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Family services at transit hubs? Seniors and empty nesters are heralded as moving to communities near transit but with the view that siting child care centers near transit would help families without cars, minimize parent driving time, improve air quality, and coincide with major transit oriented development activities a group of child care intermediaries has just completed a report that moves toward understanding the impact of child care location on parent’s use of public transit and under what conditions and with what policies the collocation of child care and transit are likely to be effective.
“Child Care and Transit: Making the Link in California” identifies factors important to parents and a range of strategies for public agency planners, child care intermediaries and employers which could support parent transit ridership and walking at child care centers near transit. The study surveyed 781 parents at 19 California child care centers within one third mile of transit stations.
The survey found that the majority of parents use cars for child care drop off and pick up, even in centers that are close to transit. However, a substantially higher percentage of parents in the survey sample (7-8%) used transit to get to and from child care when compared with national estimates of transit use by parents (2%). In San Francisco and Los Angeles, 13% of parents used transit to get their children from home to child care and 25% used transit to get from child care to their final destination (usually work). The largest mode share with transit was walking.
The numbers of walking or transit riding parents at these transit linked centers was even greater. Roughly 23% of parents of all incomes levels walked or used transit to get to child care, and walked to their final destination, usually work. 13% of urban unsubsidized center parents walked or used transit to the center and 38% walked or used transit to their final destination. These numbers were 32% and 33% for parents with children in subsidized centers.
So what factors are most important to the responding parents? The quality of the child care was by far the most important factor for 70% of the parents, with availability and cost being the next most important factors. Interestingly, 26% said they preferred centers near work, and only 12% said that a center located near transit was a key factor. Carrying children and their belongings was cited by parents as the number one barrier to using transit, but other issues factored in as well. 71% of respondents said that they need a car to get to their child in an emergency.
The study report makes recommendations on key strategies for transit agencies to support centers as well as child care administrators and employers to support child care and transit linkages. The report was made possible by a Caltrans Planning Grant and conducted by the LINCC Project and led by the Child Care Coordinating Council of San Mateo County. The full report is available in the website Library (see Topic: Transportation/Traffic). |
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