Health Co-Benefits from Green Transportation: The Triple-Win Biking Project

Abstract

ISEE-0924 Abstract: With the recognition that global climate change is real and likely will cause many societal, health and environmental risks, sustainable energy, agriculture and transportation options have rapidly risen in priority. Yet, how well do we understand the trade-offs (both negative and positive) of such sweeping measures? For example, urban sprawl contributes to health risks of both obesity and air pollution, particularly regarding modes of transportation. Within the United States, nearly 100 cities exceed the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency National Ambient Air Quality Standard for ozone pollution. Though fuel efficiency standards have improved, the average number of miles driven has increased dramatically. Forty percent of automobile trips in the United States are shorter than two miles and over twenty-five percent are less than one mile - easily walkable or bikeable. We researched what the benefit of replacing shorter car trips with bicycle trips would be to: (1) global climate change mitigation from reduced greenhouse gas emissions, (2) improvement in local air quality and human health, and (3) caloric expenditure and subsequent improvement to personal fitness. Urban design can influence societal activity patterns as well as environmental impacts such as air pollution. We are examining the eleven largest cities in the Midwest, US and developing a city-specific health index based on the ability to replace car travel with bicycling. By utilizing regional air pollution models and exposure-response respiratory disease models, we quantify the triple benefits on health via personal fitness, air pollution reductions, and mitigation of greenhouse gas emissions.