Health

The Facts
1950s. Fifty years ago, Americans used transit for work, shopping, and recreation; they took the train to visit friends and relatives in other cities; they walked or bicycled to church or school.

Fifty years ago, the United States also began building the Interstate System. The federal government provided 80 percent of the funds, allocating very little for transit and almost nothing for walking or bicycling. Not surprisingly, Americans began driving more, living farther from work, and walking less. The result? Worse air quality and decreasing physical activity.

21st Century. Americans don’t necessarily choose to do all this driving. Many neighborhoods constructed since the 1970s don’t have sidewalks or well-connected streets, making it difficult to walk anywhere. Also, new highways made it easier to live in Minnetonka, work in Minneapolis, and drive the kids to soccer games in Blaine and Golden Valley. In many communities, getting out of the car is not only difficult; it often borders on impossible.

Today, 65 percent of Americans are obese or overweight, and 73 percent aren’t getting regular physical activity. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has labeled obesity an epidemic, noting a need for better nutrition and increased physical activity

The Issue
Too many communities lack opportunities for physical activity; biking to work isn’t easy when the office is three cities away, and using transit is tough when the Governor and the Legislature won’t adequately fund the current transit system. Physical activity has literally been engineered out of our communities—and Transit for Livable Communities, along with its partners, is working to bring it back in.

Transit for Livable Communities Work

• Transit for Livable Communities is managing a new federal pilot program that will provide nearly $21 million over four years to expand bicycle and pedestrian networks in Minneapolis and adjoining communities. Learn more!
• Transit for Livable Communities also published "Sharing the Road: Encouraging Biking and Walking in Minnesota" in August 2003. Check out the section entitled "Biking and Walking Today" for more information on health.

Resources
Organizations

• The Active Living Network promotes active, healthy environments by building a national coalition of professional leaders who have a stake in the health impacts of how places are designed and built. Check out its resource library for an exhaustive list of documents with strategies to promote active living.
• The Blue Cross Foundation “addresses key factors that determine health: early childhood development, housing, social connectedness and the environment.”
• Minnesota Department of Transportation (MNDot) administers Minnesota's Safe Routes to School program, which aims to reverse the 30 year decline in the numbers of children walking to school and reintroduce opportunities for regular physical activity.
• Allina provided financing for the Midtown Greenway Bike Station.
  

Publications

• "Health Care Costs Due to Physical Inactivity Approach $500 Million per Year in Minnesota." Minnesota Department of Health, May, 2002.
• The Surface Transportation Policy Project, a diverse, nationwide coalition working to ensure safer communities and smarter transportation choices, published "Transportation and Health" They also published the following:
  • "Mean Streets 2002," which looks at the perils facing pedestrians
  • "Americans' Attitudes Toward Walking and Creating Better Walking Communities," which finds that the American public wants to walk more places more often, and is willing to invest in making it possible.
  • Other health-related publications.
• We’re glad the Federal Highway and Transportation Administrations believe in "Integrating Health and Physical Activity Goals into Transportation Planning."
• "Is Your Neighborhood Made for Walking?" asks the City and County of San Francisco.
• The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation sponsored a grant that concluded "Transportation Advocates Drive Home the Message: Federal Support Needed for Health-Oriented Transportation Policies."