Transportation includes various modes of travel like public transportation (buses, trains, light rail), driving or riding in a car on roads and highways, and active transportation (bike paths, pedestrian paths, and sidewalks). It also includes the larger transportation infrastructure like ports, airports, and freight travel. Transportation impacts individual and communal health in two main ways: transportation access and exposure to environmental hazards.
Like every built environment, there are deep disparities in transportation systems throughout Washington. For more information about the access in your community, you can browse the Washington Transit Access Map.
Transportation Access
There are two categories of transportation access:
- Access to large-scale transportation networks like bus routes, light rail, main roadways, sidewalks, and bike paths.
- Access to day-to-day places and services like school, work, grocery stores, and health care facilities.
Limited transportation options affect your physical activity throughout the day. Active forms of transportation like biking, walking, and taking public transit (including walking to and from bus stops and destinations) increase the amount of physical activity in your day. Alternatively, driving alone and carpooling are connected to a decrease in physical activity. Physical activity is important for health as it reduces the risk of cardiovascular disease, diabetes, and some cancers.
Depending on where you live in Washington, as well as your personal experiences, your access to transportation will vary. In many places across the state, the only way to access grocery stores and doctor’s offices is by driving in a car. Roughly 30% of people in the state are unable to drive, according to the Washington State Legislature Joint Transportation Committee. This percentage doesn’t include people that can’t afford a car, people struggling to afford car maintenance, or people who can’t afford gas.
Limited transportation access is a structural problem. People who can’t easily access a grocery store or don’t have the ability to eat healthy food, don’t have the benefit of a healthy diet. Similarly, if a senior can’t drive to a doctor’s appointment so their only choice is to prolong needed care, their health is impacted negatively.
Exposure to Environmental Hazards
The transportation system can also impact where we live and work regardless of the mode of transportation that an individual uses. Traffic-related air pollution from cars and trucks creates poor air quality across the state and country, impacting the health of individuals and communities. Homes, schools, and workplaces that are close to highways and heavily trafficked roadways put people at higher risk of asthma, cardiovascular disease, and cancer. These risks are further increased for children, older adults, and during pregnancy.
Highways, busy roadways, airports, and railways also produce heavy noise pollution, which worsens sleep quality, makes it harder to focus on work or school, and increases stress. All these effects put people at risk of developing chronic disease like high blood pressure.
Transportation networks, especially highways and large roadways, are made up of massive amounts of concrete. While there may be vegetation or trees on the side of the road, roadways contribute to the urban heat island effect. This means that a place will heat faster and cool down slower. Heat related illness is dangerous and is becoming more common as we feel the impacts of climate change.
Transportation is the single largest source of the United States’ greenhouse gas emissions—28% in 2022 according to the EPA
Transportation also considers other built environments like neighborhood conditions, food access, and parks and green space. Review funding opportunities.