The 131st Annual Meeting (November 15-19, 2003) of APHA

Abstract #71124

Kristi Kimball, California Deputy Director, Surface Transportation Policy Project (STPP), 1414 K Street, Suite 600, Sacramento, CA 95814 and James Corless, National Field Director, STPP Northern California, 26 O'Farrell St., Suite 400, San Francisco, CA 94108, 415-956-7795, jcorless@transact.org.

The availability of sidewalks, trails, and other elements of pedestrian and bicycle friendly environments greatly influences and encourages children and adults to be more physically active. Over the past decade, by far the largest source of funding to build these facilities has been federal transportation enhancement dollars under the ISTEA and TEA-21 laws. The reauthorization of this source of funding, now under consideration in Congress as the TEA-3 or SAFETEA bill, is a major priority of public health and environmental organizations that are promoting increased physical activity and better transportation choices in the US. This presentation will include an update on the current status of the reauthorization legislation as of November 2003, and discuss estimates of the health impacts of building pedestrian and bicycle friendly environments.

Learning Objectives:

(
• To understand the accomplishments under prior federal funding for transportation enhancements; (
• To understand the current status and potential consequences of the SAFETEA legislation now being considered in Congress; and (
• to illustrate the potential to estimate the health impacts of improved funding for transportation enhancements.

Keywords: Environmental Health, Physical Activity

Related Web page: www.transact.org/default.asp

Presenting author's disclosure statement:
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.