The average lengths for primary and secondary pupils were 2.8 and 7.3 miles respectively. The pattern of travel for secondary aged children varies more by area. However, the results shown in Table 2 should be used with caution, as regional sample sizes are small. Variations in distance, and regional variations in car ownership, also produce wide variations in the mode of travel to school. The secondary regional pattern is not always the same as the primary pattern.
Women are more likely to take children to and from school.
Very few children are accompanied when travelling to school by bus. After taking children to school in the morning, over two thirds of escorts return straight home, and only one in ten goes on to work. The difference in urban traffic levels during school holidays is obvious, but this difference is also apparent in, for example, commuter rail services. Naturally parents take holidays at the same time as their children, so some of the reduction in traffic is also likely to be because there are fewer commuters on the road outside term time. Parents are asked to keep the diary for young children.