I was raised in a community that, until I was in high school, had no access to public transportation. I lived in a small town with no streetlights, no traffic signals, and a grand total of three stop signs. I didn't grow up taking the bus to school or seeing people leaving/arriving in my community on public transportation and thus I never really "learned" how to take a bus. As a child in grade school, and even into high school, I can remember being intimidated by public transportation. I found the idea of riding a bus with strangers to be scary! And what if I missed my stop or got on the wrong bus?
According the the American Public Health Association (APHA) I may have increased my health risks by neglecting public transportation. My risk of dying in a crash while taking public transit is 1/25 that of my risk of dying in a private automobile and since I drive my own car to work, I am 44.6% more likely to be overweight or obese.
The How Does Transportation Affect Public Health? article gave me some insight as to how my transportation habits are negatively impacting the health of my community. "Active Transportation" (exercise) has obvious positive outcomes for the personnel involved, but it also does not generate air/soil/water/noise pollutants. Public transportation options, while still producing some emissions, are generally much lower in pollutants than individual automobiles as well. If I could partake in "Active Transportation" or public transportation more regularly, I could contribute to lowering air/soil/water/noise pollutants in my community and thus make their home environment a more positive social determinant of their health.
Hi Alex,
ReplyDeleteDoes all of this new information affect your commuting style? Will you try and use public transportation more often, or is the efficiency of a car a difficult thing to give up? How could you reduce your health risks through your transportation choices?
I grew up the same way. I remember one time riding the city bus with my cousin and being so frightened when the bus would drive by the uglier sides of town. My cousin used public transportation on a regular basis therefore, she was used to it and not scared at all. However, I was not and would never dare to ride alone. It's interesting to see how public transportation is such a common thing in SF compared to where I'm from (Stockton).
ReplyDeleteResponse: Christina
ReplyDeleteHow interesting that public transportation was a big part of your childhood, and such a small part of mine. In response to your questions above - yes, I mentioned in my blog that "Active Transportation" is something I wish to incorporate more to my day-to-day life. Its a work in progress!
Response: Brianna
Both raised without public transportation - looks like we both know the struggle of trying to learn the system as an outsider. I hadn't considered what public transportation might be like in Stockton, but I'll try and pay more attention to it next time I'm in the area. I know northern CA has a pretty bad rep in general with having easy to access, sensible, public transport.