Report – The Hidden Health Costs of Transportation

The American Public Health Association (APHA) – The Hidden Health Costs of Transportation, May 2010

  • “Transportation investments and the systems that are developed from them shape lives and communities. The transportation system is a complex web of highways, sidewalks, bike paths, trains and bus services that connect people to each other as well as to places of work, play, prayer, medical care, and shopping.Transportation policies and decisions influence land use and how communities and neighborhoods are designed and built — whether sprawling and disconnected, or central and connected. The combustion engine and the creation of the highway system increased mobility and access to goods and services. However, investments in highways have come at the expense of other transportation modes.Over the years this has led to a heavier reliance on vehicles and roadways and less on walking, bicycling and transit use. Further, suburban development has resulted in communities that are away from town centers and public transit and require a near-total reliance on the automobile for transport and access. Our dependence on automobiles and roadways has profound negative impacts on human health: decreased opportunities for physical activity, and increased exposure to air pollution, and the number of traffic crashes [roughly 33,963 people died in traffic crashes in 2009]. The health costs associated with these impacts, including costs associated with loss of work days and wages, pain and suffering, and premature death,may be as high as several hundred billion dollars.”
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