The factors influencing the modal choice for home-to-school trips based on neighborhood unit typology towards Surakarta as a child-friendly city

The children movement in accessing elementary school as social facilities on the neighborhood unit (NU) level should not contribute to CO₂ gas emissions. Yet, in 2017, these movements produced an average emission of 0.15% of the total emissions of the transportation sector in Surakarta. The higher degree of conformity of the NU with the criteria of the child-friendly city (CFC), the greater the chances of children being able to access elementary school without using motorized modes of transportation. This article aims to uncover the factors that affect children's transportation modal choice to access elementary schools in supporting Surakarta to become a CFC. The study uses four stages: (1) NU's conformity to the criteria of CFC; (2) children's modal choice to access elementary school; (3) the characteristics of factors that influence modal choice in accessing elementary school; and (4) the factors of modal choices to access elementary school. The study found two distinct categories of modal choice priorities based on the NU typologies which must be considered in efforts to establish Surakarta as a CFC. In one category the transportation system dictates priorities while user characteristics and movement characteristics affect modal choices in the second category of neighborhood units.