The aim of this master's thesis was, to examine how high school students in Ljubljana and Maribor commute to and from school. The study involved male and female students, aged between 15 and 19 years old, from 5 high schools in Maribor and 6 high schools in Ljubljana. The data was collected from September 26 to November 18, 2023, using an online questionnaire. A total of 1789 high school students completed the online questionnaire. Frequency distributions were calculated for descriptive variables. Differences between the mode of commuting to and from school, along with genders and the location of high schools (Maribor and Ljubljana), were analyzed using a two-way chi-square test. Similarly, a two-way chi-square test was used to examine differences in the mode of arrival and departure of students to and from school, and to determine whether the distance from home to school influenced the mode of arrival and departure. Due to violations of assumptions regarding expected frequencies (Ei>5), categories of variables related to the mode of arrival and departure to and from high school were logically combined. Statistical significance was tested at a 5% level of significance for all tests.
We found that 24.8% of high school students from Maribor and Ljubljana commute to school in an active manner (15.2% on foot and 9.6% by bicycle). The majority of students commute to school using public transportation (61.7%), with almost half of them (30.5%) combining public transportation with walking or cycling, which represent a partially active mode of commuting to school. The other half of students (31.2%) who use public transportation commute to school inactively, as they cover a negligible distance from the bus station to school - less than 1 kilometer. The remaining students commute to school by car or motorcycle (13.5%). Students from Maribor and Ljubljana commute to school in a different manner than from school (p = 0.000). Among those who use a car or motorcycle for commuting to school, half of them (49.4%) use a different mode of transportation for departure, most commonly public transportation. The distance from home to school significantly influences (p = 0.000) the mode of commuting to school. Closer proximity to school results in a higher percentage of students commuting actively (by foot or by bicycle). No significant gender differences were found regarding active commuting to school (p = 0.079), but differences were observed in the choice of commuting mode based on gender (p = 0.016). Boys prefer cycling to school, while girls prefer walking. Differences in the mode of commuting to school were also observed based on the location of the high school (Maribor or Ljubljana) (p = 0.017). In Ljubljana, a higher percentage of students commute to school by bicycle (13.4%), while in Maribor, walking is a predominant mode of active commute (17.3%). The occasional use of bike sharing systems among students in Maribor and Ljubljana is noted. 17.4% of students use the bike sharing system (Mbajk or BicikeLJ) at least once a week for commuting to or from school.
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