Americans are making trade-offs between commuting time, housing costs, and health related activities. The trade-offs push individuals to make decisions negatively affecting personal health (physical and psychological), which in turn correlates with reduced productivity in the workplace. “People should recognize that long commutes may siphon away time that could otherwise be spent on healthy activities, potentially [leading to] adverse health impacts,” said the author of a study in the Journal of Urban Health.
health
CalTrans offers grant to study freeway conversion in Long Beach
Thanks to a quarter million dollar environmental justice grant from the California Department of Transportation, the City of Long Beach will now be able to study options for turning its Terminal Island Freeway into a local street, reclaiming 88 acres of land for a network of parks, and improving public health.
Motor vehicle pollution a major contributor to American deaths
Last year, following six years of decline, the number of traffic fatalities in the U.S. rose 5 percent—to 34,000—continuing the position of motor vehicle crashes as one of the leading causes of death, particularly among young people. It is the top cause of death for ages 5 to 24. Two recent independent studies now suggest that simply living near major roadways and breathing harmful emissions from motor vehicles might be an even greater threat to U.S. health, making the death toll from traffic far worse.
MassDOT implements policies to increase walk, bike, and transit travel
In support of its goal to triple walking, biking and transit travel by 2030, the Massachusetts DOT has issued a Healthy Transportation Policy Initiative with several implementation steps.
Getting the Goods Without the Bads: Freight Transportation Demand Management Strategies to Reduce Urban Impacts (SSTI, 2013)
This project, funded by SSTI with a matching grant from the Center for Freight Infrastructure Research and Education (CFIRE), identifies and evaluates strategies to reduce the social costs associated with goods movement in urban areas by managing freight transportation demand.
Tools for Estimating VMT Reductions from Built Environment Changes (Anne Vernez Moudon and Orion Stewart , University of Washington, 2013)
This report reviews the built environment characteristics associated with travel and the tools available that utilize these built environment characteristics to estimate travel and related outcomes such as vehicle emissions and health co-benefits. Tools ranged from simple to complex, and a number of factors should be considered when applying a tool to a planning effort.
Getting on Board for Health (Alameda County Public Health Department, 2013)
This health impact assessment informed the development of the San Francisco Bay Area’s Regional Transportation Plan. It focused specifically on transit-dependent populations and the expected health outcomes that may result from changes to bus access as determined by RTP.
How to Increase Bicycling for Daily Travel (Active Living Research, 2013)
What are the most effective strategies cities can use to increase bicycling? This brief summarizes the available evidence about strategies for increasing bicycling levels and encouraging bicycling as a mode of transportation. It also presents related policy implications.
Our Built and Natural Environments: A Technical Review of the Interactions Among Land Use, Transportation, and Environmental Quality (EPA, 2013)
The EPA’s Office of Sustainable Communities Smart Growth Program offers this comprehensive review on how the built environment – the way we build our cities and towns – directly affects our environment and public health. It provides evidence that certain kinds of land use and transportation strategies – where and how we build our communities – can reduce the environmental and human health impacts of development.
Got the flu? Maybe you need to ride public transit more
A new study from the U.K. finds that conventional wisdom may have it wrong when it comes to the link between getting sick and riding in crowded buses or trains. Research has shown that those who ride transit most frequently are less likely to get the flu.