Transportation and Health: Policy Interventions for Safer, Healthier People and Communities. (2011). Partnership for Prevention, Safe Transportation Research and Education Center (SafeTREC) at UC Berkeley and Booz Allen Hamilton.
Communities looking to promote health and safety through land use and transportation policies can turn to this report, Transportation and Health: Policy Interventions for Safer, Healthier People and Communities. The report focuses on the effects of policy on three areas: environment and environmental health, community design and active transportation, and automobile injuries and fatalities. Researchers took a comprehensive approach when examining policy and detail the extent of each policies’ use, health benefits gained, economic costs, and implementation strategies.
Of particular interest is the section focused on policies supporting active transportation, especially those that make walking and bicycling easy and accessible. Among the policies discussed are those that support 1) building facilities such as sidewalks, bike lanes, and bike parking; 2) encouraging street connectivity to limit block size and support dense development; and 3) providing wayfinding resources like maps and signs. Funding and implementing programs that advance the needs of pedestrians and bicyclists are important as well, including Safe Routes to School, Complete Streets, and Context-Sensitive Design. Further integration of public transit with bicycling and walking would also help increase the mode share of all three modes.