School streets implementation: A machine learning perspective  145
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To some extent the failure in this case could be partial-
ly justied by the negative assessment of viability of the 
Bonaly Primary School for the implementation of a school 
street closure program (Lawrence, Murrell 2016). Due to 
the limited training sample, the algorithm was trained to 
always generate a closure zone, even if the contexts are not 
favourable. This hard requirement sometimes leads to in-
correct proposals. As the tool was being developed, a large 
number  of  school  street  programs  were  implemented  as 
a result of the COVID-19 pandemic  (Clarke 2022). Cur-
rently, a much larger dataset of successful closures can be 
compiled to train the next iteration of the algorithm. Anoth-
er large problem arises from the incompleteness of the ana-
lysed contexts and the low resolution of the accessible data. 
The utilized feature maps do not fully reect the real-world 
complexities of implementing school street closures. While 
the tool could denitely benet from more extensive, high- 
resolution data,  such data is not readily  available or ma-
chine-friendly. These extended contexts could include:
– trac analysis, such as the road safety audit, recorded 
incidents aecting the school community and trac inten-
sity measurements,
– 
communication habits of the students and their parents,
– functional audit,
– database of stakeholders aected by the closure and 
their characteristics,
– air quality and pollution measurements,
– records of other programs related to school street clo-
sures at the candidate school, including physical activity 
encouragement projects, play streets, school gardening ini-
tiatives, local community activization, etc.
A more comprehensive data collection and integration 
could  improve the  tool’s  eectiveness  and would proba-
bly  increase  the  capabilities  of  the  system.  However, an 
increase in the number of compiled context sources would 
also reduce the applicability of the algorithm only to the 
areas, which have these contexts recorded and accessible. 
The current version of the algorithm can be applied to any 
school  that is represented  on  OpenStreetMap.  Future  re-
search should focus on expanding the dataset and improv-
ing the algorithm’s adaptability to diverse urban contexts. 
Additionally,  a  collaborative  approach  involving  stake-
holders from various sectors, including education, trans-
portation, and public  health,  is crucial  for  the successful 
implementation and scaling of school street programs. By 
doing so, cities can create safer, healthier and more vibrant 
urban spaces that prioritize the well-being of children and 
the entire urban community.
Conclusions
In conclusion, this study demonstrates the potential of 
data-driven  approaches  to enhance the planning  and  im-
plementation of school street programs. The integration of 
machine learning tools can streamline the selection pro-
cess and improve the design of these interventions, making 
them  more  eective  and  context-sensitive.  Policymakers 
and  urban  planners  should  consider  investing  in  the  de-
velopment and deployment of such tools to support their 
urban mobility goals.