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Executive Summary Why measure active Transportation? Active transportation—generally referring to purpose-orient­ed trips by walking or cycling—can be an important compo­nent of one’s daily travel. Furthermore, active transportation or active travel (hereafter, AT) has important implications for personal health, livability, and environmental resources. Mea­suring changes in AT via well-established indicators is particu­larly relevant in two fields: health and transportation. Those working in the transportation field want to understand the demand for different types of facilities to support sustainable, cost-effective mobility for the entire population. They are also interested in how active transportation links to public trans­portation. Those in the public health field realize that to only focus on exercise misses much routine physical activity done in the course of commuting, paid work, chores, and errands. Both fields aim to measure aspects of active transportation, but…

The topic of barrier-free access is of great importance in Dresden. Dresden has a population of over 508,000 inhabitants, more than 60,000 of whom have a disability. Demographic changes and an increase in the number of older people mean the number of people with disabilities continues to increase.

Abstract The transportation sector is a major source of air pollution worldwide, yet little is known about the effects of transportation infrastructure on air quality. In this paper we measure the effects of one major type of transportation infrastructure – urban rail transit – on air quality. Our approach uses the sharp discontinuity in transit utilization on the opening day of a completely new rail transit system in Taipei, Taiwan, to identify the air quality effects of rail transit infrastructure. Using hourly air quality data from Taiwan we have three central findings. First, we find that the opening of the Metro reduced air pollution from one key tailpipe pollutant, carbon monoxide, by 5 to 15 percent. Second, we find little evidence that the opening of the Metro affected ground level ozone pollution. Third, we find little evidence suggesting that automobile travelers adjusted their time or route of travel to the availability of rail transit. These findings shed new light on…

Boulder has a residential population density greater than Denver – and is 40% more dense than peer cities like Palo Alto, California and Madison, Wisconsin. Still, there are calls by some for much greater density in Boulder. The public debate about increasing Boulder’s density has been emotional and rife with misinformation. A comprehensive analysis of the facts surrounding density and growth in Boulder is desperately needed. This PLAN-Boulder County report examines density and growth from four important aspects: regional transportation, greenhouse gas generation, adequate public services, and affordable housing.

Background: The built environment can constrain or facilitate physical activity. Most studies of the health consequences of the built environment face problems of selection bias associated with confounding effects of residential choice and transportation decisions.

Executive Summary The “20-minute neighborhood” is often thought of as a place wherein daily needs can be met within a walkable area. With Portland•s recently adopted goal of increasing bicycle ridership to a 25% mode share by the year 2030, efforts to incorporate bicycles into this concept will become increasingly important. However, limited research has examined the mix of physical infrastructure and land uses that constitute a “bikeable” neighborhood or community. This paper explores a methodology for assessing a neighborhood•s bikeability based on its mix of infrastructure and destinations – essentially the 20-minute neighborhood for bicycles. The area of outer east Portland, an area east of 82nd Avenue with substantially lower bicycling rates than other Portland neighborhoods, is used as a case study and compared to an assessment of neighborhoods that are considered to be bike-friendly (downtown, inner-east and north Portland). The paper examines prior approaches to…

Alack of reliable, accessible, and affordable transportation is consistently cited as a barrier to employment by people with disabilities. The four Medicaid Infrastructure Grant transportation projects (Illinois, Massachusetts, Minnesota, and New Jersey) profiled in this report illustrate a set of practices that address transportation needs. Although the MIG grants are not intended to provide or fund direct transportation services, state MIGs are well•posi•tioned to use their resources to create linkages with other agencies and entities engaged in accessible transportation planning and service delivery.

This report investigates ways that public transportation affects human health, and ways to incorporate these impacts into transport policy and planning decisions. This research indicates that public transit improvements and more transit oriented development can provide large but often overlooked health benefits. People who live or work in communities with high quality public transportation tend to drive significantly less and rely more on alternative modes (walking, cycling and public transit) than they would in more automobile-oriented areas. This reduces traffic crashes and pollution emissions, increases physical fitness and mental health, and provides access to medical care and healthy food. These impacts are significant in magnitude compared with other planning objectives, but are often overlooked or undervalued in conventional transport planning. Various methods can be used to quantify and monetize (measure in monetary units) these health impacts. This analysis indicates that…