Environmental Health Impacts Of Transport And Mobility

The health effects of society’s mobility and transport are addressed with a global perspective, including such topics as the effects of air pollution, noise, and sedentarism.

This book brings together the scientific evidence on the main effects of transport on human health and the environment. It sets the conceptual framework for future analyses of the health burden and health gains from transport policies. It outlines how these health concerns have been reflected in policy tools such as impact assessment, regulation and economic analysis, and identifies the areas where action is most needed. Discussions of the environment and health effects of transport need to be communicated in a way that is relevant for policy-makers and easily understood by nonscientists. That is the aim of this book, which summarizes the results of extensive reviews of the issues prepared by groups of prominent international experts. It is also planned to release the reviews themselves, to give a more detailed account of the scientific evidence. [Foreword]

Environmental health researchers have long used concepts like the neighborhood effect to assessing people’s exposure to environmental influences and the associated health impact. However, these are static notions that ignore people’s daily mobility at various spatial and temporal scales (e.g., daily travel, migratory movements, and movements over the life course) and the influence of neighborhood contexts outside their residential neighborhoods. Recent studies have started to incorporate human mobility, non-residential neighborhoods, and the temporality of exposures through collecting and using data from GPS, accelerometers, mobile phones, various types of sensors, and social media. Innovative approaches and methods have been developed. This Special Issue aims to showcase studies that use new approaches, methods, and data to examine the role of human mobility and non-residential contexts on human health behaviors and outcomes. It includes 21 articles that cover a wide range of topics, including individual exposure to air pollution, exposure and access to green spaces, spatial access to healthcare services, environmental influences on physical activity, food environmental and diet behavior, exposure to noise and its impact on mental health, and broader methodological issues such as the uncertain geographic context problem (UGCoP) and the neighborhood effect averaging problem (NEAP). This collection will be a valuable reference for scholars and students interested in recent advances in the concepts and methods in environmental health and health geography.

This volume brings together the world’s leading experts on urban and transport planning, environmental exposures, physical activity, health and health impact assessment to discuss challenges and solutions in cities. The book provides a conceptual framework and work program for actions and outlines future research needs. It presents the current evidence-base, the benefits of and numerous case studies on integrating health and the environment into urban development and transport planning. Within cities there is a considerable variation in the levels of environmental exposures such as ambient air pollution, noise, and temperature, green space availability and physical activity. Many of these exposures, and their adverse health impacts, are related to and are being exacerbated by urban and transport planning and policy. Emerging research suggests that urban and transport planning indicators such as road network, distance to major roads, traffic density, household density, industry, and natural and green space can explain a large proportion of the variability in environmental exposures and therefore represent important and highly modifiable factors. The urban environment is a complex interlinked system. Decision-makers need not only better data on the complexity of factors in environmental and developmental processes affecting human health, but also an enhanced understanding of the linkages between these factors and health effects to determine at which level to target their actions most effectively. In recent years, there also has been a shift from trying to change at the national level to more comprehensive and ambitious actions being developed and implemented at the regional and local levels. Cities have come to the forefront of providing solutions for environmental issues such as climate change, which has co-benefits for health, but yet need better knowledge for wider health-centric action. This book provides the latest and most up-to-date information and studies for academics and practitioners alike.

Mass transportation has become central to the lifestyle of developed societies - but with what consequences for the environment and, ultimately, human health? Transport and the Environment investigates the major aspects of this emotive subject, with contributions from authors with international reputations for their research in the field. Discussions encompass air transport and its contribution to global pollution, the possible consequences of using hydrogen as a fuel, performance indicators and policy instruments for sustainable transport, the contamination of the atmosphere and surface waters by road vehicles, the impact of surface transport on climate, and the effects of transport pollutants on public health. This authoritative review of the current state of knowledge will be of great value to scientists, policy-makers and students on environmental science and engineering courses.

This publication brings together an international group of researchers and presents work from different countries dealing with issues related to transport policy, attitudes and mode choice, car sharing and alternative modes of transport, and discusses the future of non-motorized modes of transport.

This volume reviews the ecological effects of road, rail, marine and air transport. The focus ranges from identification of threats and repair of damaging effects to design of future transport systems that minimize environmental degradation. The scope of coverage extends from small ecosystems to the planet as a whole. Experts from a variety of disciplines address the topic, expressing views across the spectrum from deep pessimism to cautious optimism.

Transportation and Health provides state-of-the-art knowledge on the many linkages between transport and health, the available tools needed to estimate and evaluate the health impacts of transport, future technologies, the developments that can change the direction and magnitude of the health impacts, and the policy and education issues that can result in better practice and knowledge translation. The book provides valuable information on how and why to take health into consideration in transport planning and policy, showing how to estimate the impacts of transport on health in planning, policymaking, education and workforce development. Explores the latest advances on the full spectrum of connections between transport and health Offers a "roadmap" on how transport impacts health Includes tools for analyzing and estimating the health impacts of transport Shows what research and practice gaps need attention Includes contributions from leading scholars, practitioners and policymakers