Transportation and Health

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Transportation and Health

• Todd Litman
• Victoria Transport Policy Institute
• Presented at the
• National Society of Physical Activity
  Practitioners in Public Health Annual Meeting
• 14 May 2009

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Creating Paradise

• Paradise is not a distant destination, it is
  something we create in our own communities.

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Sustainable Planning

• Sustainability emphasizes the integrated
  nature of human activities and therefore the need
  to coordinate planning among different sectors,
  jurisdictions and groups.

11/10/2009
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Preventing Problems

• Sustainability planning is to development
  what preventive medicine is to health it
  anticipates and manages problems rather than
  waiting for crises to develop.

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Sustainability
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Paradigm Shifts

• Growth - expanding, doing more.
• ?
• Development - improving, doing better.

• Mobility - physical movement.
• ?
• Accessibility - obtaining desired goods, services
  and activities.

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Resource Sustainability

• Would we have a sustainable transportation
  system if all automobiles were solar powered?

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Past Visions of Future Transport
1958 Firebird
1949 ConvAIRCAR Flying Car
Supersonic Concord
Segways
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2001 A Space Odyssey
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Wheeled Luggage
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Trends Supporting Multi-Modalism

• Motor vehicle saturation.
• Aging population.
• Rising fuel prices.
• Increased urbanization.
• Increased traffic and parking congestion.
• Rising roadway construction costs and declining
  economic return from increased roadway capacity.
• Environmental concerns.
• Health Concerns

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OECD Travel Trends
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International Mode Split
(Bassett, et al. 2008)
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Aging Population
1990
2050
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Urbanization

• Between the 1940s and 1980s the population
  became more suburbanized. Now, about half of
  North Americans live in suburbs.

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Value of Highway Expansion

• When the highway system was being developed in
  the 1950s and 60s it provided high returns on
  investment. Now that the system is mature,
  economic returns have declined.

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Transit Auto Growth Trends
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Optimal Modal Split
Small shifts from automobile to alternative modes
can result in a large increase in walking,
cycling and public transit demand. For example,
a 5 reduction in driving can increase use of
alternative modes by 50.
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Transportation Public Health Impacts

• Traffic safety
• Pollution
• Physical fitness
• Metal health - stress
• Basic mobility (including access to medical
  services)
• Affordability
• Community cohesion

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Transportation Health Impacts
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Traffic Crash Costs
Comprehensive Evaluation indicates that traffic
crashes impose costs totalling more than a third
of a trillion dollars.
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Traffic Fatality Rates

• When crash rates are measured per vehicle
  mile, they declined significantly, but when
  measured per capita they show relatively little
  decline due to increased per capita vehicle
  mileage.

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International Traffic Death Rates
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Traffic Fatality Trends
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U.S. Crash Rates
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Traffic Fatalities
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International Traffic Death Rates
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Non-motorized Safety Impacts
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Nonmotorized Travel
Per capita traffic fatality rates tend to
decline as nonmotorized travel increases.
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Smart Growth Safety Impacts
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Health Concerns

• Obesity Rates (BMI gt 30)

• There is increasing concern about the health
  problems that result from reduced physical
  activity, and the value of transport systems that
  accommodate walking and cycling.

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What Gets People Moving?

• Walking is a natural and essential activity.
  If you ask sedentary people what physical
  activity they will most likely to stick with,
  walking usually ranks first.

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Encouraging Physical Activity

• Dogs stimulate recreational walking and
  running.

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Obesity Rates Versus Mode Split
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Physical Activity Rates

• Sufficient 30 min., 5 days/week
• Sporadic Some weekly activity.
• Inactive Sedentary

National Population Health Survey Health Canada
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Active Transportation Valuation
Transport New Zealands Economic Evaluation
Manual (EEM) provides monetary values for the
health benefits of active transportation (Volume
2, section 3.8, p 3-22). It assumes that half of
the benefit is internal to the people who
increase their activity level by walking or
cycling, and half are external benefits to
society such as hospital cost savings.
www.landtransport.govt.nz/funding/manuals.html
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TRB Summary of Benefit Values
Guidelines for Analysis of Investments in Bicycle
Facilities, NCH Report 552, Transportation
Research Board (www.trb.org) at
http//onlinepubs.trb.org/Onlinepubs/nchrp/nchrp_r
pt_552.pdf
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Land Use Impacts On Travel
Health Target
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Typical Week Mode Split
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Positive Proof of Global Warming
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Emissions Reduction Strategies

• Vehicle fuel economy and emission rates.
• Fuel carbon content
• Total amount of driving (VMT)

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Effectiveness and Scope of Benefits
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Comparing Benefits
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Equity

• A more diverse transportation systems helps
  achieve equity objectives
• A fair share of public resources for non-drivers.
• Financial savings to lower-income people.
• Increased opportunity to people who are
  physically, socially or economically
  disadvantaged.

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Basic Mobility

• Certain goods and services are considered
  essential or basic
• Emergency services (police, fire, ambulances,
  etc.).
• Public services and utilities (garbage
  collection, utility maintenance, etc.).
• Health care.
• Basic food and clothing.
• Education and employment (commuting).
• Some social and recreational activities.
• Mail and freight delivery.

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Economic Development Benefits

• Reducing vehicle expenditures and expanding
  transit service increases regional employment and
  business activity.
• Reducing transportation costs (congestion,
  parking, property taxes) to businesses increases
  productivity and competitiveness.
• Agglomeration efficiencies.
• Stimulates development and increases local
  property values.
• Increases affordability, allowing businesses to
  attract employees in areas with high living
  costs.

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HouseholdTransport Costs
(Johnson, Rogers and Tan 2001)
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Affordability
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Housing Foreclosures
Housing foreclosure rates are much higher in
automobile-dependent locations.
Denver
Houston
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Community Livability Cohesion

• Community Livability refers to the
  environmental and social quality of an area as
  perceived by residents, employees, customers and
  visitors.
• Community Cohesion refers to the quantity and
  quality of positive interactions among people in
  a community.
• Streets that are attractive, safe and
  suitable for walking and cycling increase
  community livability and cohesion.

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The Value of Community

• Human happiness requires a balance of material
  wealth and non-material goods such as friendship,
  security and purpose. As people become wealthier,
  the relative value of nonmaterial goods tends to
  increase.

What we really seem to want, according to the
economists and psychologists conducting such
research, is more community. Standard economic
theory has long assured us that were insatiable
bundles of desires. That may be true, but more
and more it feels like our greatest wish is for
more contact with other people. (National
Geographic, 2006)
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Indicators

• People being courteous and helpful to strangers.
• Friendly conversations among strangers.
• People of diverse incomes and abilities
  interacting in positive ways.
• People reading and resting.
• Children, seniors and people with disabilities
  traveling independently.

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Life Satisfaction
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Example - Smoking

• Medical experts once promoted safer cigarettes
  and cancer cures. Increasingly they now emphasize
  programs to stop smoking and regulations to
  reduce exposure to second-hand smoke.

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Example Traffic Safety

• Traffic safety experts once favored passive
  safety technologies (safer roadways, crash
  resistant vehicles, air bags) because they do not
  require behavior change.
• But these by themselves these tend to have
  modest safety benefits.

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Example Traffic Safety

• Active safety strategies, such as more
  cautious driving, seat belts, child restraints
  and helmets, provide the greatest potential
  safety benefits.
• Seat belt use reduces traffic fatalities by
  45. Air bags can reduce fatalities an additional
  10, but require seat belt use to be effective.

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Example Traffic Safety

• Technology/Passive
• Crash-friendly roadways
• Crash-friendly vehicles
• Air bags
• Improved emergency response

• Behavior Change
• Seat belts use
• Child restraints
• Helmets
• Reduced drunk driving
• Speed reduction
• Choose safer vehicles
• Driver skill development

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Example Traffic Safety

• The greatest traffic safety gains have
  resulted from changes in travel behavior, not
  from new technologies. Given suitable products
  (e.g., convenient and comfortable seat belts) and
  encouragement, many motorists want to choose
  safer habits.

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Reform Planning Practices

• Multi-modal planning create a diverse and
  integrated transportation system.
• Fix-It-First Major capacity expansion deferred
  until basic maintenance and operations needs are
  met.
• Least-cost planning equal funding for mobility
  management solutions.
• Context Sensitive Design Designing roadways to
  reflect local needs and preferences.

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Change Management

• Be a change agent
• Think outside the box
• Turn problems into opportunities.
• Create the future you want to live in
• Build partnerships
• Think strategically
• We CAN do that!

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Supported by Professional Organizations

• Institute of Transportation Engineers.
• American Planning Association.
• American Farmland Trust.
• Federal, state, regional and local planning and
  transportation agencies.
• International City/County Management Association
• National Governors Association
• Health organizations.
• And much more...

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Motorists Benefit Too

• More balanced transport policy is no more
  anti-car than a healthy diet is anti-food.
  Motorists have every reason to support these
  reforms
• Reduced traffic and parking congestion.
• Improved safety.
• Improved travel options.
• Reduced chauffeuring burden.
• Often the quickest and most cost effective way to
  improve driving conditions.

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• Promoting Public Health Through Smart Growth
  Building Healthier Communities Through
  Transportation And Land Use Policies
• If Health Matters Integrating Public Health
  Objectives in Transport Planning
• Safe Travels Evaluating Mobility Management
  Traffic Safety Impacts
• Evaluating Public Transit Benefits and Costs
• Online TDM Encyclopedia
• and more...
• www.vtpi.org