The federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has issued a series of recommendations for improving health through transportation policy by expanding the availability of transportation options and integrating health-enhancing choices into transportation policy.  The recommendations were issued as Congress begins deliberating a multi-year reauthorization bill governing the nation’s transportation policy and funding programs.
CDC believes transportation policy has the potential to improve health and reduce health care costs by preventing chronic diseases, reducing and preventing motor vehicle-related injuries and deaths, and improving environmental health. With these goals in mind, CDC’s recommendations focus on interventions and improvements to transportation policy that can:

 

• Reduce injuries associated with motor vehicle crashes

 

• Encourage healthy community design

 

• Expand public transportation

 

• Promote safe and convenient opportunities for physical activity by supporting active transportation infrastructure

 

• Reduce human exposure to air pollution and adverse health impacts associated with pollutants

 

• Ensure that all people have access to safe, healthy, convenient, and affordable transportation

 

To read the complete recommendation, see

http://www.cdc.gov/transportation/recommendation.htm