Recent Streetsblog USA posts about Public Health

Will DOT’s New Freight Council Focus on More Than Trucks?

By Tanya Snyder | Aug 27, 2012 | 7 Comments

On Thursday, DOT Secretary Ray LaHood announced the creation of a new Freight Policy Council, which is charged with coming up with a freight strategic plan. This is a first step toward a sorely lacking national plan around freight. The movement of goods accounts for about a quarter of all transportation-related emissions. Every American is […]

How Local Transportation Decisions Can Put Public Health Front and Center

By Ben Goldman | Apr 4, 2012 | No Comments

Transportation projects often have profound consequences for public health, whether negative (in the case of fossil fuel-burning highway expansions) or positive (in the case of calorie-burning bike-friendly, walkable streets). So why don’t cities and states always consider health impacts when evaluating a transportation project or policy? That’s the question at the heart of a new […]

New WHO Tool Calculates the Health Savings of Bike/Ped Infrastructure

By Angie Schmitt | Mar 23, 2012 | 5 Comments

Sidewalks, bike lanes, traffic calming projects — they save lives. Not just by protecting cyclists and pedestrians (not to mention motorists), but by encouraging physical activity that leads to a healthy life. Of course, it can be hard to convince politicians to see things in those terms when it’s time to pony up for walking […]

A Bike Company Offers a Prescription for America’s Health Care Cost Crisis

By Ben Fried | Mar 23, 2012 | No Comments

One of the most talked-about presentations at this week’s National Bike Summit came from Jason Gaikowski, director of sales for the Bloomington, Minnesota-based wholesale distributor Quality Bicycle Products. Over the last several years, QBP has ramped up its employee health and wellness program, which includes incentives to bike to work. At a time when most employers […]

Anti-Sprawl Doctor to Host PBS Series on Urban Design and Public Health

By Angie Schmitt | Jan 27, 2012 | 5 Comments

“A leading voice for better urban design for the sake of good health.” “A public health/social justice hero.” Dr. Richard Jackson, chair of environmental health at UCLA, is a leading voice for transportation reform whose work has linked America’s sprawl to the nation’s high rates of obesity. The former director of the Center for Disease […]

Maps Show Striking Link Between Car Commuting and Obesity

By Angie Schmitt | Jan 17, 2012 | 20 Comments

Check out these two maps, the first showing obesity rates (by county) in the United States and the second showing the percentage of commuters who travel by car (via Planetizen). Researchers Anne Price and Ariel Godwin at Planetizen caution readers not to conflate correlation and causation. However, when comparing other economic and demographic characteristics (unemployment, […]

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