Transportation and Health: Tools for Community Engagement

Engagement of communities is a critical element of promoting health in transportation and promoting community-centered decision-making. This project uses dissemination and implementation research methods for a unique application in the metropolitan Atlanta to develop a framework and community-engagement tools for transportation planners. Atlanta has some of the worst traffic congestion in the United States, and traffic-related air pollution has contributed to poor air quality in the region. Atlanta’s transportation system also carries a legacy of historical housing and transportation policies to mandate residential segregation. For example, Interstate 20 (I-20), the east-west corridor that connects with I-75 and I-85 in the downtown center of Atlanta. Currently, transportation planning in Atlanta exists within this historical context and requires a health-focused outlook to mitigate the impacts of these historical decisions. Community leaders of neighborhood planning units (NPUs) in Atlanta are routinely engaged in decisions of neighborhood development and redevelopment, light rail systems planning, the expansion of the Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority, transit-oriented development (e.g., the Atlanta Beltline Project), and what constitutes a safer, more equitable and sustainable transportation network. This project will explore advances in transportation systems and associated technologies in relationship to community health, with a focus on Atlanta as a case study. The project will be conducted collaboratively with NPU leaders to increase awareness of issues related to transportation and health and how new systems and technologies address the concerns and needs of each neighborhood. The results of the project will be used to develop a framework and informational and screening tools related to health that can be used by transportation practitioners for public or community engagement.

    Language

    • English

    Project

    • Status: Active
    • Funding: $18208
    • 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 Healthy and Efficient Mobility

      Texas A&M Transportation Institute
      College Station, TX  United States  77807
    • Project Managers:

      Ocon, Monica

    • Performing Organizations:

      Morehouse School of Medicine

      720 Westview Dr. SW
      Atlanta, GA  United States  30310
    • Principal Investigators:

      Mayberry, Robert

    • Start Date: 20231101
    • Expected Completion Date: 20241031
    • Actual Completion Date: 0
    • USDOT Program: University Transportation Centers
    • Source Data: 01-06-MSM

    Subject/Index Terms

    Filing Info

    • Accession Number: 01907165
    • Record Type: Research project
    • Source Agency: Center for Advancing Research in Transportation Emissions, Energy, and Health (CARTEEH)
    • Contract Numbers: 69A3552348329
    • Files: UTC, RIP
    • Created Date: Feb 6 2024 4:58PM