Safety Bus Routing for the Transportation of Pupils to School

Going to and from school is a daily transportation necessity for millions of children of age 6-16 within Europe. For example, in Sweden, 250,000 go to school daily, approximately 700,000 in Poland and about 450,000 in Austria [ANU 10]. This transportation is executed by various transport modes (car and bus primarily) and various actors (from the parents themselves to private companies). The likelihood of accidents is a significant issue in this kind of transportation. 

Chapter written by Eleni Chalkia, Josep Maria Salanova Grau, Evangelos Bekiaris, Georgia Ayfandopoulou, Chiara Ferarini and Evangelos Mitsakis. 

Traffic Safety, First Edition. Edited by Greorge Yannis and Simon Cohen. ISTE Ltd 2016. Published by ISTE Ltd and John Wley Sons, Inc. 

According to accident statistics, school bus travel is much safer than car travel to school. This is due to the strict policy applied to the professional transportation of pupils to school, from routing issues to behavioral issues within the bus. 

In recent decades, there has been a growing concern about the safety of children during their trip to school. The SAFEWAY2SCHOOL EU Project has developed methods and tools enhancing the safely of children who travel to and from school by bus. These methods and tools focus on bus transport, the consideration of door-to-door safety and the methods and tools which have been developed to provide support both in the planning and monitoring of school bus services. This chapter describes in particular the Safe Route Planning approach and the Safe Map . 

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