Citation

Balsas CJL. J. Transp. Health 2017; 5: 182-188.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2017, Elsevier Publishing)

DOI

10.1016/j.jth.2016.10.006

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

This essay reviews four books on how the transportation industry is directly and indirectly shaping health. The authors report on how to improve cities from the perspective of the least polluting and most energy efficient modes - pedestrians, bicyclists and transit. A broad panoply of innovative and time-tested set of street smart strategies is presented. The authors note that many developing countries have become quite savvy at skipping rungs in their developmental processes and are now building bus rapid transit (BRT), light rail, metro and rail systems to obviate the negative consequences caused by too much automobile dependence. Two important perspectives prevail. The first is Newman and Kenworthy's (2015) scholarly, data-driven, and research-intensive characterization of how many urban dwellers in a selected sample of almost fifty cities throughout the world are apparently living, working and playing more independently of the automobile. The second is Speck's (2012), Schwartz's and Rosen (2015), and Sadik-Khan and Solomonow's (2016) unique but complementary perspectives on the subtleties of their work as consultants, advisors and public policy officials in New York City and a myriad of other cities, mostly throughout the United States.

Language: en

Keywords

Developing countries; Urban areas; Cyclists; Pedestrians; Walking; Nonmotorized transportation; Cities and towns; Physical fitness