Centers for Disease Control: Transportation Reform Is Health Reform

The connection between transportation and public health has slowly edged into the mainstream since Streetsblog Capitol Hill began covering it last year, first through a billion-dollar grant program added to Congress’ sprawling health care bill and now in a Centers for Disease Control (CDC) brief that connects existing U.S. infrastructure with chronic disease, obesity, and premature deaths.

President Obama, shown biking with his daughters — one of the CDC’s recommendations to enhance public health. (Photo: AP via Politico)

The CDC brief, quietly released late last month, offers seven recommendations aimed at making public health a greater priority for transportation policymakers:

• Pass road safety laws, such as those requiring child safety harnesses and prohibiting texting behind the wheel;
• Increase funding for air quality improvement projects and clean diesel projects that limit vehicle emissions;
• Encourage more transit-oriented development and transit expansion;
• Require streetscapes to be designed for bicyclists and pedestrians as well as drivers, the principle known as “complete streets”;
• Support local planning and zoning rules that promote mixed-use construction in denser neighborhoods;
• Revamp road design practices to minimize auto speeds and increase pedestrian and bicyclist safety;
• Increase data collection and research about the transportation-health relationship

In addition, the CDC outlines the grim consequences that can be expected from the nation’s transportation status quo:

• Physical activity and active transportation have declined
  compared to previous generations.  The lack of physical activity is a
  major contributor to the steady rise in rates of obesity, diabetes,
  heart disease, stroke and other chronic health conditions in the United
  States.
• Motor vehicle crashes continue to be the leading
  cause of injury-related death for many age groups.  Pedestrians and
  bicyclists are at an even greater risk of death from crashes than those
  who travel by motor vehicles.
• Many Americans view walking
  and bicycling within their communities as unsafe because of traffic and
  the lack of sidewalks, crosswalks, and bicycle facilities.
• Although
  using public transportation has historically been safer than highway
  travel in light duty vehicles, highway travel has grown more quickly
  than other modes of travel. 
• A lack of efficient
  alternatives to automobile travel disproportionately affects vulnerable
  populations such as the poor, the elderly, people who have disabilities
  and children by limiting access to jobs, health care, social
  interaction, and healthy foods.
• Although motor vehicle
  emissions have decreased significantly over the past three decades, air
  pollution from motor vehicles continues to contribute to the
  degradation of our environment and adverse respiratory and
  cardiovascular health effects.
• Transportation accounts for approximately one-third of all U.S. greenhouse gas emissions contributing to climate change.