Urbani izziv, volume 28, no. 2, 2017
149
UDC: 911.3:331.556.2-057.87(497.4)
DOI: 10.5379/urbani-izziv-en-2017-28-02-006
Received: 16 June 2017
Accepted: 16 Oct. 2017
Aljaž PLEVNIK
Mojca BALANT
Luka MLADENOVIČ
Alarming changes in youth mobility:  
Primary school pupils in Novo Mesto
This article explores the travel habits of young people in 
Slovenia over the past thirty years and seeks to explain 
the reasons for a complete change in their travel patterns. 
It focuses on the travel habits of primary school pupils 
as a special group of traffic participants and urban space 
users. We compared data from 1991, 2001 and 2016 on 
primary school pupils’ travel habits, car ownership, school 
locations and catchment area sizes, along with traffic reg-
ulation around primary schools. Based on this, we estab-
lished that the patterns for Slovenia correspond to pat-
terns from abroad. The substantial changes in children’s 
travel patterns coincide with the intense motorisation of 
Slovenian towns, which has grown to proportions that 
even exceed those in many developed countries. This in-
crease in car ownership is reflected in growing car use. The 
activities currently carried out in schools regarding traffic 
management are not helping stop this trend. A change is 
required in the traffic safety paradigm. Consideration of 
children’s mobility must become part of comprehensive 
transport planning, which should be geared towards re-
ducing and calming traffic in school areas by setting up 
infrastructure that discourages car use and encourages 
safe alternatives.
Keywords: active mobility, routes to school, changes in 
travel patterns, traffic safety, motorisation
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1 Introduction
For several decades, active mobility – in which people use only 
physical effort to move – has been at the centre of endeavours 
towards sustainable mobility. This is the most sustainable type 
of mobility and is the least environmentally detrimental, the 
most economical and the socially fairest. It is also the healthi-
est type because regular walking and cycling offer many health 
benefits. For many people, active mobility is the simplest and 
most accessible way to maintain a healthy lifestyle, which 
should include at least thirty minutes of moderate activity a 
day  (UK active, 2017). A range of serious health problems 
are caused by the modern sedentary lifestyle and its lack of 
physical activity. Health experts warn that insufficient physical 
activity increases the risk of various diseases. An active lifestyle 
substantially reduces the risk of cardiovascular diseases and 
stroke, and also lowers blood pressure and cholesterol levels. 
Physical activity can prevent Type 2 diabetes and even breast 
and prostate cancers. An active lifestyle helps maintain healthy 
muscles and bones (Ministry of Health, 2015).
Children’s and teenagers’ problems resulting from physical 
inactivity are a particularly topical issue. The share of over-
weight and obese children and teenagers has doubled over the 
last thirty years, and this increase has been more evident in 
boys, among whom the share of overweight individuals has 
risen from  13.3% to  19.9%. The share of obese children in 
general has increased from 2.7% to 7.5% (Ministry of Health, 
2015: 11). In addition to inappropriate nutrition, the increase 
in obesity among young people is due to declining physical 
activity. Research in Slovenia has shown that the share of 
regularly physically active young people is low and is decreas-
ing with age. On a daily basis, 26% of boys and only 15% of 
girls are sufficiently physically active  (Jeriček Klanšček et  al., 
2011). Children’s and adolescents’ inappropriate diets are also 
reflected in their lack of physical activity  (Strel et  al., 2011). 
Research suggests that physically more active adolescents have 
greater academic success (Starc, 2014).
As with adults, in young people active mobility can signifi-
cantly contribute to sufficient daily physical activity. Several 
authors  (Davison et  al., 2008; Van Sluijs et  al., 2009; Grize 
et al., 2010; Chillón et al., 2011; Schoeppe et al., 2013) have 
established a direct correlation between children’s walking or 
cycling to school and their physical fitness. They also found a 
strong correlation between active travel to school and children’s 
physical activity after school. Active mobility also ensures in-
dependent mobility, which Stephanie Schoeppe et al.  (2013) 
define as the opportunity for people under eighteen to move 
and use public space without parental supervision. This offers 
psychological and social benefits to children through interac-
tions and connections with peers and others where they live.
Little information is available about youth mobility in Slovenia 
and about how young people’s modes of travel have changed 
over the past decades. Some recent studies (Kobe Tavčar, 2015; 
Moscholidou  & Colclough, 2017) highlight the fact that as 
many as three-quarters of primary school pupils ride to school: 
most are driven, and others take public transport. However, 
the results of the  1991 census reveal a completely different 
picture. At the time, over 90% of primary and secondary school 
children travelled to school actively. This article examines how 
children’s mobility has changed over the last thirty years and 
the reasons for these changes.
This article focuses on the travel habits of primary school pu-
pils as a special group of traffic participants and urban space 
users. Due to their youth, they have a limited choice of travel 
modes and thus become independent traffic participants only 
during schooling. This population group is among the most 
imperilled, which is why traffic planning and spatial planning 
devote particular attention to it (Plevnik, 2002). We analysed 
how children travel to primary school in Novo Mesto using 
cross-sectional data for 1991, 2001 and 2016. The 1991 data 
were gathered as part of the 1991 census, and those for 2001 
and 2016 were obtained based on a survey conducted in prima-
ry schools. We also collected information for 2001 and 2016 
to explain what caused the considerable changes in primary 
school pupils’ travel habits and what could be done to increase 
their active mobility.
2 Methods
The changes in travel habits of Novo Mesto primary school 
pupils were analysed using empirical research (analysis of time 
series and cross-sectional analysis). The analysis of time series 
identified the changes in travel habits between two time cross-
sections (2001 and 2016). These results were compared against 
those of the 1991 census (Statistical Office of the Republic of 
Slovenia, 1992). A cross-sectional analysis was conducted to 
establish how variation in travel-habit variables correlates with 
variation in socioeconomic variables (car ownership) and vari-
ables of towns’ physical structure (distribution of schools, size 
of their catchment areas and traffic regulation around schools).
2.1 Travel habits of primary school pupils
The first chronological cross-section of travel habits for school-
children in Novo Mesto is based on the 1991 census. The cen-
sus results were analysed in a doctoral dissertation  (Plevnik, 
2002) and are based on the census questions about places of 
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151Alarming changes in youth mobility: Primary school pupils in Novo Mesto
work and school and travel modes  (Statistical Office of the 
Republic of Slovenia, 1992). From among the individual data 
related to routes to school, we selected those that referred to 
the routes of children that started and ended in Novo Mesto. 
By processing this data, we extracted the data on the mode of 
travel to school within settlements of permanent residence. 
Unfortunately, the data on primary school pupils could not be 
extracted from the data on all routes to school; however, the 
aggregated data within the settlements studied also provided 
a clear picture of young people’s travel habits in 1991.
The second cross-section of travel habits for Novo Mesto pri-
mary school pupils is based on the  2001 data collected for 
a doctoral thesis  (Plevnik, 2002). Data collection was based 
on the study “State roads and traffic safety of pupils”  (Sln. 
Državne ceste in prometna varnost učencev, Polič et al., 2001), 
which was conducted in primary schools in ten Slovenian set-
tlements, including Centre Primary School in Novo Mesto. 
The data on travel habits and the situation in the area surround-
ing Centre Primary School were taken from this study, and the 
discussion was expanded to include two other primary schools 
in Novo Mesto: Bršljin and Grm. We surveyed the third, fifth 
and seventh grades from both primary schools. In all grades the 
questionnaire was administered by a researcher with the help 
of class teachers. The children completed the questionnaires by 
themselves. They specified their sex and how they usually travel 
to and from school and whether anyone accompanies them, 
and they also marked the location of their homes on a map. 
The lower grades were given more detailed explanations, and 
the researcher monitored their understanding of the questions 
and completion of the survey. The survey was conducted on 
the morning of 10  April  2001. The weather was suitable for 
any mode of travel that day. The survey conducted at Centre 
Primary School took place in a classroom during a class, and 
first-grade pupils were also included. The questionnaire for 
third, fifth and seventh grades was more comprehensive, and 
it also included some questions on traffic safety.
Another survey on travel habits was administered in June 2016 
as part of an analysis for the Sustainable Urban Mobility Plan 
of the City Municipality of Novo Mesto  (Sln. Celostna pro-
metna strategija Mestne občine Novo mesto, Balant et al., 2017). 
The survey covered seven primary schools in the Municipality 
of Novo Mesto: four from Novo Mesto itself (Centre, Šmihel, 
Grm and Bršljin) and three from smaller places in the mu-
nicipality (Otočec, Brusnice and Stopiče). The study focused 
only on the four primary schools in Novo Mesto. The survey 
covered the third, fifth and seventh grades; if one of these 
grades was away that day, the sixth grade was surveyed. In the 
four Novo Mesto primary schools two classes in the same grade 
were surveyed, and only one in smaller schools. The data in 
the 2016 survey were collected by verbally surveying children 
in classrooms; questions were asked, raised hands counted and 
the results noted. The researchers used a pre-defined form. 
The questionnaire asked how the children got to school that 
day (during warm weather), how they usually go to school in 
the winter and how they would prefer to travel to school. The 
children were also invited to suggest changes and improve-
ments to simplify their journeys to school.
2.2 Car ownership
The data on the development of motorisation and/or car own-
ership in Slovenia and in the Municipality of Novo Mesto were 
calculated from the data provided by the Statistical Office of 
the Republic of Slovenia  (SORS), which publishes them an-
nually in its Statistical Yearbook of the Republic of Slovenia and 
on the SI-STAT data portal. The motorisation rate is calculated 
based on annual data on the population  (as at 1  January for 
the past year) and the number of cars (as at 31 December for 
the current year). The number of cars registered in Slovenia 
is taken into account. According to SORS data, the term cars 
encompasses vehicles in the category M1 (motor vehicles with 
at least four wheels intended for passenger transport, which in 
addition to the driver’s seat have eight seats at most) excluding 
any special passenger vehicles (i.e., a vehicle designed for special 
purposes and not for passenger transport; e.g.,  fire vehicles, 
ambulances, hearses, etc.; Statistical Office of the Republic of 
Slovenia, 2016).
2.3 Location of primary schools and the size of 
their catchment areas
Another point of interest was whether during the period stud-
ied there was any change in the location of primary schools 
and school catchment area sizes in Novo Mesto that could 
cause changes in primary school children’s travel habits. Such 
changes were identified through interviews with administra-
tors at the schools surveyed conducted during the formula-
tion of the Sustainable Urban Mobility Plan  (Sln. Celostna 
prometna strategija, Balant et al., 2017).
2.4 Traffic regulation around primary schools
Through interviews with administrators at the schools sur-
veyed, we also gathered data on recent changes in traffic man-
agement around the schools  (e.g.,  new traffic infrastructure 
for vehicles, cyclists and pedestrians, traffic-calming devices, 
parking areas that children are driven to,  etc.) that could af-
fect the primary school pupils’ travel habits. These interviews 
were also conducted while preparing the Sustainable Urban 
Mobility Plan (Balant et al., 2017).
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3 Results
3.1 Travel habits of primary school pupils
3.1.1 Mode of travelling to school in 1991
Nearly all schoolchildren travelled to school actively  (i.e.,  on 
foot or by bicycle) in  1991. In the twenty largest Slovenian 
towns, the share of active travel accounted for as much as 91% 
of active travel modes  (and commuting to work only  61%). 
Eight percent of children took the bus (41% of workers) and 
only 1% of children were driven to school (25% of workers). 
The shares of using individual modes differed considerably 
among the twenty towns studied. Active modes of travelling 
to school were predominant in Ravne na Koroškem  (100%), 
followed by Domžale and Kočevje  (99%) and then Kamnik, 
Nova Gorica, Postojna and Ptuj (98%). Active travel in Novo 
Mesto was 92%, whereas 4% of journeys to school were made 
by car (the highest figure among the twenty largest Slovenian 
towns) and 4% by bus.
Figure 1: Primary schools surveyed and their catchment areas (author: Simon Koblar; source: Surveying and Mapping Authority of the Republic 
of Slovenia, 2017 and Copernicus, 2012).
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3.1.2 Mode of travelling to school in 2001
In 2001, children in the third, fifth and seventh grades of Cen-
tre, Bršljin and Grm primary schools mostly walked to and 
from school  (55%), whereas  22% travelled by bus and  23% 
were driven. None of the survey participants cycled. The mode 
of travel to school differs considerably from the mode of travel 
home from school. In the morning, 46% of the children walked 
to school, 21% took the bus, and 33% were driven to school. 
Journeys back home saw considerably less travel by car and 
more walking (63%). The share of travelling by bus remained 
similar (23%). In the morning, many parents drive their chil-
dren to school on their way to work. Because most parents’ 
working hours do not coincide with the school timetable, 
many children that were driven to school had to walk home 
or take the bus. No examples of cycling to school were found 
for Novo Mesto primary schools in 2001.
Travel habits differed substantially between grades. The Road 
Traffic Safety Act requires that first-grade pupils be accom-
panied by an adult to and from school. Therefore, the above-
average share of journeys by car among first-graders at Centre 
Primary School (this was the only grade for which data were 
collected) was not surprising. Travel by car was predominant 
on the way to school (63%) and also back home (58%). Thus 
in 1991, among all age groups, journeys by car were predom-
inant only among first-graders. The difference between the 
share of journeys to and from school by car was small, which 
suggests that first-graders’ parents arranged their time so as to 
be able to drive their children home after school as well. Just 
over one-third  (34%) of first-graders walked to school, and 
only a few took the bus (3%). None of the first-graders took 
the bus to return home, but many more walked (42%), at the 
expense of a lower share of travel by car and bus. In higher 
grades, the share of car journeys by third-graders was predomi-
nant (45% on their way to school and 20% back from school), 
but this decreased in higher grades on account of walking and 
then levelled off.
Children’s travel habits also differed substantially between 
schools. The most active travel patterns were established 
among children at Grm Primary School, where 70% walked to 
and from school (3% took the bus and 27% were driven). The 
next was Centre Primary School, with 64% walking (15% by 
bus, 21%  by car), and the fewest pedestrians were at Bršljin 
Primary School (30%), where travel by bus was predominant 
with  49%  (21% by car). To explain the differences between 
schools, we analysed individual elements of the physical struc-
ture of space and their influence on school route characteris-
tics. We established that the strongest influence was exerted 
by the network or distribution of primary schools, which is 
indirectly reflected in the size of their catchment areas as well 
as population density and building density in the surrounding 
countryside. A denser network and smaller school catchment 
areas with a greater population and building density result in 
shorter school routes and, consequently, a higher share of ac-
tive journeys to school. An important element is also organised 
school transport, which covers both long routes that would 
otherwise be covered mainly by parents driving their children 
to school (so that children do not have to make long journeys 
in more dangerous active ways) as well as short routes (exceed-
ing 1,000 m) because children that are not entitled to school 
transport often walk. We established that, in the case of Novo 
Mesto, every primary school in the surrounding countryside 
had at least one very busy road a maximum of 1,000 m away. 
Such roads are particularly problematic in terms of primary 
school pupils’ routes to school. Walking is the most sustainable 
travel mode, but for primary school children safety is more 
important and organised school transport offers greater safety.
In terms of sustainable traffic, the worst is probably a sparse 
school network with school catchment areas too small to be 
eligible for organised school transport (distances within 4 km). 
In these cases, many children depend on morning travel with 
the most problematic means of transport in terms of sustain-
ability  (i.e.,  cars), whereas on their way home they are often 
left to themselves, which is problematic particularly in terms 
of their safety (Plevnik, 2002: 188–189).
3.1.3 Mode of travelling to school in 2016
For the sake of comparison with the previous cross-section, 
the data for 2016 included three primary schools from Novo 
Mesto that were covered by the 2001 research (Centre, Grm 
and Bršljin); however, our survey also included another pri-
mary school from Novo Mesto  (Šmihel) and three primary 
schools from smaller settlements in the municipality (Otočec, 
Brusnice and Stopiče).
In  2016, more than half of the third, fifth and seventh grad-
ers  (53%) were driven to school by parents  (33% in  2001). 
Nearly  32% walked  (46% in  2001), 21% went by bus  (the 
same share as in 2001) and just over 1% cycled (in 2001 0%). 
Children were asked whether they changed their travel mode 
in winter. The results do not show any major changes in 
travel habits, except for a higher percentage of journeys by 
bus (28%) at the expense of walking (27%) and to some extent 
car rides  (44%). One-third of children in Novo Mesto  (53% 
in 2001) travel actively to school, whereas two-thirds ride to 
school  (one-half in 2001), with the majority being driven by 
their parents. A comparison between grades revealed similar 
characteristics as in  2001. The highest share of travel by car 
was established for third-graders  (58%), followed by fifth-
graders  (46%), whereas the lowest was that of seventh-grad-
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154
ers (30%). In contrast, the majority of seventh-graders travelled 
to school actively (41% on foot, 3% by bicycle), and then the 
percentage dropped considerably for fifth-graders  (31%  on 
foot, 1% by bicycle) and third-graders (only 20% on foot).
Again, children’s travel habits differed substantially among 
schools. As in  2001, the most active travel patterns in  2016 
were again established with children at Grm Primary School, 
where 39% of them walked to school (70% in 2001) and fewer 
than  2% cycled  (none in  2001). The share of car travel in-
creased substantially: from 27% in 2001 to 56% in 2016. The 
share of travel by bus remained unchanged  (3%). At Centre 
Primary School the share of active travel fell to less than half, 
from 64% pedestrians in 2001 to 27% pedestrians and 2% cy-
clists in 2016. The share of car use surged from 27% to 50% and 
the share of bus use increased from 16% to 21%. The share of 
walking at Bršljin Primary School fell by half from 30% to 15% 
over fifteen years and there were still no children cycling. The 
travel mode that was predominant in 2001 also decreased con-
siderably: bus travel dropped from 49% to 33%. At this school, 
the share of car use increased the most: from  21% in  2001 
to 53% in 2016.
In the 2016 survey, we added a question about how children 
would like to travel to school. The children’s desires are com-
pletely opposite to their usual behaviour and correspond to 
Figure 2: Comparison of travel habits to school, by school and year  (author: Luka Mladenovič, 2017; source: Statistical Office of the Republic 
of Slovenia, 1992; Plevnik, 2002; Balant et al., 2017).
Figure 3: Total changes in travel habits (author: Simon Koblar).
A. PLEVNIK, M. BALANT, L. MLADENOVIČ
Walking Bicycle Bus Car
Walking Bicycle Bus Car
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efforts toward active mobility because most children would 
like to travel to school by bicycle  (40%) and on foot  (40%). 
Only 12% wish to be driven to school and 7% wish to take the 
bus. Especially regarding cycling, the difference between the 
actual state of affairs and the desire is so great that it would 
make sense to explore the reasons that prevent children from 
cycling to school and to start gradually eliminating them.
The travel characteristics of primary school pupils in Novo 
Mesto are very similar to the results of related recent studies 
that have been conducted in other parts of Slovenia. The chil-
dren at schools that participated in the Traffic Snake national 
campaign in 2015 had similar travel patterns before the cam-
paign as those found in Novo Mesto. Active travel to school 
was established for 29% of pupils (3% of them cycled). A large 
majority rode to school: 42% were driven and 29% took public 
transport (Moscholidou & Colclough, 2017).
3.2 Car ownership
Over the past decades, the development of motorisation 
in Slovenia has been particularly intense. Between  1970 
and  2015, the number of cars in Slovenia rose seven-fold, 
exceeding 1,070,000. The motorisation rate in 2015 was 523 
cars per 1,000 inhabitants, which was nearly 50% more than 
in 1995 (Plevnik, 2016). This ranks Slovenia among the coun-
tries with the highest increase in car ownership because for 
many years the motorisation rate has exceeded the average of 
the new EU members and candidate countries, including many 
economically more developed countries (e.g., in Scandinavia).
The Municipality of Novo Mesto has exceeded the Slovenian 
average in terms of motorisation rate since 2001, with the high-
est motorisation rate recorded in the municipalities in western 
Slovenia. In 2006 the motorisation rate exceeded five hundred 
vehicles per thousand inhabitants, which means that every 
other inhabitant owned a car. In  2015 the motorisation rate 
was 541 vehicles per thousand inhabitants (in Slovenia 523).
3.3 Primary school locations and school 
catchment areas
To explain the differences between schools, already after the 
first survey in  2001 we analysed individual elements of the 
town’s physical structure as well as their influence on the char-
acteristics of school routes, using data obtained after the 2001 
survey. We established that the strongest influence was exerted 
by the network or distribution of primary schools, which is in-
directly reflected in the size of school catchment areas, density 
of population and property development in the surrounding 
countryside. A denser network and smaller school catchment 
areas with higher population and building density result in 
shorter school routes and, consequently, a higher share of ac-
tive travel to school. On the other hand, large school catch-
ment areas, such as that of Bršljin Primary School, already have 
a more developed network of school bus transport because of 
compliance with regulatory requirements, and this increases 
the share of bus journeys. We also checked changes in school 
locations and school catchment area sizes after 2001. The main 
change was the construction of Drska Primary School, which 
took over part of Šmihel Primary School’s catchment area and 
Figure 4: Number of cars and population in Slovenia between 1970 and 2015 (source: Plevnik, 2016).
Alarming changes in youth mobility: Primary school pupils in Novo Mesto
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did not influence the catchment areas of the schools surveyed. 
Therefore, the change in the density of the network of primary 
schools and their catchment areas did not influence the travel 
habits of children at the schools surveyed.
3.4 Traffic regulation around primary schools
Traffic regulation around the schools was examined on-site 
while preparing the Sustainable Urban Mobility Plan of the 
City Municipality of Novo Mesto, and the changes after 2001 
were verified during interviews with people responsible for 
traffic safety at the schools surveyed. All of the schools regu-
larly address the issue of safe routes to school and measures to 
ensure this. Schools have a plan of safe school routes, including 
a record of risky spots that are being eliminated in cooperation 
with the municipality. Several measures to ensure children’s 
safety were implemented in the areas around all of the schools, 
particularly concerning traffic calming and safe crossings. Such 
measures are geared towards increasing children’s traffic safety 
and could contribute to an increase in the share of active school 
routes. With support from expert organisations, schools hold 
regular educational and promotional events related to traffic 
safety, particularly at the beginning of the school year.
4 Discussion
The results of the comparison of three cross-sections of modes 
of travel to primary schools in Novo Mesto and comparison 
with data from other schools in Slovenia revealed considerable 
changes in the travel habits of Slovenian children and their 
parents. The main contribution of this article is quantification 
of the scope of the trend of change in how children travel to 
school. Experts from various fields have observed this trend 
and warned about it, but due to a lack of systematic data col-
lection on primary school pupils’ travel habits we were un-
able to define the actual scope of the change. As part of this 
research, we collected comparable data using the same method 
as applied in 2001, which resulted in two cross-sections for the 
first time in this area.
In  1991 more than  90% of children in Slovenian cities and 
towns travelled actively to school (walking or cycling), but the 
share of active routes in Novo Mesto dropped to less than half 
by 2001 and to one-third by 2016. Data for thirty-one other 
schools in Slovenia for 2015 confirm that this alarming trend 
is characteristic of the entire country. Similar trends have also 
been established in many other developed countries around 
the world. In Switzerland, children’s active travel to school be-
tween 1994 and 2005 decreased from 78% to 71% in favour 
of car rides. The share of those cycling to school decreased in 
particular, whereas the share of walking remained high. Re-
searchers mainly ascribe this decrease to considerable growth 
in car ownership during this period (Grize et al., 2010). Data 
for the UK show that the share of five- to ten-year-olds that 
walked to school declined from  60% to  51% from  1991/93 
to  2002  (Department for Transport, 2004), and fell further 
to  46% in  2014  (Department for Transport, 2014). Simul-
taneously, the share of those driven to school rose from 29% 
to  46%  (Department for Transport, 2014). In the United 
States, the decrease is even greater in some areas, due to early 
and more intense motorisation. Kirsten Davison et al. (2008) 
reported that in the state of Washington the share of children 
five to fifteen years old actively travelling to school decreased 
from 48% in 1969 to 16% in 2001.
The reasons for these changes in children’s travel habits are 
manifold, and the explanations of these changes, as can be 
found in the literature, are often contradictory. In addition to 
the basic reasons, such as greater availability of cars and thus 
increased car ownership and use as well as larger distances be-
tween children’s homes and schools that limit the use of active 
school routes (Chillón et al., 2011), the literature lists a num-
ber of other factors that influence the choice of mode of travel 
to school. A frequent obstacle to active travel, as perceived by 
parents, is traffic safety and/or the feeling that pedestrians and 
cyclists are at risk in traffic (Loukaitou-Sideris, 2006; Ahlport 
et al., 2008; Dimaggio & Li, 2013). The feeling of risk is con-
nected with the speed and number of vehicles as well as avail-
able pedestrian areas. A study from Switzerland (Grize et al., 
2010) showed that, in addition to distance, major obstacles 
to walking and cycling include crossing large roads. Davison 
et al. (2008) also added the differences between rural and ur-
ban environments as well as weather to these obstacles.
Leticia Grize et al. (2010) claim that the choice of travel mode 
is a result of the family decision-making process, which is influ-
enced by combining travel to school with travel to work, com-
fort, parents’ concerns regarding traffic safety, and the social 
and cultural acceptability of an individual travel mode. Among 
important elements influencing the choice of travel modes, 
Davison et  al.  (2008) list parents’ working hours and chil-
dren’s afternoon activity schedules, whether parents travelled 
actively to school when they were children, whether they walk 
or cycle to work and whether they appreciate their children’s 
physical activity and the accompanying social interactions as 
well as the cultural and social acceptability of an individual 
travel mode. Grize et al. (2010) explain the differences in the 
cultural and social acceptability of an individual travel mode 
with large differences in the active travel to school between the 
German- (80%), French- (56%) and Italian-speaking (52%) re-
gions of Switzerland.
A. PLEVNIK, M. BALANT, L. MLADENOVIČ
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The results in Slovenia partly agree with the findings from 
abroad. The considerable changes in children’s travel patterns 
coincide with the intense motorisation of Slovenian cities and 
towns, which has grown to proportions unseen even in many 
developed countries. This increase in car ownership is reflected 
in growing car use. Work on a large number of sustainable 
urban mobility plans reveals that only two cities in Slove-
nia (Ljubljana and Maribor) successfully cope with growth in 
motor traffic, whereas in small- and medium-sized towns this 
share has mostly been on the increase. We established that in 
Novo Mesto the car is the predominant travel mode (78%), fol-
lowed by walking (9%), public transit (8%) and bicycles (less 
than 1%; Balant et  al., 2017). In Ljubljana the shares were 
much less in favour of cars in 2015, at 42%. In the capital city 
people walk  (35%), cycle  (11%) and use buses  (13%) much 
more (City of Ljubljana, 2017).
5 Conclusion
In  2001 it was possible to establish a potential correlation 
between the length of school route and the share of active 
routes, but this relation is becoming increasingly weaker. An 
increasing share of children are driven over increasingly shorter 
distances  (even less than 1 km) that they could easily cover 
actively.
Some of the reasons for the trends discussed are explained 
by warnings from international experts that the traffic safety 
paradigm should be changed because focusing intensively on 
traffic safety as part of the current paradigm can cause a re-
duction in active travel modes. Todd Litman  (2017) found 
that the traffic safety paradigm assumes that the use of motor 
vehicles is generally the safest and that accidents are a conse-
quence of risky behaviour by certain groups of people, such 
as young or elderly drivers, distractions while driving (e.g., us-
ing a mobile), and failure to use seatbelts or bike helmets. 
Therefore, the current approach focuses on target strategies 
and programmes that seek to reduce specific risks (e.g., speed, 
using mobiles while driving, failure to wear a seat belt, failure 
to wear a bike helmet, poor visibility, etc.). The new traffic 
safety paradigm proceeds from the assumption that any use 
of a means of transport entails a specific risk and that most 
drivers engage in small risks that can result in an accident. 
Therefore, all strategies that are not aimed at reducing motor 
traffic increase the risk of accidents; alternatively, approaches 
involving reduction of motor traffic and promoting other al-
ternatives help eliminate the risk of accidents. The new para-
digm also builds on the realisation that it is unreasonable to 
reduce car use without offering quality alternatives. The new 
approach thus expands the range of possible measures for im-
proving traffic safety and involves more comprehensive traffic 
planning that encompasses all travel modes as well as better 
management of mobility and measures integrated with spatial 
planning (Litman, 2017).
In Slovenian primary schools, traffic safety is addressed in 
line with the old paradigm. Although this is an important, 
centrally managed and well-organised area that yields good 
results in terms of traffic safety, it seems that the old paradigm 
is contributing to a decrease in active mobility among primary 
school pupils, along with all the negative health implications 
mentioned in the introduction. Slovenian schools address traf-
fic safety by focusing on reducing drivers’ risky behaviour in 
areas around schools and eliminating conflicts between driv-
ers and pedestrians and cyclists near schools. However, this 
approach also creates a basis for parents to believe that the 
safest way for children to get to school is by car. Such an un-
derstanding, combined with providing car-parks for parents 
to deliver children and for school staff (a trend established in 
all sustainable urban mobility plans in Slovenia), increases the 
volume of motor traffic in the immediate vicinity of schools, 
especially during morning peak hours, all of which increases 
the risk of accidents. This is paradoxical because the current 
traffic safety paradigm unintentionally creates potentially dan-
gerous traffic situations near schools and jeopardises the safety 
of schoolchildren, along with increasing the share of children 
travelling to school in a safe but unhealthy manner (i.e., by car).
The new traffic safety paradigm delivers a full set of solutions. 
The focus of addressing traffic safety must shift from safe driv-
ing to reducing motor traffic near schools. Consideration of 
children’s mobility must become part of comprehensive traf-
fic planning, which should be geared towards reducing and 
calming traffic in school areas by setting up infrastructure that 
discourages car use and encourages safe alternatives. Access and 
parking for cars must be limited, including for school staff. In 
addition to physically redesigning the areas around schools, 
significant efforts should be directed toward mobility manage-
ment and changing the habits of all people: children, parents 
and school staff. Mobility management is a concept promoting 
sustainable traffic and active mobility as well as regulating the 
demand for car use by changing the views and travel habits 
of the population. Its essence is “soft” measures, including in-
forming, communicating, organising services and coordinat-
ing activities of various partners. “Soft” measures most often 
strengthen the efficacy of “tough” measures in traffic (e.g., new 
passenger areas or cycling paths, and limiting access to or elimi-
nating parking facilities). Soft measures  (compared to tough 
ones) usually require little financial input and often have a very 
favourable cost-benefit ratio. A typical example of mobility 
management is the Traffic Snake initiative  (Moscholidou  & 
Colclough, 2017), which also confirmed in Slovenia that a 
Alarming changes in youth mobility: Primary school pupils in Novo Mesto
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way back to higher active mobility for children is possible and 
urgently needed.
Aljaž Plevnik
Urban Planning Institute of the Republic of Slovenia, Ljubljana, 
Slovenia
E-mail: aljaz.plevnik@uirs.si
Mojca Balant
Urban Planning Institute of the Republic of Slovenia, Ljubljana, 
Slovenia
E-mail: mojca.balant@uirs.si
Luka Mladenovič
Urban Planning Institute of the Republic of Slovenia, Ljubljana, 
Slovenia
E-mail: luka.mladenovic@uirs.si
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