FOTW #1092, July 29, 2019: More Than Half of All Children Typically Travel to School via Private Vehicle

According to the 2017 National Household Travel Survey 54.2% of children between the ages of 5 and 17 were driven to school in a private vehicle.

Vehicle Technologies Office

July 30, 2019
minute read time

Subscribe to Fact of the Week

According to the 2017 National Household Travel Survey (NHTS) over 50 million children between the ages of 5 and 17 traveled to school in 2017. More than half (54.2%) were driven to school in a private vehicle, while 33.2% typically traveled by school bus. The distance from home to school is a large factor in choosing mode of travel. More than 80% of children in homes less than 0.25 miles from school and more than half of those 0.25–0.5 miles from school typically walked, instead of being driven or riding a school bus.

Children's travel to school by mode and distance in 2017. Mode includes private vehicle, school bus, walk/bike, transit, and other. Distance ranges from less than .25 miles to over 2 miles.

Source: U.S. Department of Transportation, Federal Highway Administration, FHWA News Brief: Children’s Travel to School, March 2019.

Fact #1092 Dataset

Return to 2019 Fact of the Week