School
Hands up! Lisbon
This municipal initiative began in 2018. It takes an annual snapshot of home-school travel, in order to find out about the means of transportation used daily by students from the 1st to the 12th grade in Lisbon schools.
In the 2023 edition of Hands up! Lisbon, of the 231 schools covered, 135 took part (58%), of which 114 were public (84%) and 21 private (16%). In total, 26,999 students responded, 21,143 from public schools (78%) and 5,856 from private schools (22%).
The analysis shows that with increasing age, car dependency decreases, except in the transition from primary to secondary school, where there is a slight increase. In secondary education, public transport is used more than the car. In private education, there is less variation in car use, but a significant reduction from the 3rd cycle to secondary education. In secondary schools, public transport is used more, which may be due to the implementation of free public transport for students in Lisbon.
More information: maosaoarlx@cm-lisboa.pt
This model is inspired by the Hands Up Scotland (SUSTRANS) project, which looks at how pupils across Scotland travel to school. Started in 2008, it provides information on journeys to school and presents the largest dataset in the UK on school journeys.
In terms of methodology, Mãos ao Ar Lisboa! consists of teachers completing a simple, short questionnaire in the classroom, with pupils answering "arm in arm" to the question: How do you usually get to school?
The data collected makes it possible to monitor the school mobility paradigm over the years and provides relevant information for defining intervention priorities and assessing their impact.
The presentation and dissemination of the report reveals the results to the school community and is available to anyone looking for information on this subject.