About our Transportation Work
An overview of our campaign and how you can get involved
Posted: 31-Aug-2007; Updated: 30-Oct-2008
As we resume our regular schedules and students head back to school, we're using the month of September to highlight America's transportation system. From coast to coast, there isn't a metropolitan area not plagued by some form of slow commutes, gridlocked streets or poor access to public transit.
The transportation infrastructure in this country is in dire need of improvement. Built to accommodate a growing population in the 1950s, it's now outdated and unable to efficiently move people and goods in environmentally sustainable ways. More stress is put on our roadways because people today are using them more than they were even a decade ago.
For too long, funding has been allocated for building more roadways rather than trying to better use what already exists. Urban sprawl has contributed to our transportation woes since many more people now live in areas that are not conducive to walking or taking public transit, thus requiring folks to drive more frequently and often times for longer distances. Not only is this a frustrating aspect of our daily lives but our current mode of transportation also poses major health and environmental risks.
The costs of air pollution on health and global warming are rarely accounted for in transportation and land use decisions. Transportation is the fastest growing major source of global warming pollution in America. Other traffic emissions, especially diesel soot, are widely implicated in triggering asthma attacks and impairing lung function. Some studies have found associations between traffic-related exposures, strokes and cancers, including childhood leukemia.
But, there is good news. A shift is taking place. Local transportation planners are implementing innovative, cost effective transportation projects that are mindful of health and the environment.
As we gear up for 2009, when the current Transportation Bill will be renewed, Environmental Defense will focus on how to ensure that health, climate and cost are factored into the plans to improve our nationwide transit system. Meaningful transportation reform should focus on these four principles:
- Enhance public health, safety and quality of life
- Provide better and more equitable mobility and access
- Minimize global warming pollution emissions
- Enhance economic competitiveness and efficiency
We've brought you our Transportation Transformation campaign this month to explain the ins and outs of how our transportation systems can be improved. We're highlighting the good and the bad from coast to coast and offering simple steps you can take to improve transportation and the environment for yourself, your family and friends, and your local community.
