Children’s Exposure to Traffic Pollution in Texas School Districts: Analyzing Social Disparities and Adoption of Mitigation Strategies

This project seeks to analyze social disparities in exposure of school-aged children to vehicular air pollution and examine the adoption of mitigation strategies for reducing school exposure to vehicular pollution, across public school districts in Texas. The specific goals are to: (1) build a geospatial database that allows analysis of school district level associations between traffic-related pollution exposure and socio-demographic characteristics of children; (2) examine which U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)-recommended best practices for reducing school exposure to traffic pollution are being adopted by Texas school districts; and (3) analyze relationships between adoption of these best practices and traffic pollution exposure, socio-demographics of children, and other school district characteristics. This project will address the goals and priorities of the Center for Advancing Research in Transportation Emissions, Energy, and Health (CARTEEH) program in multiple ways. First, results will contribute new data and knowledge on social disparities in traffic pollution exposure for school children—an understudied topic that has significant implications for equitable transportation policy, children’s environmental health, and racial/social justice. Second, findings can be used to inform policy interventions, resource allocation, and transportation infrastructure changes for mitigating the adverse health impacts of vehicular pollution in Texas, especially in school districts where elevated traffic pollution exposure coincides with significantly higher proportions of socially disadvantaged children. Third, it will provide important information on the implementation of mitigation practices adopted by public school districts to reduce vehicular air pollution, as well as factors that influence the successful adoption of best practices.

• Record URL:
  https://www.carteeh.org/childrens-exposure-to-traffic-pollution-in-texas-school-districts-analyzing-social-disparities-and-adoption-of-mitigation-strategies/

Language

• English

Project

• Status: Completed
• Funding: $75000
• Contract Numbers:

  69A3551747128

• Sponsor Organizations:

  Office of the Assistant Secretary for Research and Technology

  University Transportation Centers Program
  Department of Transportation
  Washington, DC  United States  20590
• Managing Organizations:

  Center for Advanced Researchh in Transportation Emissionss, Energy and Health

  Texas A&M Transportation Instiitute
  College Station, Texas  United States  77843
• Project Managers:

  Chakraborty, Jayajit

• Performing Organizations:

  University of Texas at El Paso

  El Paso, TX  United States 
• Principal Investigators:

  Chakraborty, Jayajit

• Start Date: 20210101
• Expected Completion Date: 20230731
• Actual Completion Date: 0
• USDOT Program: University Transportation Centers
• Source Data: 05-51-UTEP

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Air pollution; Air quality management; Annual average daily traffic; Best practices; Demographics; Districts and authorities; Environmental justice; Environmental risk assessment; Equity; Exhaust gases; Geospatial data; Health; School children; Schools; Social factors; Traffic mitigation
• Geographic Terms: Texas
• Subject Areas: Environment; Geotechnology; Highways; Passenger Transportation; Safety and Human Factors; Society;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 01762552
• Record Type: Research project
• Source Agency: Center for Advancing Research in Transportation Emissions, Energy, and Health (CARTEEH)
• Contract Numbers: 69A3551747128
• Files: UTC, RIP
• Created Date: Jan 25 2021 5:38PM