The intersection of transportation and health is significant, and active transportation can play a leading role in improving health outcomes. This was a topic of interest at the 2019 APA National Planning Conference in San Francisco, where a panel on the health of Florida residents served as a springboard into a larger conversation about common health challenges across auto-centric states, and what MPOs and transportation planners can do.

The History of Transportation and Health in Florida

According to Miami’s The New Tropic, older American cities like Boston, New York City, and Chicago were designed at the human scale. New York and Boston’s first settlers arrived in the mid-1600s and Chicago was incorporated in the late 1830s. During this period, each city experienced a pre-automobile boom, so city planners could only rely on what they learned from the human experience to guide the layout of blocks, buildings, streets, and parks.

In contrast, growth and development in Florida first boomed at the height of train and trolley travel in the late 1800s. An even bigger boom came post-WWII when a robust and more affordable automobile industry arrived later. Throughout the “long and lean” state of Florida, transportation networks were built directly through cities. Between them, automobiles served as the primary mode of transportation for people traveling to and from each location.

In fact, the first Florida Interstate (Interstate 4) not associated with a previous highway opened only three years after President Eisenhower signed the Federal Highway Act of 1956. This important piece of highway became the second “interstate” that didn’t connect to another state, opening only months after I-87, which connects New York City to Canada.

Transportation and Health Concerns in Florida Today

Today, the health of Floridians is suffering, and there is a direct connection to transportation networks. Unsafe streets mean pedestrian fatalities and traffic crashes, and long commutes by car are correlated with upticks in obesity, heart disease, and diabetes.

According to the State’s Health Assessment in 2017, nearly 7 out of 10 deaths in Florida were attributed to chronic diseases such as heart disease, hypertension, type-2 diabetes, and obesity. It is important to note that many of these diseases are the easiest to avoid or successfully treat with exercise and physical activity.

Transportation infrastructure investments are needed to build a healthier Florida. Kittelson’s John Paul (JP) Weesner moderated a session at the APA National Planning Conference about how MPOs across the state are responding to these realities.

• In Central Florida, MetroPlan Orlando is promoting health in all transportation policies, an initiative that includes an innovative corridor study focused on health and community engagement. The unprecedented effort is reaching people who have never participated in a transportation planning study.
• Along the East Coast, the Palm Beach TPA is using health impact assessments to inform not only Complete Streets initiatives and regional agency cooperation, but also premium transit planning, the location of transit-oriented developments, and locating specific transit stations in areas that will benefit the most people.
• In the Tampa Bay area, Forward Pinellas is focusing on the 20-Minute Neighborhoods initiative: an effort to overcome gaps and barriers in the transportation network to support active transportation that connects low- and moderate-income residents with everyday destinations and transit service.

Although the conversation started with this panel of Floridians, animated dialogue with attendees revealed that other states face similar challenges when it comes to transportation and health – especially with getting buy-in from local leadership and implementing projects through their various agencies.

“Attendees from California, Arizona, and other states were asking great questions and sharing experiences. A big takeaway for me was how common some of these challenges are across vastly different states,” says JP. “It was powerful to swap ideas and strategies and discuss how we fit into this conversation as transportation planners.”

The Role of Transportation Planners

Metropolitan planning organizations (MPOs) are required to regularly revisit long-range transportation plans to set investment priorities. As transportation consultants support MPOs to uncover their community’s biggest transportation needs and set clear goals for the future, we must look for direct ways to integrate public health in the transportation planning process.

Collaboration is paramount to accurately consider today’s health concerns in future transportation infrastructure investments. “Initiating public-private partnerships that support healthy transportation with private and nonprofit institutions is a critical step in improving public health,” states TransFormCA in a report on public health and transportation planning. This report urges transportation agencies to coordinate their efforts with land use and economic development agencies, public health departments, and social service providers. Better planning and coordination across all state agencies means everyone is working together to improve health outcomes.

Transportation and health education is another critical component. Whether elected officials, MPOs, transportation planners, or the general public, we all need to better understand the intersection between transportation and health. Improved and ongoing education on the health impacts of transportation has implications for every step of the planning process, from data collection to community engagement.

Setting SMART goals is a third way that health considerations find lasting integration into a long-range transportation plan. At a high level, SMART goals are:

S: Strategic; pointing you toward the real challenge you’re trying to solve.

M: Measurable; defining what success will look like, for both planning and operations.

A: Agreed to among all parties; representing a diversity of perspectives.

R: Realistic; reasonably achievable.

T: Time-bound; set within a determined deadline for accountability.

Building health-oriented goals into your decision-making criteria means you will naturally revisit these principles as you move through the scope of your project.

Keep Conversations About Transportation and Health Going

MetroPlan Orlando, Palm Beach TPA, and Forward Pinellas are leading by example in Florida to show how agencies can integrate health priorities in transportation planning, but much ground remains to be covered.

Is your MPO also prioritizing this integration? If you’re reading this as a transportation professional, you can help your organization be a part of the solution. By collaborating thoughtfully with the agencies around you and considering what additional health experts and resources you can bring to the table, you will play a role in bringing health outcomes to the forefront of transportation investment decisions.

We encourage you to reach out to discuss this topic further!