transportation Design Characteristics

1 • Longer walks to transit • No transit in city core • Traditional suburban design low density

• Car free city core • Public transit provided

2 • Radial design pattern • Traditional suburban design low density

• Bike paths; Yellow Bike program • Car taxes lower for hybrid cars • Services at city centre

3 • Post-war commercial shopping centre design • 1.5 km to bus

• No gas powered cars only Hydrogen fuel cells • Mixed housing styles higher density • Public transit & biking

4 • Only one commercial area for Large population • Traditional housing design

• Car-free buses and bikes only • Yellow-bike program

5 • Transit only once per hour • Consumerism focus

• 2/3 reserved for greenspace • Mixed housing higher density • Connected to Rotary Trail

6 • Community placement on greenspace in urban fringe of larger centre

• Car free underground parking • Bus routes

Table 4.5 Parkway Proposal Assignment

Group

Alternative Designs Justifications

A

No

• Do not build Parkway promote alternative transit • Assess existing roads to create arterial road • Leave parkway as greenspace

• It will cause further congestion • It will save Peterborough $ • Greenspace cleans air

B

Yes

• Build Parkway but on alternative route • Intricate plan of streetlights • Widen Clonsilla with bike lanes

• Need for efficiency • Less stop-and-go saves $ • Altered plan preserves Jackson’s Park

C Yes • Build Parkway on alternative route • Must avoid destruction of Jackson’s Park

• Needed for Peterborough’s continued expansion

D

Yes

• Build Parkway on alternative route • Expansion of existing roads • Greenspace not to be destroyed

• Needed due to growth of North end • Further growth

E

Yes

• No changes to original route • To make PTB more compatible with larger stores • Avoid downtown traffic • Allows PTB to be “a city of development”

F

Yes

• Build Parkway on alternative route • Must avoid destruction of Jackson’s Park

• More cost-efficient than building through Jackson’s Park • Greenspace “indication of the quality of the area”

The second set of group presentations was made on the proposal for The Parkway extension in the City of Peterborough. The groups’ task was to environmentally assess the current parkway proposal and develop their versions of a better design or alternative plan (see appendix Jb). All groups but one favoured road development. Of those that favoured the Parkway development, it was generally justified through economic development and continued city expansion (see table 4.5). Excluding one, all groups were against destruction of Jackson’s Park and favoured increased greenspace.

35

I attended the weekly meetings of the E.C.O.S. club each Thursday beginning in November. Despite much enthusiasm for environmental change, organization and coordination for the entire group to meet each week presented problems. In most weeks only a few members of E.C.O.S. could make the meeting. For this reason it was not until December that a concrete action plan for the second semester was established. This action plan outlined monthly themes of environmental issues the group felt was important to address. E.C.O.S. was keen on a transportation theme, as awareness activities on it had been done in previous years.Ideas and creativity for projects were widespread and numerous. Often times, possible projects of interest were fairly large in scope and rather ambitious considering the limited time and manpower available. While it was amazing to see such eagerness, the project ideas were frequently too big to get off the ground, which provided a means of discouragement for future student-led initiatives. I noticed a distinct change in the group excitement levels when they began constructing their ‘Awareness Board’, which displayed the theme of the month. Similarly, with the huge success of their ‘Battery Recycling Challenge’, I noticed a distinct change in their faith that ‘change’ could be made. With respect to transportation, E.C.O.S. used the results of this study’s survey-questionnaire for their awareness board- Fact versus fiction. 5.0 Discussion

Recall the objectives of the study were to assess attitudes, values and behaviours by age, environmental awareness and to assess the barriers to increasing sustainable transit use. This study poses some interesting findings in similarity and contrast to previous work in respective fields of geography and environmental studies. On the whole students at PCVS recognise the impacts of vehicular use on air quality and the environment. Students had a high degree of concern for their and their families’ personal health. While environmental awareness did not seem to influence behaviour as much as expected, it influenced attitudes in certain areas. Regarding barriers to increasing sustainable transit use, students identified some major factors. Their responses to these barriers indicate not only that students have trouble focusing the issue on the individual level, but also that they do not feel empowered to create change.

Looking at the differences between age groups, it is clear that age has a high degree of influence on attitudes and values. The older students, who presumably drive more, noticeably felt that driving was more convenient. This could be attributed the fact that they had become accustomed to a change in lifestyle that had become more reliant on the automobile as a primary means of transit. This fact is evident when top modal choice is assessed by age with 45% of older students using the car as their primary means of transit to school compared to only 30% for students under the age of 16. This idea was also presented in the group discussions where students noted that if one has access to a car, one will use it. The increase in car-use after the age of 16 as well as a shift in attitudes towards a less environmentally-sustainable values implies students quite quickly become accustomed to

36

car-dependent lifestyles and at this young age begin to further the car-centric culture of North American society. These students had a good working knowledge of the environmental impacts of vehicle use and felt that there was a great need for change, yet still showed a shift in attitudes. This finding is worrying for environmentalists and health activists alike as these students are not entering into this pattern of behaviour and lifestyle in ignorance. They know the facts. They understand the effects. They feel society must change. What pushes them to act in an opposite direction from this?

Age also played an interesting role in the ‘want’ of a license. Of students who did not have their license, 92.5% of the under 16 group planned to obtain it compared to only 79.1% of students over 16. Although both age categories had heavy emphasis on the monetary costs of the car in the group discussions, questionnaire results indicate that older students more fully understood monetary costs. In addition, as was shown in the 16 & older focus group, students without their license often have friends to rely upon and this presumably would influence the immediate ‘need’ for a license and ‘freedom’. In terms of perceived use of the city, a divergence in opinions occurs by age. Younger students enthusiastically felt that having a license would ‘open-up’ the city for them, while older students did not see the car as drastically changing the way they use the urban environment. Although this was the older students’ stated opinion, I would be inclined to conclude that they do not consciously recognise the full extent of importance that having their license, or friends who drive, extended their use of the city. Their circles of friends changed, more athletic venues could be accessed, and they gained more parental independence. Their change in spatial use seemed to be almost taken for granted as students became accustomed to a car-dependent lifestyle.

Furthermore, discrepancies in values between age groups point to the problem in enacting change of a global problem within the local context. With age and increased access to the car came a change in values with regard to sources of air pollution. In the older age group there are some interesting contradictions. 18.6% of older students felt Peterborough should be more concerned about air pollution than Toronto compared to only 1.9% of under 16 students. When students were asked to rate the top sources of air pollution, older students tended to rate vehicular emissions much lower than the younger students did. Looking at previous research done with respect to the psycho-spatial nature of global environmental problems, this study shows it is clear that age plays an important role in the development of these attitudes. The younger students tended to be much more optimistic about the local situation as compared to the global outlook while the older students recognized the potential harm in the local context. The younger students, who were more enthusiastic for change in behaviours, did not feel the impetus to push for that change, as the local threat did not seem as immediate. While the older students, who more accurately assessed the local nature of the problem, did not feel that the drastic change, they thought was needed, could happen.

The younger students delightfully had a very positive view of the City of Peterborough’s environmental initiatives in all areas of the environment. The under 16 students in the group discussion, while quite clear about the

37

potential for negative impacts, were rather optimistic that ‘we’ as a community can change for the better. It follows that promoting environmentally sustainable transportation at PCVS requires initiatives that capture this optimism and carry it through to their senior years at PCVS. However, as a senior student member of student council kindly pointed out to me, older students can be “pessimistic about a whole lot in their lives” right now. While this may be the case, studies have shown that youth participation with the ability to influence their surroundings is beneficial in terms of not only environmental competence, but also in learning, self-confidence, and leadership skills (Sutton & Kemp 2002; Francis & Lorenzo 2002). Co-operative initiatives between the students and the school and city in transportation choices could be one method for students to realise and develop these skills. Programs targeting youth before they become accustomed to a car-dependent pattern of behaviour is thus essential to create a long-term change in choices in transportation in the community.

When comparing the discussions with E.C.O.S. to the other groups, it would initially appear that their advanced environmental knowledge influenced their choice in transportation. While this may play a role in their decision to choose sustainable transportation, I would conclude that it was not the main reason their choices were maintained in the long-term. It seemed as though the choices they made in transportation became an accustomed way-of-life, parallel to that of the older students who became accustomed to using the car. E.C.O.S. students recognised this lifestyle as being beneficial to other aspects of their life including health and ‘alone-time’. Many of these students also had an attachment to moral benefit in that if they walked four out of five days in the week, they felt ‘good’ about it. While their emotional attachment may have increased with knowledge, it was more likely their emotional attachment that led them to become informed to begin with. Many of these students became interested in environmental issues through family, friends and feelings of societal responsibility. These students although they had great interest in environmental betterment, faced many of the same barriers as students with a less avid interest.

While students had a fairly good knowledge of the impacts of vehicle use, the connection between land use and transportation choice (with E.C.O.S. being the exception) was not adequately made. Students seemed to equate economic growth with box-stores and road use. Even within the presentations of the environmental studies class, there were undertones that a choice for more environmentally sustainable transportation would come at the expense of economic growth. Although out of the scope of this study, and while it is not likely to influence students’ immediate choices in transportation, it is something to keep in mind for future research. It will most certainly influence their future decisions, for example, where to live which in turn, influences future transportation choices.

One of the fundamental goals of this project was, from youth experience, identify what barriers are in place reducing the opportunities for increased sustainable transportation use and how youth think these barriers can be over come (see appendix A). Many of these barriers are relatively simple things to address such as the weight of backpacks or the threat of theft of bicycles. But there were other issues such as bicycle safety on the streets that may require more long-term planning and programmes. Students simply stated do not feel safe on many roads, thus

38

lengthening routes in avoidance of certain roads. This issue needs to be addressed by the city. Is it a perceived fear or is it legitimate? Before encouraging youth to bike more, we must ensure their safety, and this question must be answered.

Students recognised the benefits of bike trails but note that these need to be not only for recreation but also for communing purposes. They expressed an avid interest in the City of Peterborough creating more paths and bike lanes free of parked cars. Students also note that using sustainable transit options such as a bike or rollerblades can be more costly than using a car (if they are only paying for gas). One suggestion was group discounts with downtown businesses, in replacing rollerblade bearings for example. Furthermore, as many other people have observed before this study, Peterborough transit must be improved in terms of punctuality, reliability and route length. Until such time it will remain the last resort of youth. Group discussions also identified that some youth are unaware of how Peterborough transit works/routes. Because it was identified by only a couple of students in the discussions, it is unknown whether this is representative of the entire student population. It may be beneficial to assess the extent of this situation within the student population and if it proves to be a significant problem, offer awareness or educational campaigns.

Personal health and fitness was an important issue to PCVS’ youth therefore combining this value with school curriculum would address their needs while at the same time promoting environmentally sustainable lifestyle choices. Some suggestions for this included obtaining a school set of bicycles that could be fixed by the mechanics class, used for bike field trips to nature areas for biology or photography class, or by the outdoor education class. One thing that was clear from my research was that youth will most likely not create these opportunities for themselves, although they identify, recognise the need for change and want to change the increasing amount of vehicle use. Even when ambitious students such as E.C.O.S. attempt to influence change, lack of community support discourages them. Change in transportation behaviour among youth must be approached through an emphasis on making sustainable transportation look ‘good’ rather than cars look ‘bad’ because as some students considerately pointed out to me, “No one likes to be told what to do.” The community in general must create more opportunity for youth involvement, letting them have a say in decisions that do affect their futures. Youth have shown what is important to them and their futures, but they cannot do it alone. 6.0 Conclusion This study of youth attitudes, values and behaviours at PCVS high school has served as the roots for further research combining research in the geography of children and youth and environmental attitudes. Youth and teenagers are all too often overlooked within city and transportation planning research. This case study points to some interesting directions for future research. Study of youth behaviour was relatively limited in this study and empirical studies outlining youth mode of transit behaviour with statistical analysis would further progress creation of

39

an urban environment that includes the needs of youth. The differences in attitudes between various zones of this study suggest that attitudes and values vary with respect to distance from the school. Further studies of rural, suburban school as well as the differences between small city schools and larger city centres such as Toronto, would provide further insight into how these attitudes are shaped across space and by space.

The needs of youth vary a great deal from that of children and of adults. Their use of geographic space tends to increase as they age and friends, schools, and hangouts tend to be located further from the home than was the case at elementary school. Students at PCVS clearly have a good working knowledge of the environmental impacts of vehicle use. While the older students tended to have a more accurate picture of the impacts, the younger group tended to have a more optimistic view that change in behaviour was possible. It would seem that the more accurate environmental knowledge of the older students came with a greater understanding of the psycho—spatial dimension of global environmental problems such as air quality, and thus a feeling that less could be done to combat the issue. Although previous research suggests that with increased environmental knowledge comes an increase in pro-environmental behaviour, this study demonstrates this is not always the case. Students, in particular the older students, felt that there was a need for change in the amount of vehicle use. However, my findings also suggest that students do not feel empowered to stimulate change with students suggesting societal pressure to facilitate further automobile use is great. Similarly, the presentations made by the geography class show that students, even after formal education on the issue, still have difficulties connecting some major fundamental components that promote the car- the connections between land-use and transportation for example. I would conclude that environmental knowledge plays a relatively small factor in the choice of modal transit at PCVS. This behaviour is more likely to be influenced by barriers imposed by city design and societal attitudes in general. In terms of combating barriers to increased sustainable transportation use, students had trouble focusing the issue to a manageable level. They had trouble coming up with student-led solutions as they often tried to solve the problem wholly instead at the micro-level of the PCVS community. Youth at PCVS place great emphasis on health impacts and monetary costs of vehicle use. The environmental context has not proven to be a great motivator for increasing sustainable transportation use. Moreover, the initiatives must come from youth with support from adults rather than being led by adults. Teenagers in particular do not like to be told what to do and promoting sustainable transportation at the high school level must come from youth empowerment and confidence in the ability to change their own futures. All things considered, youth at PCVS understand the issues and genuinely believe change is necessary for the human and environmental health in the future. The adult community must take measures to ensure youth can be empowered to choose the path for the quality of environment they wish to see for their future.

40

7.0 References

Active and Safe Routes to School Website (ASRTS), last updated Jan. 2001. http://www.goforgreen.ca/asrts/home_e.html Bennett, Scott (1997). “Canadian Opinions on Environmental Policy: Patterns and Determinants” in Shades of

Green: Environmental Attitudes in Canada and Around the World. (Carleton University Press: Canada). Pg. 19-54.

Berleant, Arnold (1992). The Aesthetics of the Environment. (Temple University Press: Philadelphia). Black, Colin; Collins, Alan; Snell, Martin (2001). “Encouraging Walking: The Case of Journey-to-school Trips in

Compact Urban Areas” in Urban Studies, Vol. 38(7): pg. 1121-1141. Bogner, Franz; Wiseman, Michael (1997). “Environmental Perception of Rural and Urban Pupils” in Journal of

Environmental Psychology, Vol. 17: pg. 111-122. Bowles, G.; Klein, R. Ed. (1983). Theories of Women’s Studies. Pp. 88-162. (Routledge: Boston). Boyes, Edward; Stainsstreet, Martin (1998). “Children’s Ideas About Cars and Health: and environmental motivator?”

in Transportation Research Vol. 3(2): pg. 105-115. Breibart, Myrna M. (1998). “Dana’s Mystical Tunnel: Young People’s Designs for Survival and Change in the City” in

Cool Places: Geographies of Youth Cultures. (Routledge: NY). Pg. 305-327. Bunge, W; Bordessa, R. (1975). The Canadian Alternative: survival, expeditions and urban change. (Dept. of

Geography, U of T: Toronto). Cameron, Jenny. (2000). “Focussing on the Focus Group” in Iain Hay ed. Qualitative Research Methods in Human

Geography. (Oxford University Press: South Melbourne, Victoria). City of Peterborough Planning and Development Services. (2002). Map: The City of Peterborough 1: 16000. City of Peterborough Planning and Development Services. (2002). Map: The City of Peterborough Residential

Density. Crang, Mike (1998). Cultural Geography. (Routledge: NY). Evernden, Neil (1985). The Natural Alien: Humankind and Environment. (U of T Press: Toronto). Fielding, Shaun (2000) “Walk on the left!: Children’s geographies and the primary school” in Children’s Geographies:

Playing, Living, Learning. (Routledge: NY). Pg. 230-244. Flink, James 1988. The Automobile Age. (MIT Press: Mass.) Flowerdew, Robin; Martin, David (ed.). (1997) Methods in Human Geography. (Longman Press: UK).

41

Francis, Mark; Lorenzo, Ray (2002). “ Seven Realms of Children’s Participation” in The Journal of Environmental Psychology, Vol. 22: pg. 157-169.

Frizzel, Alan 1997. “Environmental Attitudes Around the World” in Shades of Green: Environmental Attitudes in

Canada and Around the World. (Carleton University Press: Canada). Pg. 1-18. Holloway, Sarah; Valentine, Gill (2000). “Children’s Geographies and the new Social Studies of Childhood” in

Children’s Geographies: Playing, Living, Learning. (Routledge: NY). Pg. 1-28. Hough, Michael (1990). Out of Place: Restoring Identity to the Regional Landscape. (Yale University Press: New

Haven). Johnston, R.J. et al ED. (2000). The Dictionary of Human Geography 4th Ed. (Blackwell Publishers: USA). Jones, Owain (2000). “Melting Geography: purity, disorder, childhood and space” in Children’s Geographies:

Playing, Living, Learning. (Routledge: NY). Pg. 29-47. Katz, Cindi (1998). “Disintegrating Developments: Economic Restructuring and the Eroding of Ecologies of Youth” in

Cool Places: Geographies of Youth Cultures. (Routledge: NY). Pg. 130-144. Kong, Lily (2000). “Nature’s dangers, nature’s pleasures: urban children and the natural world” in Children’s

Geographies: Playing, Living, Learning. (Routledge: NY). Pg. 257-271. Krueger, Richard; King, Jean. (1998). Focus Group Kit. (Sage Publications: CA). Krueger, Richard. (1994). Focus Groups: a practical guide for applied research. (Sage Publications: CA). Learning for A Sustainable Future (LSF). “Sustainable Transportation: Reflections on the movement of people and

freight, with special attention to the role of the private automobile.” 1997 www.schoolnet.ca/vp/learning Linden, Anna-Lisa 1998. “Values of Nature in Everyday Life: Words versus Action in Ecological Behaviour” in

Sustainability The Challenge: People, Power and the Environment. (Black Rose Books: Montreal) Pg. 34-41. Massey, Doreen (1998). “The Spatial Construction of Youth Cultures” in Cool Places: Geographies of Youth

Cultures. (Routledge: NY). Pg. 121-129. Matthews, Hugh: Limb, Melanie; Taylor, Mark (2000) “ The Street as Thirdspace” in Children’s Geographies: Playing,

Living, Learning. (Routledge: NY). Pg. 63-79. Miller, Eric J. (2000) “Transportation and Communication” Canadian Cities in Transition. (Oxford University Press:

Ontario) pp 173-198. Newman, Peter; Kenworthy, Jeff (1999). Sustainability and Cities: Overcoming Automobile Dependence. (Island

Press: Washington DC). Pain, Rachael (2001). “Age, generation, and lifecourse” in Introducing Social Geographies. (Arnold Oxford Press:

NY). Pg. 141-163.

42

Raad, Tamin; Kenworthy, Jeff. (1998) “The Us and Us” in Alternatives Journal Vol. 24(1): pp 14-22. Rissotto, Antonella; Tonucci, Francesco (2002). “Freedom of Movement and Environmental Knowledge In

Elementary School Children” in Journal of Environmental Psychology, Vol. 22: pg. 65-77. Shilts, Elizabeth. “Get out of That Car: Municipal governments find ways to improve public transit use” in Forum

Jan/Feb. 2002: pp 14-19. Sibley, David (1995). Geographies of Exclusion. (Routledge: NY) Smith, Tom W. (1997). “Global Environmental and Scientific Knowledge” in Shades of Green: Environmental

Attitudes in Canada and Around the World. (Carleton University Press: Canada). Pg. 105-127.] Sutton, Sharon E.; Kemp, Susan P. (2002). “Children as Partners in Neighborhood Placemaking: Lessons from

intergenerational design charrettes” in Journal of Environmental Psychology, Vol. 22: pg. 171-189. Tuan, Yi-Fu (1974). Topophilia; A Study of Environmental Perception, Attitudes and Values. (Prentice-Hall: N.J.). Uzzell, David (2000). “The Psycho-Spatial Dimension of Global Environmental Problems” in Journal of

Environmental Psychology, Vol. 20: pg. 307-318. Valentine, Gill; Skelton, Tracey; Chambers, Deborah (1998). “Cool Places: an introduction to youth and youth

cultures” in Cool Places: Geographies of Youth Cultures. (Routledge: NY). Pg. 1-32. Yeates, Maurice. “Intra- and Interurban Transportation” The North American City. Longman, Ontario 1998: pp 445-

476.

43

44

Appendices Appendix A: PCVS Facts and Recommendations Facts: • Students have a good working knowledge of the environmental and health effects of vehicle use • Students do not generally change their behaviour in response to improving the quality of the environment • Students feel something needs to be done about excess vehicle use for their future quality of life • Students want to stay active • Biking is an extremely popular activity students would love more opportunity to participate in it • The optimism and responsiveness to change held by younger students must be carried through to the older

grades as they get older there tends to be a change in attitudes towards following ‘the flow of the community/society’ and feeling more helpless that things will change for the better

• Students will not force their wants on the community tend to follow established patterns of behaviour in terms of transit

The Community & the City of Peterborough: • Find ways of incorporating youth needs in transportation and land use planning • Improve bike safety and comfort on streets via infrastructure

• Need for better motorist awareness that bicycles are vehicles too • More bike paths and bike lanes for both recreational and commuting needs

• On quieter sidewalks lighten up enforcement of ‘no biking/skateboarding/rollerblading’ • Students don’t always feel safe on streets!

• Improve City Transit especially in terms of punctuality, reliability, and route length • Adding buses at peak times that could get students on time for school not ½ hour early or late

• Working together… • Peterborough Police Department & Stolen Bicycles ‘bike maintenance’ workshops held, providing student

skills and encouraging an interest in and capability of bicycle use7 • Group discounts at participating downtown stores for bicycle and rollerblade maintenance

PCVS & Kawartha Pine Ridge District School Board: • Assess rural bus routes students currently having to look after younger/special needs students • Ensure bicycle safety from theft, provide rollarblade storage • Address the weight of textbooks & backpacks….

• Students complain of too much to carry (also important for healthy spine development) • More textbooks on CD-ROM; teacher lenience with sharing textbooks in class • Subsidising/school set of bike-carrier bags for student use

• Combine classroom activities with healthy lifestyle activities • Ex. Photography/Art/Biology classes biking to Jackson’s Park for educational activities • Car-mechanics class learning the mechanics of the bicycle • Acquiring a school-set of bicycles (from police auction) for this purpose

• School spirit rocks! Students love to get involved in anything that inspires school spirit • ‘Walk to School Day’ Event created for high school level participants

• Allow class time to begin slightly later for one day; bussed students dropped off further away to walk • Make an event/day out of it

curriculum links leading up to event on personal health, environmental health • Teacher leadership shown by reducing personal car use teachers setting an example • Help to organise a carpool group for interested students 7 A program has already been implemented at Norwood District High School by Brain MacDonald and may be able to provide guidance to establish a similar program at PCVS.

45

46

Appendix B: PCVS Gr. 12 Geography Survey

Dear student body, By filling out this survey you will help us to understand the transportation needs, attitudes and values at P.C.V.S. Thank you,

Mr. Roddie’s Grade 12 Geography class 1. How old are you? 2. What grade are you in? 3. Gender M [ ] F [ ] 4. What area do you live in? (See map!) 5. What are your top three most frequent modes of transportation to school? Choose only three and rank from 1 to 3 in

order of frequency, with one being the most frequent. If you only take one mode, rank only one.Walking Biking Skateboarding School Bus

Peterborough Transit __ Car __ Carpool __ Other __

6. How much does the weather affect your choice in transportation? Circle only one.

1= Almost always affects your choice 7= Never affects your choice

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 7. In what season do you drive or get a ride in a car to school the most?

Fall [ ] Winter [ ] Spring [ ] Summer [ ] None [ ] 8. When you drive or get a ride from your parents, what is the car’s:

Year? Model? Don’t know_________ 9. When you drive/get a ride to school what is the primary reason?

[ ] Early morning activity (ex. Band) [ ] Convenience [ ] Running late [ ] Like to travel with friends

[ ] Parents are driving my way anyway [ ] Weather [ ] Not applicable [ ] Other

10. Do you have your license? Yes [ ] No [ ]

If not, do you plan on getting your license within 2 years of turning 16? Yes [ ] No [ ] Undecided [ ]

11. Please rate the importance of each of the following situations to you. Circle one number for each statement.

1= extremely important 2= important 3= slightly important 4= not important 5= completely unimportant Having a driver’s license. 1 2 3 4 5

Owning your own car one-day. 1 2 3 4 5

Using a fuel-efficient car. 1 2 3 4 5

Being physically active. 1 2 3 4 5

Being environmentally conscious. 1 2 3 4 5

I would like the independence and 1 2 3 4 5 freedom that driving a car may give me.

47

12. On the scales below, with the middle being neutral, please check off how you feel about the following modes of transportation.

Biking Walking Safe Unsafe Safe Unsafe

A hassle Convenient A hassle Convenient Reliable Unreliable Reliable Unreliable

Time-consuming

Quick and easy Time-consuming

Quick and easy

Cool Uncool Cool Uncool Hard on the

environment than a car

Easier on the environment than a car

Hard on the environment

than a car

Easier on the environment than a car

Busing Carpooling

Safe Unsafe Safe Unsafe A hassle Convenient A hassle Convenient Reliable Unreliable Reliable Unreliable

Time-consuming

Quick and easy Time-consuming

Quick and easy

Cool Uncool Cool Uncool Hard on the

environment than a car

Easier on the environment than a car

Hard on the environment

than a car

Easier on the environment than a car

13. How much more expensive do you feel owning your own car is compared to other forms of transportation? Check

one.

Much more expensive A little more expensive Around the same price

Less expensive Much less expensive

14. In your opinion, what are the largest sources of air pollution? Choose only three and rank from 1 to 3 in order of

severity.

Industrial emissions Ozone depletion Vehicle emissions Personal home and electricity use

Natural (for example, volcanoes, dust storms) Poor agricultural practices Power plant

15. Compared to Toronto, should Peterborough be:

More concerned about air pollution [ ] Less concerned [ ] Equally concerned [ ] 16. If you don’t already bike, walk, skateboard, rollerblade, or use the bus on a regular basis to get to school, what would

persuade you to? Check all that apply.

More bike and walking paths Living closer to my destination Better weather If my friends did it with me

Fees for parking at school Other________________ Nothing would Not applicable

48

MAP IN HERE!!!

49

50

Appendix C: Introduction of Research Letter to Parents

TRENT UNIVERSITY

Peterborough, Ontario, Canada.K9J 788 Department of Geography

Tel: (705)748-1011 x 1440, Fax: (705)748-1205, e-mail: GEOGRAPHY@TRENTU.CA

Parents of PCVS Students, My name is Lyndsey Corrigan and I am currently an Environmental Studies-Geography student at Trent University. As part of my fourth year geography research class, I am working with Peterborough Green-Up and PCVS to look at youth attitudes towards sustainable transportation and the private vehicle. As part of this research, I will be conducting focus groups. These groups are conversational discussions to try to understand how youth feel and perceive the issues in their own words. These discussions will be attended by other PCVS students in their age category. They will be conducted on school grounds during lunch with pizza and snacks being served. The discussions will span two lunch periods during the week of Feb. 17-21. No class time will be missed and there is no risk involved with participating. These discussions will be tape recorded only for my own reference purposes. I will be the only person to hear the tapes and the only one reading the transcripts. All tapes and transcripts will be kept in a secure place until the completion of my research after which time they will be destroyed. All names will be changed in the final report to ensure your child’s confidentiality. This project is strictly on a volunteer basis and is purely an academic research project. At anytime your child feels uncomfortable participating, he or she is free to withdraw at anytime during the discussions. A final copy of the report will be given to PCVS, Peterborough Green-Up and Trent University. If you would like to read the research a copy will be made available at both PCVS and Peterborough Green-Up, or you can feel free to contact me directly. Your son/daughter has expressed an interest in participating in one of the focus groups I am conducting. If you agree to allow you child participate in these group discussions please sign the attached parental consent form and have your child return it to Mr. Roddie by Feb. 14, 2003. If you have any questions feel free to contact myself, Mr. Roddie, or chair of the Trent University Geography Department Ethics Committee, Dr. A. Brunger. Sincerely, Lyndsey Corrigan lcorriga@trentu.ca

51

Appendix D: Consent Form

Consent Form

I agree to have my child participate in the group discussions led by Lyndsey Corrigan for the purpose of her research for Geography 470. I understand that the research topic is Youth attitudes and values towards sustainable transportation at PCVS. I am satisfied that I understand, having received the information from the researcher, the nature of the project and the role my child will play. I understand that the role my child will play is to participate in a group discussion over two lunch periods. I understand that my child may discontinue participation on the discussions at any time and the information gathered will not be used. I understand that the information will be kept confidential and that my child’s name and that of other people will not be mentioned. I understand that my child or I may receive a copy of the completed paper upon request. I understand that this project has been reviewed and approved through the ethics review process at Trent University and that I may contact the Chair, Dr. Alan Brunger if I have any questions or concerns. Date: Child’s name: Parent/Guardian name: Parent/Guardian signature: Please have your child return this form to Mr. Roddie by Feb. 14, 2003.

52

Appendix E: Focus Group Questions Focus Group Sessions: The sessions are to held over the week of Feb. 17-21. They will be held on school grounds under the supervision of Mr. Bob Roddie, PCVS teacher during lunch hour, 11:30 am – 12:25 PM. Each group will meet twice over two days. Three focus groups will be conducted: under 16, 16 and older, and with the Ecos-club. The Ecos-club focus group will be held during their regularly scheduled meeting times. Core Questions/Themes: Day 1: Looking at attitudes and values towards the car and other modes of transit. • Introduce myself and what these focus groups are about. Get everyone to introduce themselves and allow for

everyone to get the food provided. 5 min. (11:35-11:40)

Introductory Activity/Ice-breaker • Have a group brainstorming on the images that come to mind surrounding the automobile. Write down on board.

Short discussion about what’s there and what may be missing. 5 min. (11:40-11:45)

• Think back to when you first got your license. Did you notice anything different?

(Under 16’s: Do any of you have plans to get your license one day? What makes you want to get it? Do you think your life will change at all?)

Listen for: - feeling older/cool - going more places - freedom/independence Probe if necessary.

10 min. (11:45-11:55) • If in previous question it does change their lives/or they see a perceived change in the future probe them to find

out how they feel about those changes. Negative? Positive? What further changes would they make? Ask them how they think car use affects the community as a whole. Listen for negative impacts in terms of health

and environment. Ask the in what ways do they think that some of these issues could be mitigated. Listen for things surround sustainable transportation options. 10 min. (11:55-12:05)

Transition to sustainable transportation

• Have a second group brainstorming session on other transit options other than the car. If mainly negatives themes emerge probe for benefits to community/ health/ environment. If mainly positive themes emerge probe for negative aspects that make it hard to use. 5 min. (12:05-12:10)

• What do you like/dislike about these options? What specifically makes it enjoyable/unpleasant?

7 min. (12:10-12:17) • How do feel about the amount of cars driving to PCVS?

3 min. (12:17-12:20)

53

• I give a quick summary. Ask if I missed anything important. Remind everyone I need them to return tomorrow,

lunch provided again. (12:20)

Day 2: Looking at idea of barriers and how to overcome them. • Quick recap of ideas from yesterday. Time to get lunch provided.

5 min. (11:35-11:40)

• “Think back to the brainstorm we did on sustainable transportation options. What are some of the things you think the school/city could do to make it easier for you to use these other forms of transit?” 5 min. (11:40-11:45)

• “Do you think that these initiatives would work for all of the students if they could be put in place?”

If negative- ask what it is about the initiatives that makes it hard to get students to change behaviours. 5 min. (11:45-11:50)

Student Driven Initiatives that they feel would get youth attention. • Split the group into two groups (4-5 per group). Ask them what they know about campaigns. Get them to design

a campaign for PCVS about how they think students could encourage students at their school would be encouraged to use the car less often. Have each group explain their campaign and why they think it would work for people their age. 25 min. (11:50-11:15)

• Allow the students to summarize what the main points/themes that they feel were important are. Ask them if they

felt if there was anything missing from the discussion. 5 min. (11:15-11:20)

• Thank everyone for their participation. Remind them that they can see/have a copy of the final report upon request and to contact me if they have any questions. 2 min.

54

Appendix F: Map of PCVS Catchment Area

PCVS Catchment Area Boundary

55

56

Appendix G: Top Three Modal Choices to School # of Students % of Students in age category % of total student population who use mode as first choice

Walk Bike Bus Transit Car Carpool Other Under 16

1

15 32%

0

0%

16

34%

1

2%

14

30%

1

2%

0

2 9 2 2 0 20 3 0 3 4 4 0 3 3 2 3

16 & Older 1

22

25%

1

1%

19

21%

2

2%

40

45%

5

5.6%

0

2 14

4 7 6 33 7 2

3 9 5 3 10 7 12 5 29% 0.8% 28% 2.4% 43% 4.8% 5%

16 & Up First Choice in Mode of Transit to School

Walk25%

Bike1%

Bus21%Transit

2%

Car45%

Carpool6%

Under 16 First Choice in Mode of Transit to School

Walk32%

Bike0%Bus

34%

Transit2%

Car30%

Carpool2%

57

Appendix H: Top 3 Sources of Air Pollution by Age

Rank # Students Industrial

Ozone

Vehicle

Personal

Natural

Poor Agricultural

Practices

Power Plant

Under 16 1 2 3

15 17 9

3 8 1

21 17 11

0 1

13

0 1 1

0 1 3

11 5 12

16 & Older 1 2 3

30 33 20

6 8 9

42 31 12

2 3

19

2 2 2

0 12 25

10 12 25

Appendix I: Attitudes towards Various Modes of Sustainable Transportation by Age % of Students Under 16 % of Students 16 & Older

Safe Under 16 16 & Older

54 70

42 18

4 13

Unsafe

Hassle

20 35

34 32

46 33

Convenient

Time-Consuming

28 43

30 32

42 26

Quick & Easy

BIKING Cool

24 33

60 49

16 18

Uncool

Safe

76 72

20 26

4 2

Unsafe

Hassle

42 51

28 32

30 17

Convenient

Time-Consuming

72 74

24 22

4 4

Quick & Easy

WALKING

Cool

32 31

64 57

4 9

Uncool

Hassle

30 59

36 15

36 27

Convenient

Reliable

32 36

36 31

30 33

Unreliable

Time-Consuming

28 40

42 30

30 25

Quick & Easy

BUSING Cool

14 19

58 43

28 38

Uncool

Safe

52 65

42 32

6 3

Unsafe

Hassle

20 18

46 30

32 51

Convenient

Reliable

32 47

52 41

12 11

Unreliable

CARPOOL

Cool

38 44

58 51

14 4

Uncool

58

Appendix Ja: Green Community Project GREEN COMMUNITY PROJECT Goal: Your urban planning team (maximum of 4 people) is to design an environmentally friendly neighbourhood. The neighbourhood is to house between 200-500 dwellings (1000-1500 new residents). The area is to be located in the Peterborough County; the City of Peterborough will be the magnet city and home to most jobs. In your design you will create the new area, and determine where the new area will be located. The existing streets and infrastructure of Peterborough are as we have them today.

Your team is to consider the following aspects:

a) Housing types and density b) Shopping/Recreational services in neighbourhood and the city, and how to access these services.

Think of who your target is to be here, and what services you need to provide. (e.g. young families/yuppies/etc)

c) Leave options open for further growth in the area d) Green space is an important aspect of the area, and the concept of multiple land use considered. e) The automobile is not to be the primary mode of transportation. Consideration of other modes of

transportation must be included in plan and site design. This needs to be included at all aspects of your plan from housing plans to road development to access to work in Peterborough.

f) Access to existing water resources, or find your own, but you need to build in green initiatives with respect to water conservation

g) Access the wastewater, existing services will not be provided in the new area, unless retrofitting existing services is used as an option.

h) Solid waste generation and collection, emergency access, etc. must be addressed. i) All green initiatives and limiting the use of the automobile will be paramount!

What does the team need to demonstrate to be assessed? 1. An overview map/model showing the neighbourhood and dimensions/scale. Large scale may be helpful

in your presentation. 2. Plan outlining the housing types/lots/space requirements/roads/etc 3. Develop a model home outlining key "green" features. 4. Explain how your neighbourhood is "GREEN" in all aspects. This will likely be in the form of a written

paper documenting details and how it will all work.

Present project to the planning department for a defense of ideas. (This is an oral presentation component).

59

Appendix Jb: Peterborough Parkway Environmental Assessment Task Peterborough Parkway Environmental Assessment Task

Due: December 17, 2003 Background: There are many issues facing development in Peterborough. One major issue is the decision around the final completion of the Parkway. There are polarised positions either for or against the plan. Your task is to provide a direction for city development that considers all stakeholders and addresses the needs of the city in terms of whether to implement the Parkway or pursue another alternative.

Here are some well known issues surrounding the Parkway; • The land has been set aside for the development of the Parkway for many years -Peterborough's North end is

growing, and the existing infrastructure was not designed for the existing roads. The development in the North was based on the decisions that there would be a major arterial road feeding the South end of the city (in particular Hwy. 115) in the form of the Parkway.

• Existing roads, such as Cumberland and Towerhill, were not designed to take up the now existing traffic for the area.

• Residents purchasing land knew of the plan, and did not expect their neighbourhood roads would have the traffic flow they now have, and as a result, they perceive that property values have been harmed by the non-development of the Parkway.

• Development has been stalled in the North end, even though it has been approved by the city, because now the city wants to ensure the correct roads can handle the new population in the area.

• The proposed Parkway land has been left to naturalise over the past 50 years, and as a result it has become a very nice green belt throughout the city .

• The Parkway plan is to cross over what is known as Jackson Park, in a similar manner as Parkhill crosses over Jackson's Creek, but further into the Park area.

• The concept of more roads equals more traffic which equals degraded air quality is an issue for some.

Your group's task: Develop a plan that will assess and address the perceived issues surrounding development of the Parkway. You must consider the stakeholders, the environment, and the implications of what you decide to develop. You will present your ideas in a form of a visual presentation--either a poster, web page, or some other visual manner that can be shown to the public. In your visual presentation must: A. Describe your Proposed Development of the Parkway, or your alternative plan.

B. Analyse and Display how your development will alleviate the problems that currently surround the Parkway issue.

C. Describe how your development will effect the surroundings, yet you need to also describe how these effects are actually minimal compared to the alternatives.

D. Includes alternative proposals that could be done, but explain why these alternatives are not viable due to impacts they create (optional).

As well, you need to include why this proposal will work in Peterborough and why the city council should endorse your plan.