Overview

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Overview of Transportation and Health

Transportation effects health both directly and indirectly. Directly, transportation impacts health through traffic crashes, air pollution, limited physical activity, mental health, and inaccessible medical care and healthy foods. Indirectly, transportation impacts health by creating access, or lack of, to economic opportunity. Income is the number one determinant of health. The more income a person makes the healthier they are. Transportation provides access to jobs and employment centers, creating or hindering economic development and impacting household budgets. For example, the larger the percent of income spent on transportation, the less families have on important household expenses such as healthy foods, medical and child care.

Below is a collection of resources that discusses the issues of transportation and health from perspective.

This publication, chapter 2 of the book Healthy, Equitable Transportation Policy: Recommendations and Research, discusses the connections between transportation and health; the analysis and the recommendations focus on the upcoming authorization of the federal surface transportation bill as a key opportunity for promoting health and equity. This section orients readers to the bill by briefly describing what the legislation includes, how it is authorized, and by whom—naming key committees and policymakers. This chapter also explains how federal funding is allocated to states and metropolitan regions to pay for public transportation systems, highways, bridges, sidewalks, bike paths, and other transportation projects in our communities.
 This report, authored by PolicyLink and Prevention Institute and commissioned by the Convergence Partnership, is a collection of policies and programs that can improve health and transportation in underserved communities while simultaneously creating economic opportunities. This synthesis is a summary of Healthy, Equitable Transportation Policy: Recommendations and Research, also published by PolicyLink and Prevention Institute and commissioned by the Convergence Partnership.

Presentation by Dr. Howard Frumkin at the CDC

This presentation explains the impacts transportation has on health, including issues of injury, physical activity, global warming, mental health and social capital.

Presentation by Dr. Stephanie Pollack at Northeastern University

This presentation provides an overview of transportation issues. It discusses everything from what transportation is, how transportation policy is made and provides insights into traditional and newer, innovative ways of looking at tranportation policy to create healthier communities.

This report by the America Public Health Association describes the impacts of relationships between the federal transportation bill and public health.