Mobility patterns of scholar communities in Southwestern European countries

The present study aimed to provide an in-depth assessment of the commuting patterns of scholar communities of southwestern European countries and to identify measures to improve their sustainable performance regarding mobility. The adopted methodology characterized the mobility pattern of students as a sustainability indicator and the availability of related infrastructures and local public transport networks. Data were gathered by qualitative (behavioral questionnaires) and quantitative (technical audits) approaches, based on measurable indicators (key performance indicators and scores (ranging between 0–5)). Overall, French schools showed the best sustainable performance regarding mobility (2.0) and Gibraltar had the lowest (1.2). The existence of bike parking and electric car charging points were the main weaknesses founds (with their related mean scores being 0.6 and 0.2, respectively). The score associated with annual CO2 emissions due to students’ mobility had the best performance, where all countries managed to obtain an average of 3.1. The global score, which assessed the sustainable performance of scholar communities regarding mobility, had a mean value of 1.5 for all studied countries, which highlights the potential for improvement of the studied schools, mainly targeting the public transport network optimization and the enhancement of scholar infrastructures concerning bicycle parking and electric cars.

Keywords

Mobility pattern Key performance indicators School Environmental performance Behavioral indicator Sustainable indicator

URI

http://hdl.handle.net/10400.21/15211

Citation

Lage J, d’Espiney A, Canha N, Manteigas V, Alexandre JL, Gonçalves K, et al. Mobility patterns of scholar communities in Southwestern European countries. Sustainability. 2022;14(24):16704.