How Car-Oriented Infrastructure Harms Public Health

Does auto-oriented infrastructure make us physically and mentally ill? This is the question that a documentary in the works by Andy Boenau aims to explore. Kea Wilson describes the project in Streetsblog USA.

Decades of research have shown that residents of car-dependent places have higher rates of heart disease, diabetes, chronic respiratory conditions and other ailments associated with sedentary lifestyles and car pollution, especially when compared to residents of walkable areas, who also report higher levels of happiness and a host other social, emotional, and physical benefits.

Boenau says, “it’s even worse than you think it is, but it can get better. As awful as some state regulations are, this is problem so fixable at the local level.”

According to Wilson, “Boenau says he expects even the most well-informed sustainable transportation advocates will learn something new when the film comes together — and his biggest challenge will be keeping it under a one-hour run-time.”