Wong et al. BMC Public Health 2011, 11:618 http://www.biomedcentral.com/1471-2458/11/618 R E S E A R C H A R T I C L E Open Access Mode shifting in school travel mode: examining the prevalence and correlates of active school transport in Ontario, Canada Bonny Yee-Man Wong1*, Guy Faulkner1, Ron Buliung2 and Hyacinth Irving3 Abstract Background: Studies examining the correlates of school transport commonly fail to make the distinction between morning and afternoon school trips. The purpose of this study was to examine the prevalence and correlates of mode shift from passive in the morning to active in the afternoon among elementary and secondary school students in Ontario, Canada. Methods: Data were derived from the 2009 cycle of the Ontario Student Drug Use and Health Survey (OSDUHS). 3,633 students in grades 7 through 12 completed self-administered questionnaires. Socio-demographic, behavioural, psychological, and environmental predictors of active school transport (AST) were assessed using logistic regression. Results: Overall, 47% and 38% of elementary school students reported AST to and from school, respectively. The corresponding figures were 23% and 32% for secondary school students. The prevalence of AST varied temporarily and spatially. There was a higher prevalence of walking/biking found for elementary school students than for secondary school students, and there was an approximate 10% increase in AST in the afternoon. Different correlates of active school transport were also found across elementary and secondary school students. For all ages, students living in urban areas, with a shorter travel time between home and school, and having some input to the decision making process, were more likely to walk to and from school. Conclusions: Future research examining AST should continue to make the analytic distinction between the morning and afternoon trip, and control for the moderating effect of age and geography in predicting mode choice. In terms of practice, these variations highlight the need for school-specific travel plans rather than ‘one size fits all’ interventions in promoting active school transport. Background Given the increasing trend of obesity and decline in physical activity in children and youth [1], the journey to and from school presents one source of energy expenditure through the use of non-motorized travel modes such as walking or biking. Children and youth who practice active school transport (typically walking or cycling) have been consistently found to be more physically active overall than children who do not [2]. However, studies consistently report decreasing preva- lence of active school transport (AST) [3]. For example, * Correspondence: bonnyym.wong@utoronto.ca 1Faculty of Physical Education & Health, University of Toronto, 55 Harbord Street, Toronto, Ontario, M5S 2W6, Canada Full list of author information is available at the end of the article in the Greater Toronto Area, Canada’s largest city-region, the prevalence of walking as the usual mode to school decreased from 1986 to 2001 (53% to 42% for children aged 11-13, 39% to 31% for children aged 14-15) [4]. Identifying the prevalence and correlates of active school transport is important for the development of interventions aimed at promoting AST and future sur- veillance and monitoring of policy effectiveness. Reviews of the literature identify the broad range of correlates of AST that have been studied and highlight that findings are commonly mixed. This is probably due to the het- erogeneity of populations and locations being studied [3]. That is, the importance of certain correlates may vary based on geographic location and age group of the © 2011 Wong et al; licensee BioMed Central Ltd. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.