Grants

Evaluating the links among physical activity, health, transportation, and land use

The role of transportation decisions and policies on land use and human health is a long-standing area of interest, debate, and research. Growing concerns about the health effects of increased motorized transportation and decreased physical activity raise similar debates. Central to developing effective land use and transportation policies to promote physical activity is having insight into the causes of increasingly sedentary lifestyles and understanding the opportunities to effect change through public decisions. The changes in development patterns and travel behavior over the last few decades may have significantly affected human health. The purpose of this project is to convene a National Academy of Sciences/Transportation Research Board (NAS/TRB) panel study to evaluate the existing evidence linking transportation, land use, and human health (particularly physical activity). This Board is often called upon by the Department of Transportation for evidentiary support for policy decisions. The panel will examine the literature to determine how well the complex forces affecting development and travel are understood, how well policies to shift behavior are working, and how they might be improved. The project will deliver a number of commissioned papers and a final NAS/TRB report with policy and research recommendations.

Grant Details

Amount Awarded $720,000.00

Awarded on: 8/30/2002

Time frame: 9/1/2002 - 4/30/2005

Grant Number: 45826

Grantee

National Academy of Sciences

500 5th Street, N.W.
Washington, DC, 20001-2736

202-334-2000
Website

Stephen Godwin
Project Director

202-334-2934
Email

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