Impact of Traffic Park Use on Children’s Traffic Rule Awareness and Behavioral Intentions: Case Study in Toyohashi City

To ensure children’s safe independent mobility on the road, they need to learn basic traffic rules. In this case, traffic rule education in a realistic environment through a play-way method can be a significant learning strategy. This research focuses on the “Traffic Park (TP)”, which provides that opportunity. Specifically, this research examined how elementary school children’s knowledge of traffic rules and behavioral intentions are influenced by their experiences of using and playing in a TP before and after they start school. Children from four different elementary schools (grades 1~6) were surveyed in Toyohashi City, Japan using a web-based questionnaire survey. Structural equation modeling (SEM) was applied to analyze the effect of TP use experience on children’s awareness of traffic rules and behavioral intentions. Three distinct SEM models were tested to measure the effect pattern of children’s TP use experience on their traffic rule awareness and behavioral intentions. The results show that TP use experience before entering school has a statistically significant effect on children’s traffic rule awareness (β = 0.16, p < 0.004; model 1) and behavioral intention improvement (β = 0.09, p < 0.07; model 2). However, TP use experience after entering school was found to have no significant effect. Finally, children’s TP use experience indirectly improves their behavioral intentions (β = 0.74, p < 0.001; model 3) by improving their awareness of traffic rules. Overall, the findings of this study highlight the contribution of TPs in promoting children’s safe independent mobility and fostering the development of sustainable child-friendly cities worldwide.