School Times Impact on Students Walking or Biking to School: Safe Routes to SchoolStatus: CompleteReport Date: 04/28/2025 Summary: Recent research has determined that early school start times do not discourage students from walking or biking to school. A stated preference survey distributed to parents and caregivers of elementary school-age children in the Minneapolis/St. Paul area asked parents and caregivers how their children commuted to school and to rank factors (including start time) that impacted if their children walked or biked to school. Mobile-sourced data based on smartphone tracking also indicated if a student walked or biked to school. Study results showed that students actually walked or biked more in February—when the sun rose later—than in September. Parents and caregivers also indicated that distance was the top factor for whether a student walked or biked to school followed by the student’s age, presence of comfortable commuting options such as sidewalks and bike trails, and difficult or high-traffic road crossings. Traveling to school before sunrise or after sunset ranked sixth out of 11 choices. Final Deliverables: School Times Impact on Students Walking or Biking to School: Safe Routes to School (Report #2025-21) Impact of Start Time on Students Walking and Biking to School (Research Summary) Related Materials: School Times Impacts on Students Walking or Biking to School (Video/Webinar) Safe Routes to School Network Call November 2024 (Video/Webinar) Related Research: