The Walking School Bus in Ferrara: A mixed-methods analysis of behavioural, social, and economic insights for sustainable mobility<

This doctoral dissertation provides an in-depth analysis of the behavioural, social, and economic factors that influence participation in the Walking School Bus (WSB), a sustainable school mobility initiative implemented in the city of Ferrara, Italy. The research, articulated across four empirical chapters, adopts an interdisciplinary approach that integrates principles from behavioural economics, social capital theory, and the theory of situated action, with the aim of understanding how individual choices, social norms, and contextual constraints interact in shaping sustainable mobility behaviours. The dissertation consists of four chapters divided into two Parts, according to the type of methodology applied. Part 1, which includes chapters one and two, adopts a primarily qualitative approach. Part 2, which includes chapters three and four, instead adopts a quantitative approach. More specifically, the first chapter explores the perspective of teachers and investigates the barriers hindering the diffusion of the Walking School Bus despite the widely acknowledged environmental, educational, and social benefits of the initiative. Through thematic analysis of qualitative interviews with primary school teachers in Ferrara, the study identifies three main dimensions influencing implementation: the operational characteristics of the service, family-related behaviours and routines, and the broader institutional and school context. The analysis reveals that cognitive mechanisms such as inertia, status quo bias, and collective action problems represent significant obstacles to participation. These findings highlight the need for policy interventions based on nudge strategies and choice architecture designs capable of reducing decision frictions and making sustainable options more accessible and compatible with daily routines. The second chapter focuses on the perceptions and motivations of parents, who are the primary decision-makers in children’s school travel. Drawing on twenty-seven semi-structured interviews, the study applies social capital theory to examine how trust, reciprocity, and community ties shape parental engagement with the service. Although parents recognize the multiple benefits of the Walking School Bus, the results show that participation remains limited due to organisational difficulties, incompatibility with work schedules, adverse weather conditions, and lack of continuity in the service. An innovative finding emerges as some parents express a willingness to contribute financially, suggesting the potential for community co-funding models that could strengthen the sustainability and stability of the initiative. The chapter also shows that strong social networks and mutual trust promote cooperation and long-term continuity, underscoring the central role of social capital as a strategic resource for sustainable mobility policies. The third chapter broadens the analysis through a quantitative survey conducted among 711 parents from fifteen primary schools. Grounded in behavioural economics and the theory of situated action, the questionnaire investigates the relationships among trust, environmental awareness, civic engagement, and participation behaviours. The results demonstrate that the decision to join the Walking School Bus does not stem from a purely rational assessment of costs and benefits but from an interplay of cognitive and social factors in which interpersonal trust and a sense of community belonging play decisive roles. The study further shows that participation is facilitated by high levels of social capital, while the main barriers are logistical and organisational, including the distance from collection points, limited volunteer availability, and insufficient schedule flexibility. Economic evaluations related to Willingness to Pay (WTP) and Willingness to Accept (WTA) confirm that the service is perceived as a collective and relational good endowed with civic and symbolic value, rather than as a market-based service. The fourth chapter examines the economic dimension of the Walking School Bus by applying the Contingent Valuation Method (CVM) and the principles of Prospect Theory to estimate WTP and WTA values. The analysis confirms a substantial gap between WTA and WTP, with the former more than twice 3 as high as the latter, consistent with the concepts of loss aversion and the endowment effect. This finding demonstrates that parents attribute to the service a value that is not merely economic but relational, closely tied to community cohesion and children’s safety. The econometric analysis, based on an ordered logit model, shows that the willingness to financially contribute is influenced by variables such as home–school distance, parents’ age, and level of social capital. Furthermore, attitudes toward payment differ between users and non-users, reflecting processes of cognitive adaptation and an evolution of perceptions that develops through direct experience with the service. Taken together, the four studies demonstrate that the diffusion and long-term sustainability of the Walking School Bus cannot be understood through a single economic or informational dimension. Rather, they require a systemic approach that integrates individual behaviour, social structures, and institutional contexts. The research shows that participation depends more on the strengthening of relational infrastructures, mutual trust, and coordination between schools, families, and local administrations than on direct economic incentives. From a theoretical perspective, the dissertation contributes to bridging behavioural economics and sustainable mobility studies by showing that mobility choices are shaped by bounded rationality, social norms, and trust dynamics. From a policy perspective, it advocates for behaviourally informed public policies, based on nudges, framing techniques, and community co-design, aimed at reducing cognitive and organisational barriers to participation. Overall, the Walking School Bus emerges as a laboratory of social innovation and a paradigmatic example of how civic cooperation, collective learning, and behavioural design can foster healthier, safer, and more sustainable urban environments.