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HERO ID
6388824
Reference Type
Book/Book Chapter
Title
Chapter sixteen - Incorporating health impacts in transportation project decision-making in the United States
Author(s)
Christofa, E; Esenther, SE; Godri Pollitt, KJ
Year
2020
Publisher
Elsevier
Location
Amsterdam, Netherlands
Book Title
Advances in Transportation and Health: Tools, Technologies, Policies, and Developments
Page Numbers
343-369
Language
English
DOI
10.1016/B978-0-12-819136-1.00016-4
URL
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/B9780128191361000164
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is a chapter of
7473119
Advances in transportation and health: Tools, technologies, policies, and developments
Abstract
Transportation can impact health through exposure to air pollution, noise, and traffic injuries as well as influence physical activity levels by encouraging or discouraging active transportation. In addition, transportation can affect access to opportunities and mitigate or worsen equities related to all of these exposures. It is therefore critical to recognize and assess health impacts of transportation projects, plans, and policies and develop prioritization frameworks in order to make transportation decisions that support health communities. Health impacts have been accounted for in transportation decision-making in the United States primarily through two approaches: (1) health impact assessments (HIAs) and (2) project scoring and prioritization frameworks. This chapter describes these two approaches, their applications, as well as the documented impact they have had on actual transportation decisions. While HIAs in transportation have not commonly been successful in influencing decision-making, they have initiated collaborations between the health and transportation sectors and improved the awareness of transportation impacts on health. On the other hand, it is common for departments of transportation and metropolitan planning organizations to develop project scoring criteria and prioritization frameworks to assist them in their decision-making. While most of these frameworks have not been developed with a health focus, they do account for health considerations through inclusion of criteria related to accessibility, air quality, equity, physical activity, and safety. Documented impacts of health-focused scoring frameworks indicate their success in increasing funding for active transportation projects. Overall, there is a growing interest in incorporating health in transportation decision-making and adjusting project scoring criteria is seen as a cost-effective way to achieve this.
Keywords
Project prioritization and scoring framework; transportation project decision-making; health impact assessment (HIA)
Editor(s)
Khreis, Haneen
ISBN
978-0-12-819136-1
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