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Task force on childhood obesity should look at increased opportunity to walk and bike
Photo courtesy of the California Department of Transportation In the last couple of weeks, we suggested First Lady Michelle Obama’s Task Force on Child Obesity consider transportation and the built environment. Another important component is enhancing infrastructure for walking and bicycling. Infrastructure to support walking and biking includes bike lanes, shared-use paths, and routes on […]
Active living means housing choices that get people moving everyday
As First Lady Michelle Obama’s Task Force on Childhood Obesity gets to work identifying policy changes and recommendations for federal agencies, the impact of city design on childrens’ health is one of the first places they ought to look. Current laws and incentives drive where schools, grocery stores, health centers, and parks are located – […]
Michelle Obama’s Let’s Move campaign a positive step, but must emphasize transportation voices
In February, First Lady Michelle Obama announced her exciting “Let’s Move” campaign and the goal of seriously confronting childhood obesity in the United States within a generation. Now, the campaign – more formally known as the Presidential Task Force on Childhood Obesity – is getting to work on an action plan to influence federal policy. This is a great start, but there’s an omission: the task force does not include a representative from the U.S. Department of Transportation.
The potential economic and personal impacts of oil dependence
There isn’t a state in the union that doesn’t depend on oil for transportation. But states have varying levels of dependence, making some far more vulnerable to dramatic economic impacts as the price of oil goes up or down. This new report from the National Resources Defense Council analyzes the vulnerability of each of the 50 states to changes in oil prices.
Speeding up, cleaning up freight movement in the U.S.
Since Chairman Oberstar introduced the Surface Transportation Authorization Act (STAA) last summer, we’ve increasingly heard that addressing freight congestion is going to be a major component of any national transportation policy. We face a choice in how the nation will step up to meet the coming demand — and how clean those solutions will be. The upcoming reauthorization of the federal transportation bill is a great opportunity to help achieve a smarter, greener freight system. The innovative freight projects highlighted in this week’s “Good Haul” report by the Environmental Defense Fund demonstrates the practical solutions that are economically smart, protect us from harmful air pollution, and provide jobs for American workers.
What’s the impact of the Highway Trust Fund patch or an extension of the current bill?
With the House passing a $7 billion patch for the Highway Trust Fund yesterday afternoon to keep it from running out of money before September, we thought it might be useful to post a brief Q&A about the trust fund patch and how the full six-year transportation authorization bill could be affected. The $7 billion patch moves to the Senate for a vote, probably this afternoon, before reaching President Obama’s desk.
56 million people in rural America looking for better transportation solutions
A top priority in the transportation debate is addressing the mobility needs of the 56 million residents of rural areas and small towns in America – about 20 percent of the population of the United States. Rural areas and small towns often fall through the cracks of federal transportation policy, which focuses on statewide priorities for building new highways and often overlooks local needs and preferences. Transportation for America has been working closely with our coalition partners on this important issue for some time. Now, it looks like Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood is also getting on board.
Improving access to healthcare by improving transportation options
We noted transportation’s impact on health care costs and how expanding access to public transportation and investing more money in complete streets safe for walking and biking can improve overall health and lower healthcare costs. We should remember that having transportation options and the ability to easily get where you need to go have a huge impact on whether or not you receive care. How does access to transportation affect the health of Americans?
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