https://reasonstobecheerful.world/free-transit-healthier-communities/
"A few years ago Christiana Sylvaine stopped driving. Diagnosed with
narcolepsy, she’d had a few incidents behind the wheel that scared her. So she
sold her car and turned instead to the two bus lines that ran within blocks of
her home in Kansas City, Missouri. When Sylvaine boarded the bus, she never
paid a fare.
That’s because Kansas City’s public bus system stopped charging riders
altogether in 2020, becoming the largest city in the U.S. to adopt a zero-fare
policy.
For Sylvaine, saving money on parking, gas and bus rides gave her more
financial flexibility. And she believes that free use of the bus system had an
impact on her health. When a health issue came up, she didn’t hesitate to seek
medical care.
“I was more inclined to not just brush it off or something like that, because I
had access really easily to those bus services,” she says.
The connection between transportation and health may not be obvious. But how
people get around communities is interconnected with physical and mental
wellbeing. Easy access to public transit is linked with direct health impacts,
like increased levels of physical activity. Transportation also opens doors to
other factors that contribute to health — as Sylvaine found with her health
care appointments.
“It’s the linkage between you and all of these other things that impact your
health,” says Amanda Grimes, an associate professor of health sciences at the
University of Missouri–Kansas City. “Access to food itself is a social
determinant of health. But how do you get access to food? It usually takes
transportation.”
Across the U.S., 5.7 percent of adults don’t have access to reliable
transportation to get around for their daily needs. One in five Americans who
don’t have access to a car or public transportation have gone without necessary
medical care.
According to Kelly Clifton, an associate professor in transportation planning
at the University of British Columbia, transportation is important not only for
people to be able to get to necessary destinations — like work or the grocery
store — but also to partake in leisure activities.
“The mere nature of being able to engage in society wholly sets you up for
health success, better health outcomes from the get-go,” Clifton says."
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
