On Transit Oriented Development’s impact on air quality
Here is a quick share of an article on transit oriented development (TOD) and its impacts on the way we travel or commute as well as to our health:
Austin, M. (November 25, 2024) “Transit-Oriented Housing Development Is Great For Density and Walkability. What About Air Quality?” Next City, https://nextcity.org/urbanist-news/transit-oriented-housing-development-air-quality-freeway-pollution [Last accessed: 11/28/2024]
To quote from the article:
“We know that creating transit-oriented districts can have major public health benefits: By concentrating mixed-use development near public transit, residents’ mobility and access to food and services increase, without the need to drive.
But for optimal public health outcomes, it’s essential for planning practitioners to guide decision-makers about the harmful effects of locating housing along freeways and arterials — areas where land is often the easiest to develop. We must implement policies and design strategies that avoid repeating past mistakes and jeopardizing residents’ health.”
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Are transportation issues election issues in the Philippines?
Are transportation issues in the Philippines? Or are these issues at the local level? Here is an article about how transportation issues were brought to light and were actual topics in the ballot in Los Angele, California in the US:
Tu, M. (November 25, 2024 ) “Bike, Bus and Pedestrian Improvements Won the Vote in L.A. How Did Advocates Pull It Off? “ Next City, https://nextcity.org/urbanist-news/bike-bus-pedestrian-improvements-healthy-streets-los-angeles-ballot?utm_source=Next+City+Newsletter&utm_campaign=532838ef65-DailyNL_2024_11_18_COPY_01&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_fcee5bf7a0-532838ef65-44383929 [Last accessed: 11/26/2024]
The three lessons in the article are:
- Build a coalition – “In the lead-up to the election in March, Streets For All successfully secured endorsements from unions, climate organizations and business groups that saw the vision for safer streets.”
- Safety wins – “We could make climate arguments, we could make equity arguments, but the thing that felt the most bulletproof to us and the most empathetic to the general Angeleno was just road safety,”
- Keep it simple – “…simple messages were the most effective. Vredevoogd fought for one billboard on Vermont Avenue that read “In 2022, more pedestrians died on Vermont Avenue than in the state of Vermont.”
Los Angeles or LA as many people fondly call the city is well known for being car-centric (as opposed to San Francisco to the north, which is more transit-oriented). Perhaps we can learn from this experience though I know there are already groups and coalitions lobbying for better transportation in the Philippines. Are they successful and to what extent are they succeeding? Granted there are different situations and conditions, even modalities, to engage politicians, there are also so-called party list groups claiming to represent the transport sector but none appear to be really standing up for issues like improving public transport or road safety. And so the challenge is still there for people to make transportation issues election issues in the country.
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Caught (up) in traffic 