LGC: Transportation: Health and Physical Activity

The automobile-dominated planning of the last 50 years has created widespread barriers to people's ability to incorporate physical activity into their daily routines. In 1996, the Surgeon General released a landmark document entitled 'Physical Activity and Health.' This report highlighted physical inactivity as a leading factor of death and disability. Reports have attributed 22-30% of cardiovascular deaths, 30-60% of cancer deaths, and 30 percent of diabetes deaths to sedentary lifestyles and poor dietary habits. Additionally, it is estimated that physical inactivity is a primary factor in more than 200,000 deaths each year in the United States.

Of particular concern are the low levels of physical activity among under-served populations (children, minorities, and low-income). Only about one-half of young people regularly participate in vigorous physical activity and 14 percent of children are sedentary. Only ten percent of children walk to school. Additionally, individuals of Latino heritage, African-American women, and people with less than a high school degree are more likely to be sedentary and overweight.

An overwhelming majority of people are dependent on the automobile to go places - even for recreation. On average, for every ten trips Americans make, nearly nine are auto trips and 25 percent of these trips are less than one mile. Additionally, single-use zoning has isolated and segregated residences, schools, jobs, places of worship, services, and shopping. The combination of auto-supportive development and poor land-use planning has created community environments that are either unsafe or unfriendly for pedestrians or bicyclists to use.

In recent years, public health professionals have been recognizing that the way we plan and build our communities has a serious impact on the health and well-being of our citizens. In fact, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) attributes a sedentary lifestyle, in part, to current land use and transportation patterns. Studies have also found that people are more likely to engage in the required amount of moderate physical activity if they can incorporate it into their daily routine. As a result, public health professionals are emphasizing the need to build communities that encourage people to walk and ride a bicycle as part of their normal, everyday lifestyle. An editorial in the October 1999 Journal of the American Medical Association stated that:

'Reliance on physical activity as an alternative to car use is less likely to occur in many cities and towns unless they are designed or retrofitted to permit walking or bicycling. The location of schools, work sites and shopping areas near residential areas will require substantial changes in community or regional design.'

LGC Projects

In 1998 the Local Government Commission (LGC) started working in partnership with the California Department of Health Services and its Physical Activity and Health Initiative to get this message across to local governments throughout the state. A survey of local elected officials and top staff in late 1998 found that the key motivators for improving the environment for pedestrians and bicyclists would be 'economic development' and 'increased sense of community.' The LGC followed up by providing expert technical assistance to cities throughout the state, with public outreach on this topic, by publishing several guidebooks on pedestrian-friendly design and by preparing fact sheets on a variety of topics related to walkable communities.

Leadership for Active Living – Colorado Front Range Project

Resources

The Local Government Commission has developed two guidebooks that discuss how to design or retrofit streets and neighborhoods to make them more supportive of walking and bicycling.

Street Design Guidelines for Healthy Neighborhoods was written by Dan Burden, director of Walkable Communities, with assistance from a team that included two traffic engineers, an urban designer and a citizen planner. It discusses how to build low-volume, slow speed traditional residential streets.
Streets and Sidewalks, People and Cars: A Citizens' Guide to Traffic Calming, also by Dan Burden, provides detailed information for local government officials and residents on how to retrofit streets to slow the traffic.

Our series of 4-page illustrated fact sheets with a Focus on Livable Communities provide a brief, easy-to-read overview on the following key topics related to walkable communities:

Single copies of these fact sheets are available free from the LGC and can also be downloaded in PDF format from our web page. Bulk copies for wider distribution are also available at a nominal fee.

An additional fact sheet, The "Transportation Tools to Improve Children's Health and Mobility", highlights engineering solutions for more walkable communities.

Web Links

America WALKs (http://www.americawalks.org/)
CA Department of Health Services – Safe Routes to Schools (http://www.dhs.ca.gov/routes2school/)
California Walk to School Day (http://www.cawalktoschool.com/)
Center For Disease Control, Department of Nutrition and Physical Activity (http://www.cdc.gov/nccdphp/dnpa/index.htm)
Health Policy Coach (http://www.healthpolicycoach.org/)
National Center for Bicycling and Walking (http://www.bikefed.org/)
Walk to School Day - USA (http://www.walktoschool-usa.org/)
Walkable Communities, Inc. (http://www.walkable.org)

Events

Information on health and physical activity related events sponsored by the LGC and others.