As part of my research, I conducted several focus groups with a range of groups of young people to gather data on their perspectives regarding active travel to extracurricular activities, as well as the barriers preventing them from doing so.
The problems associated with cost and safety were the most prominent barriers that were brought up in relation to not being able to use active travel. For the most part, they talked about the inability to purchase or repair bikes to aid them with active travel, as well as the fear of walking at night, leaving their bikes unattended (particularly where there were no CCTV cameras), walking past large groups or rougher areas that dissuade them to walk or cycle there, for example. Moreover, they addressed the lack of communication between the young people and those in positions of power as a hindrance to understanding the root of the issues and thus preventing active travel to be the norm around these young people. Furthermore, a big issue that was highlighted was the lack of things for the young people to do around their area that could encourage them to walk there as well as the issue of money when wanting to travel farther to do things but being financially incapable of doing so.
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