The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act signed by President Obama earlier this year was a step toward expanding health coverage while lowering costs. But there’s far more to be done. A truly comprehensive approach to health must account for transportation’s role in our levels of physical activity.

The American Public Health Association tackles that in a new report titled “The Hidden Health Costs of Transportation.”

For decades, Americans have made great use of the interstate highway system, but our transportation system is outdated and in need of retooling. The promise of convenient inter- and intra-city driving came with unseen drawbacks: long commutes and gridlock that keep Americans stuck in their cars and away from their families.

It doesn’t take a doctor to figure out sitting at work for eight hours a day and driving for another 1-2 can’t be all that good for you. Where we live and how we get there matters. The APHA put it well: “transportation investments and the systems that are developed from them shape lives and communities.”

It’s not just a lack of physical activity that ails us. Our current habits expose us to high asthma rates from pollution and unsafe streets for pedestrians and bicyclists, as outlined in our Dangerous by Design report last year.

So what needs to change? One place to start is by expanding transportation options. Driving will always be a necessity, but Americans have shown their desire for public transportation with their votes and feet. Pollsters found that 82 percent of American voters believe the U.S. would benefit from an improved and expanded public transportation system, and 79 percent of rural residents shared that sentiment as well. Build it and they actually will come, it turns out. The APHA writes:

An investment in a “healthier” transportation system is critical. Providing convenient alternatives, encouraging active modes of transport, and a establishing a transportation system that fosters connectivity and social interaction can not only offset health impacts and costs, but generate health benefits.

In addition to increasing access to other transportation options, the APHA also stresses that health impacts should be considered during the planning and decision-making stages of transportation projects to the fullest extent possible.

Growing recognition of the connection between transportation, land development and health has resulted in some studies and examples where health impacts and costs have been considered and assessed. These examples not only demonstrate that health costs should be a significant factor in decision-making, but also show that calculating such costs is indeed possible.

The APHA has laid out the reasons why our long-term health is distinctly linked to how we get around, and the passage of health care reform should serve an impetus to take the right next steps. Will Congress heed APHA’s counsel as the next surface transportation bill advances?

When we think about our daily commutes to work, walks to the grocery store, or bus rides our kids take to school, there are few things more important than making sure these activities keep us healthy and safe.

After all, the numbers related to these issues are simply staggering — more than 37,000 people killed on our roads in 2008, between $40 and $60 billion in annual health care costs from negative air quality associated with transportation, more than 16 percent of children, and 66 percent of adults, considered overweight or obese due in large part due to a lack of physical activity.

Transportation for America believes that a renewed transportation system must Ensure Safety for All Transportation Users and Improve Public Health Outcomes — a goal that will require some critical changes in the way we approach transportation policy. For that reason, we’ve made it one of six top-line objectives in our Blueprint.

In another post later on this week, we’ll provide you with some of the details for reaching these outcomes; but for now, we wanted to talk about three of our “performance objectives” — measurable outcomes that will come from a new transportation program — that are essential for meeting this goal:

• Triple walking, biking and public transportation usage.
• Improve public safety and lower congestion costs by reducing traffic crashes 50%.
• Achieve zero percent population exposure to at-risk levels of air pollution

Establishing these performance targets in the next transportation bill, and holding states, metro areas, and localities accountable for working towards them, is absolutely critical towards making our roads safer, our air less polluted, and our communities — particularly disadvantages ones — more conducive to healthy activities like walking and biking.

On the surface, it seems slightly obvious to say that if we want to achieve better outcomes, we need to define our goals and make sure that we have a system in place to measure our success. The problem, of course, is that federal policy has never actually established what these goals are.

Dr. Georges Benjamin, the executive director American Public Health Association (a T4 coalition member) said in our recent webinar on safety and public health that the next transportation bill presents a “huge opportunity to benefit the public health” with some major reforms. Unfortunately, he added, there is also an opportunity to do nothing, which will end up harming Americans through more vehicular crashes, less active communities, and worsening air quality.

Let’s make sure the next transportation bill helps make Americans safer and healthier. Check back with us later this week to get a look at some of the specific programs and policies related to public health and safety that Transportation for America is recommending be included in the next transportation bill.