Health Risks for Vulnerable Transit Users

There are many stories of disparities in the determinants of health across communities. For example, in Baltimore, the city health department estimates poverty ranges from 4 to 63 percent, life expectancy ranges from 67 to 87 years, kindergarten readiness ranges from 40 to 100 percent, and on-grade reading proficiency ranges from 40 to 94 percent in eighth graders. Efforts to improve K–12 educational achievement include the option to attend any school within the system, and an estimated 29,000 students rely on city buses. This project will evaluate exposures (of particulate matter and selected volatile organic compounds) experienced by students taking transit to school. Other factors such as travel distance and time will then be used to estimate health risks and explore potential associations with educational metrics such as attendance and grade point average. This work builds on Center for Advancing Research in Transportation Emissions, Energy, and Health (CARTEEH) expertise in exposure assessment with personal monitors and risk assessment and modeling enhanced with capabilities and experience of collaborating universities in transit system modeling and community-participatory and school-based research. Practical applications of this work may include health-based decision tools (a) for families to help in choosing a school by considering the health risks of travel, (b) for the transit system to prioritize bus routes for the deployment of zero-emission buses, and (c) for the transit system to optimize routes by considering efficient travel by students.

Language

• English

Project

• Status: Active
• Funding: $82097
• Contract Numbers:

  69A3552348329

• 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 Advancing Research in Transportation Emissions, Energy, and Health

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

  Ocon, Monica

• Performing Organizations:

  Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore

  Baltimore, MD  United States 
• Principal Investigators:

  Fox, Mary A

• Start Date: 20231101
• Expected Completion Date: 20241031
• Actual Completion Date: 0
• USDOT Program: University Transportation Centers
• Source Data: 01-04-JHU

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Bus transit; Health; Pollutants; Risk assessment; School trips; Students
• Subject Areas: Environment; Passenger Transportation; Planning and Forecasting; Safety and Human Factors; Society;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 01907166
• Record Type: Research project
• Source Agency: Center for Advancing Research in Transportation Emissions, Energy, and Health
• Contract Numbers: 69A3552348329
• Files: UTC, RIP
• Created Date: Feb 6 2024 5:00PM