Effects of travel mode choice behaviour on active and independent mobility of children in the military barrack of Nigeria

Abstract

The travel mode choice behaviour in Nigeria’s military barrack is affected by factors that continuously reduced active and independent mobility of children. Multi-disciplinary literatures have focused more on independent mobility of children to school in the Western World. Despite the health benefit of this behaviour, little or nothing has been done in the military barrack of Nigeria. This study examined active travel mode choice behaviour as predator of independent mobility of children in the military barrack. It hinged on ecological model theory postulated by Bronfenbrenier, Green and his colleagues. Identified independent mobility of children indicators in barrack included the destination accessibility, home range, travel time, and population density. A total of 390 survey questionnaires jointly rated by parent and children aged 5-12 years in Sam Ethnan Air Force Barrack at Lagos was analysed in SPSS and PLS-SEM software. Eight travel mode choice behaviour factors that could jeopardize independent mobility of children in barrack were included. These consist of the distance to school and playground, age and gender of children, and availability of cars. Others are traffic safety fears, danger of strangers, fear of injury to children, perceived environment, and policy environment. Availability of car and the perceived surrounding environment were excluded due to low factor loadings of < 0.7. Result showed that travel behaviour exogenously predicted children’s independent mobility with six factors. The model’s path coefficient of 0.528 explained 52.8% variance in independent mobility of children with large effect size of 0.519 value. Therefore, the finding substantiated that strong positive relationship exist between active travel behaviour and independent mobility of barrack children. This provided basis for transit-friendly policy framework to monitor interventions, while more variables including parental concern mediator could be considered in future studies to improve the predicted R2 value.