3.5 Transportation

The American Public Health Association released a report from 2012 which identifies how the US public transportation system can help better the health and equity for all in the nation.

The following is on the agenda for Actions Needed:
The federal surface transportation authorization presents the nation with an opportunity to reinvent and improve its transportation network — including public transportation — to better promote health and equity across cities and towns, whether urban, suburban or rural

This stood out to me as something that is starting to get more attention.
With increased gasoline, toll and parking prices not everyone wants to drive.
Some other recent observations in my city. Oakland, California:

  • BART has upgraded its trains. 
  • In downtown Oakland, the Broadway Ave bus is available for people to take for FREE and has probably helped a lot of people to get around without car. 
  • More bike lanes are being constructed. Especailly in North Oakland and Lake Merritt areas. 
  • Blue Ford bikes and Lime green electric scooters have become very popular. 
  • More UBER and Lyft driving incentives

Comments

  1. Terrianne GSeptember 15, 2018 at 2:07 PM

    that's really cool how Oakland has free transit services in certain areas - a lot about encouraging people to use these resources is to withdraw the barrier of price (make it free!) Is Oakland a bike friendly city? I'm not in Oakland enough to know how functional it is to share bike lanes with cars, but in SF ... it's become a big mess. Bikes often drive in regular car lanes, thus endangering both parties (bikes swerve into car lanes, car lanes don't see / know their boundaries). Downtown SF is even more confusing because they specifically designated what was once 3 car lanes, is now 1 car lane, 1 BUS/ taxi only lane , and one bike lane (not to mention motorcycles zooming through all 3 lanes) It's a mess, people are often ticketed for being in the wrong lanes ... which causes more traffic. I wish the policies who initiated some of these would be more mindful of how heavy traffic flow is.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Ayla EvinsSeptember 16, 2018 at 4:38 PM

    The Bay Area does seem to be trying to improve transportation issues. I image it's very difficult because the infrastructure just wasn't built for so many people! So now they are trying to rebuilt or find ways to improve what was already built.
    I think the electric scooters and rent-able bikes are really great options! Cities just need to figure out the right policies to make sure they are safe and effective for everyone. I recently heard that the blue Ford bikes have a monthly subscription that is much cheaper for low income individuals which I thought was a great idea! I know they also work with cities to try and make sure that a certain percentage of the docking stations are places in low income communities.
    I think it will take time, but I really hope the bikes and scooters help with the traffic problems in the bay area.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

12.9 Climate Change

The one thing I find most troubling about climate change is that almost everything we as human beings do in our daily lives is contributing to the increased temperature of our atmosphere.  As a public health professional I think that the issue of livestock emitted greenhouse gases should be addressed and made more aware of publicly. Most people do not know that the raising of chickens, cows and other livestock contribute to a majority of released methane in the atmosphere.  If my grandmother was still alive I would tell her how over the years that due to the increased amounts of air pollution and releasing of gases into the environment our earths temperature is changing. The environment is getting warmer and all living organisms are finding it more and more difficult to live with these changes in climate. 
Read more

7.7 - Agency Role

Image
I chose the U.S. Chemical and Safety & Hazard Investigation Board. ( https://www.csb.gov/about-the-csb/ ) The CSB is an independent federal agency that investigates industrial chemical accidents.  This agency is responsible for identifying root causes for chemical accidents, usually caused by deficiencies in safety management systems. Other accident causes often involve equipment failures, human errors, unforeseen chemical reactions or other hazards.  The agency does not issue fines or citations, but does make recommendations to plants, regulatory agencies such as the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), industry organizations, and labor groups.  The CSB is located in Washington, DC. The U.S. President is responsible for appointing members of its board. 
Read more

Final Blog

Wow, what can I say. The semester is coming to an end. I am going to be quite honest that this class has been overwhelming. Not just in the amount of work  needed to complete for the class, but mostly because of the subject matter itself. I have been introduced to many forms and types of environmental stressors and threats that it is quite scary. Sadly, most of the problems are caused by the way we function and live in our daily lives. I do not have one specific favorite topic but here are a few things I am more aware of now in my daily practice. - raising livestock contributes a lot to climate change - plastic water bottle awareness - toxic particles in our air/fires - the importance of dirt/compost - zero waste lifestyle - disaster preparation - earthquakes especially today, here in the Bay. Overall I enjoyed this class, and all its content. Although, I will not recommend the online version of the class because there is a lot of material to cover,  I realize I d...
Read more