An expert discusses the public health implications of the CDC’s new finding that 5.7 percent of Americans face unreliable transportation.

According to a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) report released earlier this month, 15 million of American adults—5.7% of the adult population—don’t have access to reliable transportation. Why is the CDC conducting a study on transportation, you might ask? Because lack of transportation isn’t just a mobility issue; it also has far-reaching public health implications, writes Aleyna Rentz in Medical Xpress.
“Previous research has suggested a lack of transportation, especially among adults who are older, uninsured, and have lower incomes, leads to reduced access to health care, which may then lead to adverse health outcomes,” the CDC report said.
Rentz spoke about the findings with Megan Latshaw, associate professor in the Department of Environmental Health and Engineering at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, who has examined the health and environmental impacts of unreliable transportation in Baltimore.
People don’t just need transportation to get to doctor’s appointments, Latshaw pointed out, but also to access healthy food, education, and jobs, which also affects people’s health and ability to access quality health care. America’s high reliance on cars has also been tied to health issues caused by air pollution from vehicle emissions, she said.
“We've built America around cars. If you want to get anywhere in the U.S., unless you live in a downtown area, you need to jump in your car to get there. It's unsustainable, and it's not healthy, so we need to figure out a way to move past cars. Doing so will reduce air pollution, reduce greenhouse gases, and also get people walking and biking. And when you take public transportation, it's a social activity, if you think about it,” Latshaw told Rentz.
For better public health, Latshaw said, we need to focus on building better public transit instead of widening highways. “President Hoover had a campaign ad mentioning a car in every yard and a chicken in every pot. I'd like to see an ad calling for ‘a transit stop near every home.’ Not just a transit stop near your home, but a reliable transit system where it's going to come on time and an app that has live feed data. We need to make transit the easy choice, as opposed [to] cars.”
FULL STORY: Q&A: Expert discusses new report on how access to transportation affects public health

Maui's Vacation Rental Debate Turns Ugly
Verbal attacks, misinformation campaigns and fistfights plague a high-stakes debate to convert thousands of vacation rentals into long-term housing.

Planetizen Federal Action Tracker
A weekly monitor of how Trump’s orders and actions are impacting planners and planning in America.

San Francisco Suspends Traffic Calming Amidst Record Deaths
Citing “a challenging fiscal landscape,” the city will cease the program on the heels of 42 traffic deaths, including 24 pedestrians.

Adaptive Reuse Will Create Housing in a Suburban Texas Strip Mall
A developer is reimagining a strip mall property as a mixed-use complex with housing and retail.

Study: Anti-Homelessness Laws Don’t Work
Research shows that punitive measures that criminalized unhoused people don’t help reduce homelessness.

In U.S., Urban Gondolas Face Uphill Battle
Cities in Latin America and Europe have embraced aerial transitways — AKA gondolas — as sustainable, convenient urban transport, especially in tricky geographies. American cities have yet to catch up.
Urban Design for Planners 1: Software Tools
This six-course series explores essential urban design concepts using open source software and equips planners with the tools they need to participate fully in the urban design process.
Planning for Universal Design
Learn the tools for implementing Universal Design in planning regulations.
Heyer Gruel & Associates PA
JM Goldson LLC
Custer County Colorado
City of Camden Redevelopment Agency
City of Astoria
Transportation Research & Education Center (TREC) at Portland State University
Jefferson Parish Government
Camden Redevelopment Agency
City of Claremont