Transport and health: a marriage of convenience or an absolute necessity

Nieuwenhuijsen, Mark J.; Khreis, Haneen; Verlinghieri, Ersilia; Rojas Rueda, David, 1979-

doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.envint.2015.12.030

Transport and health: a marriage of convenience or an absolute necessity

Citation

Nieuwenhuijsen MJ, Khreis H, Verlinghieri E, Rojas-Rueda D. Transport and health: a marriage of convenience or an absolute necessity. Environment international. 2016; 88: 150-152. DOI 10.1016/j.envint.2015.12.030

Abstract

BACKGROUND: The recent diesel scandal has again highlighted the impact that the transport sector can have on public health. AIM: To describe the current impact of transport planning on public health. RESULT: Transport is fundamental to our cities' economic and social development, but causes large health effects and impact through accidents, air pollution, noise, green space and lack of physical activity. CONCLUSION: There is an urgent need to rebalance and provide better and safer infrastructures and policy support for transport, and particularly, active transport modes, building a new culture for it. A parallel transition in transport and urban planning is needed to improve, in a global and structural way, the relations between urban mobility and health.