Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Journal of Transport & Health journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/jth Promoting active school travel in elementary schools: A regional case study of the school travel planning intervention Adrian N. Buttazzoni a,b , Andrew F. Clark a,f,g , Jamie A. Seabrook a,c,d,e,g,h , Jason A. Gilliland a,b,d,e,f,g,h, ⁎ a Human Environments Analysis Laboratory, Western University, London, Ontario, Canada b Faculty of Health Sciences, Western University, London, Ontario, Canada c School of Food and Nutritional Sciences, Brescia University College, London, Ontario, Canada d Department of Paediatrics, Western University, London, Ontario, Canada e Department of Epidemiology & Biostatistics, Western University, London, Ontario, Canada f Department of Geography, Western University, London, Ontario, Canada g Children's Health Research Institute, London, Ontario, Canada h Lawson Health Research Institute, London, Ontario, Canada ARTICLE INFO Keywords: Active school travel Children's health School intervention Physical activity School travel planning ABSTRACT Introduction: Active school travel (AST) can be a viable way to increase children's low levels of daily physical activity by promoting opportunities to walk and wheel. To promote AST in Canada, School Travel Plan (STP) programs have been implemented throughout the country. The STP program is a comprehensive 2-year intervention that is facilitated by a committee of com- munity and school partners who implement education, encouragement, enforcement, and en- gineering initiatives at their school to support AST. Methods: This study examines the impact of the STP program on children's and parents’ per- ceptions of AST barriers, and children's engagement in AST from pre- to post-intervention. In total, 13 elementary schools representing a total sample of 4720 parents and 2084 children from across Southwestern Ontario, Canada were involved in this program evaluation. Results: Findings indicate that the STP program was successful in significantly reducing children's and parents’ perceptions of AST barriers. An analysis of travel behaviour found the STP program was limited in affecting behavioural change, as the results show an insignificant trend of in- creasing AST use and decreasing car use. Conclusions: Changing perceptions of AST barriers suggests that the STP intervention has the potential to change intentions and motivation for parents and children, which may lead to sig- nificant increases in future AST. This study recommends that future interventions focus on parental education and empowerment initiatives to reduce an apparent intention-behaviour gap that exists in their AST decision making process. 1. Introduction Children's engagement in walking and wheeling to school, or active school travel (AST), is positively correlated with improved mental health (Yang et al., 2014), cardiorespiratory fitness (Voss and Sandercock, 2010), overall levels of physical activity (Larouche https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jth.2019.01.007 Received 1 August 2018; Received in revised form 15 January 2019; Accepted 16 January 2019 ⁎ Correspondence to: Western University, Social Science Centre, 1151 Richmond St., London, Ontario, Canada N6A 5C2. E-mail address: jgillila@uwo.ca (J.A. Gilliland). Journal of Transport & Health 12 (2019) 206–219 Available online 01 February 2019 2214-1405/ © 2019 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. T