Travel survey key findings

Background and objective: The survey has been created to answer an important question: How do the majority of the parents feel about accessing the school? Throughout the years the situation with the traffic has been raised by parents continuously on each and every parent representative meeting. For the five years our children have attended the school, the situation has only become more complicated and parents, who have been at the school longer attest that the issue predates this period. The aim of the survey is to confirm if there is indeed a problem accessing the school and if so provide enough information for an objective solution to the problem by analysing the available information and considering the suggestions provided by parents through out the survey.

Results and findings The survey provides number of interesting findings, particularly in the open-ended responses. We have summarised those as much as possible and the responses have been included in the overall analysis. The information here presents only a summary of the main findings. The full list of responses in included in the compressive PowerPoint report for reference.

Extremely high participation over 900 responses or 43% of the school population (household). This makes the results very relevant and representative as it would indicate that we have the opinion of every second household in the school

The survey respondents overwhelmingly indicated that there is a problem accessing the school grounds both at drop offs and during collection. Overall 75% report problems accessing the school. This includes all respondents, even those who don’t access the school at all (e.g. send kids via bus)

0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%

Collection from school

Walking/Cycling

Public Transport

School Bus (Parents view)

School Bus (Children view)

Car

Overall

Satisfaction with different modes of transport

1. no problem at all 2. mostly ok 3. moderate

4. some problems 5. very problematic

Main concern among respondents is safety of children - over 70% indicate this as an issue followed by lack of parking or safe areas to stop and unload children. This is also the most common recommendation to resolve the general issue.

Only 2% think there are no issues accessing the school which further confirms the conclusion that majority of parents see this as problematic.

Safety for children 73%

Lack of parking spaces 68%

Difficult to find where to safely stop and drop off children 63%

Behaviour of other drivers 48%

Difficult to drive around the school 46%

General traffic 45%

Safety for pedestrians 42%

Number of buses 27%

Pollution 23%

Safety for drivers 14%

Other (please specify) 12%

No concerns 2%

Additional concerns raised in the open ended question. Here is a summary of the most commonly expressed concerns.

- Kiss end go ineffective - Right turn on rue Hengen - High speed of buses/cars - Bikes or buss use impossible with CPE - Letting go of children on the road - Expensive parking at Cocque - Cyclists - Blocking of pavement/ crosswalks, cyclepaths for cyclist

Ranking of the solutions proposed

More areas to safely stop and unload passengers (e.g. longer Kiss and Go lanes) 78%

Extending gate openings times of the school (starting from 8am for example) 34%

Better and more public transport options 29%

Reduction of speed on streets around the school (e.g. Blvd K Adenauer) 26%

Shuttle buses from main EU buildings to the school (to take students from parents workplace to school)

26%

Fewer buses traffic around the school 24%

Better enforcement of existing rules (e.g. no parking on Kiss and Go or R Leon Hengen)

24%

Other (please specify) 20%

Use of Bike Train to school 11%

Use of car sharing 7%

There is no big problem with traffic at the moment 3%

There have been 180 responses to this question with additional suggestions for example - Safe crossing of the roads, - more parking,

- regulation of the traffic lights, - etc

Age is seen as a big issue in many of the responses. There is a clear difference by age of children being accompanied by parents to the school. Share of smaller children who travel alone to school is much lower at earlier age brackets and much higher than the overall population in older children. It seems that after 10 years of age or around the start of Secondary parents are more comfortable to send their kids on their own to school.

Very widely dispersed school population geographically. While 12 % percent are in Kirchberg, only 25% live in 2.5 km radius. 28% live in a distance of over 10 km. The wide

0%

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30%

40%

4 – 6 7 – 9 10 – 12 13 – 15 15 +

Age of Student Population Travel to School with or without Parents

NOT Accompanied Survey responses Actual Population

geographic spread additionally complicates access to the school as in many cases public transport is either not available or takes too long.

A big reason why parents drive their kids to school is that that majority work at this area.

There is almost complete overlap of the share of those going by car and those working in Kirchberg. This is also pointed out as one reason not to use public transport

Where do students come from

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30%

40%

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60%

0-4.9

5-9.9

10-1

4.9

15-1

9.9

20-24.9

25-31

Re

spo

nd

en

ts

Distance from school in km

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

Kirchberg Lux City exclKirchberg

Rest of thecountry

Outside of thecountry

Respondents by home location

Note: distance from school is calculated using the central coordinates of the commune via straight line to the school.

Walking or driving distance would be higher.

Do you accompany your children to school

After you leave your children at school

where do you travel to

Location in Kirchberg

Location in a different part ofLuxembourg city

Location further away

Similar proportion of parents who work in Kirchberg are also accompany their children to school. Very high proportion of parents report they choose car transport as they already travel to the area for work

Do you accompany your children to

school in the morning

Yes

No

Only the younger ones

Use of buses is high at almost 40% (combined all public & school transport) and compares very favourably with car transport at 47% considering age population and geographical spread.

The chart aggregates responses as indicated by individual child so takes into account different preferences in transport for older and younger students.

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50%

Other

Cycle

Lux school buses

Walk

Public transport with parents

Public transport alone

ATSEEE buses

Buses

By car

Students mode of transport

Deep dive into modes of transport

65 % of respondents arrive with car to school at least occasionally.

The main reasons for traveling with car are, while working in Kirchberg and combining transport are listed as the most common reason by those answering Others.

Public transport takes too long 48.1%

There is no direct connection via public transport 38.6%

Have 2 or more children to take to school 38.3%

Age of children make it difficult to use other transport 30.5%

Other (please specify) 29.0%

Have to travel to different location for work 23.7%

Don't feel safe using school buses (e.g. no supervision ) 8.8%

Cheaper compared to other options 6.3%

Over 70% of respondents indicate increase in time travelled if they were to travel with a bus instead of a car. For example, 73% of those who reported that car journey takes up to 15 minutes, would see their time increase if using public transport by at least 15 more minitures.

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30%

40%

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60%

70%

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100%

Up to 15 mins 15 - 30 mins 30 - 45 mins 45 - 60 mins 60 +

Change of travel time by time slot

decrease no change increase

Only 16% of respondents indicate use the school bus. Majority have not used it at all (we assume that those who did not answer also have not used the service). This includes ATSEEE operated and Luxembourg city bus lines.

This category reports one of the highest satisfaction rates.

We wanted to understand better the reasons why currently the use of school buses is

relatively low. Age and convenience are the main issues. This question was answered by those traveling with car to school.

0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%

responses

Use of school bus

Yes, most of the times Yes, occasionally

No, but we have tried this option No, never used it

No answer

0% 5% 10% 15% 20% 25% 30% 35%

Parents not allowed on the buses

No supervision on the bus

Cost of the service is too high

Time of the bus not convenient

There is no convenient connection

Child too small to use the service on…

Have you considered using the school buses?

Responses

The main reason why parents choose to use the school buses is a time conflict (ie parents teleworking, or working in a different part of the city), to make children independent, to avoid traffic around the schoo.

Finally, we also asked all respondents if children don't use the specifically the school buses the reasons for that. The chart includes the responses in others which are similar to the provided options. The responses which could not be grouped are included in others

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50%

I don't drive

It is cheaper than other options

No other suitable options to get toschool

It is faster than other options

Children prefer this mode of transport

Other (please specify)

Time conflict (e.g. parent needs to

drive to office early or in different…

Reasons to use the school/public buses

responses

0% 5% 10% 15% 20% 25% 30%

Parents work in Kirchberg

Age of children

Walk/cycle/public transport

Other

It is too expensive

I have concerns about safety (e.g.…

It takes too much time/ bus late

There is no suitable/convenient…

Reasons not to use school buses

reponses

33% report use of public transport (independently or with parents). The main reasons to use public transport are close proximity and when car is not available which were listed in Others

The main reasons not to use public transport is time it takes or suitable/convenient connection

Cycling / walking has the smallest share of use - 13% but the highest reported satisfaction. Main reason - close proximity to school which is also the main deterrent.

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50%

I don't drive

Faster compared to other methods

Can't use school buses

More convenient

Would like to avoid traffic around the

school

Other

Reasons to use the public transport

responses

0% 5% 10% 15% 20% 25% 30% 35% 40%

parents drive to work in kirchberg

age of children

It is more expensive

Access is difficult with small children(e.g. buggy access)

It is too crowded/not convenient

No direct line/ too many changes

There is no suitable/convenientconnection

It takes too long compared to othertransport

Reasons NOT to use public transport

reponses

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60%

I don't drive

Other (please specify)

It is faster than other options

I like the exercise

Avoid the traffic around the school

Live very close by

Reasons to cycle / walk to school

Getting home from school

Getting home from school is also very age dependent with smallest children being collected. Older children tend to go home alone, while younger children are collected

Collection seems to be more frustrating for parents compared to dropping off. (Note the survey focused only at collection from school, we did not look at the collection from garderie). Half of the respondents responded with Problematic or Very problematic , Only 11% don’t think there is any problem

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20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%

On most days

children go homeon their own (e.g.

school, public orcity designated

buses)

On most days I

collect them fromstudy centre/ after

school care

On most days I

collect them fromschool

Different ways

collecting childrendepending on the

day

How do children get home after school

4 – 6 7 – 9 10 – 12 13 – 15 15 +

During collection times a bigger proportion of parents struggle to find a suitable parking – reporting to park outside the parking areas

This summary presents only the main data points and key findings. The complete results which also contain the responses to the open ended questions, are available upon request from the office of the association. I would like to thank all who took the time to particulate in the survey as well as my colleagues at the at the association who helped in number of ways in making this survey possible. Daniel Latev Coordinator of the Travel and Access Working Group.

0%

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30%

Mate

rnelle

Kiss and go la

ne at…

P&R park

ing A

denauer

Parkin

g at Coque

Somewhere

else

Multi

ple lo

catio

ns…

Parking locations

Morning After school