Nashville, compared to similar cities like Austin, Raleigh, Denver and Dallas, ranks last when it comes to the health of our citizens. That’s right: the last dead.
Nashville has by far the lowest life expectancy, the worst mental health, the least physical activity, and the highest rates of infant mortality, smoking, and obesity. This is unacceptable, especially for a growing, prosperous city filled with innovative healthcare companies and thought leaders. We can do better.
Nashville’s growth is rapidly outpacing our transportation capacity. And that, in turn, impacts the … [+] health and well-being of each of us.
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Health is a product of both our environment and the individual. It is the complex interaction between the two. And, in fact, many environmental and non-medical factors that lie completely outside the walls of hospitals and clinics have a direct impact on a person’s health and well-being. Poor health affects all aspects of our lives. It results in an overall poor quality of life, less happiness, and less productivity. Ultimately, it also leads to being left behind.
And that’s why good, common-sense policies are so important: they can help lead our communities to healthier futures. Therefore, as a physician and former government policymaker, I encourage each of us to view ALL policy proposals, at all levels of government, through a lens of how they will affect mental, emotional, and physical health. of each person, family, and community.
Transportation is health
Healthy cities require equally healthy transportation infrastructure to foster growth, connectivity and well-being. It may seem cliché, but transportation really is health. And the nonprofit health collaborative, NashvilleHealth, has identified that unequal access to social and non-medical determinants of health, access to transportation being a prime example, underlies much of the poor health we experience. characterizes Nashville when we compare ourselves to other cities. And this only gets worse.
Nashville’s growth is rapidly outpacing our transportation capacity. And that, in turn, impacts the health and well-being of each of us. This is not a new problem. And this year voters will have the opportunity to shape our transportation infrastructure.
Nashville’s current mayor, Mayor Freddie O’Connell, has proposed a modest transportation plan that begins to modernize our transportation infrastructure, at a time when the city is experiencing exciting growth in people, businesses, and cultural resources. The Transportation Improvement Program (TIP) introduces a sales tax (Nashville is just one of four of the 50 largest U.S. cities that currently has no funding designated for transportation), but the plan on The table is a scaled-down version of previous bills. .
“Choose How You Move gives us the opportunity to improve the quality of life for Nashvillians by supporting their well-being, reducing the cost of transportation, and making our roads safer for everyone, no matter how they choose to use them,” the mayor shared O.-Connell. “The benefits to public health are wide-ranging: reduced traffic accidents and pollution, increased physical fitness, improved mental health, improved basic access to health care and healthy food, and reduced financial stress for households. low income”.
The proposed program promises to make Nashville’s transit infrastructure more efficient, accessible and affordable. But the purpose of this article is not to debate the merits of Mayor O’Connell’s referendum. Rather, it’s about looking at the impact TIP will have on our health, and the benefits are clear.
Here’s how I see the impact of the Mayor’s TIP on the health of our residents:
Signs: Six hundred signalized intersections will beuag”> modernized with new traffic light technology. These smart signals will adjust in real time to changes in traffic patterns, reducing congestion and substantially improving travel times.
Less time in traffic waiting unnecessarily at traffic lights (less time slowing down, idling, and then accelerating) and less overall time on the road reduces levels of our body’s stress hormone, cortisol. This benefits our mental and emotional health. Studies show that longer commutes to and from work, for example, affect employees’ overall job satisfaction as well as leisure time satisfaction. And less time traveling also reduces more widespread physical and emotional fatigue.
These signals will also improve our air quality and, in doing so, our immune system. Starting and stopping, waiting at traffic lights, spending more time in the car – each of these factors generates more air pollution. And this poisonous pollution directly correlates with more heart attacks, strokes, asthma, emphysema, and lung cancer. The combination of physiological body stress with increased emissions and pollution inhibits the body’s immune system, making us more susceptible to infections of all kinds.
Sidewalks: Eighty-six miles of sidewalks will be added or improved (60% of which will be in traditionally underrepresented neighborhoods).
Nashville consistently ranks as one of the least walkable cities in the United States, and greater community walkability reduces stress, smoking, and symptoms of depression. These sidewalk improvements will allow one-third of Nashville residents to have pedestrian access to a public transportation stop, which will also reduce the need for motorized trips, decrease travel times, and reduce traffic-related air pollution. This translates into better respiratory conditions such as wheezing and asthma, fewer acute and chronic cardiovascular and pulmonary diseases and, consequently, fewer costly hospitalizations and healthier, more productive work days.
Many of the neighborhoods that will see a big increase in sidewalks under the mayor’s proposal are hotbeds of higher rates of chronic diseases such as hypertension, diabetes and obesity. Multiple studies reinforce observations that residents with sidewalks have a significant reduction in obesity and high blood pressure levels because they have the opportunity to walk and exercise more.
Bus service: Bus service hours will increase by 80%. The service will expand to connect even more neighborhoods and prepare Nashville for regional connections, organized through 12 transit hubs and 17 park and ride locations.
Nashville households earning less than the median spend more than half of their income on transportation and housing expenses. Efficient and affordable public transportation allows people to travel more economically and reliably to and from work. This catalyzes access to job opportunities and increases opportunities to participate in the local economy (both of which have a positive impact on economic productivity and growth). These same benefits will extend to greater access to health-promoting behaviors, such as nutritious foods, recreational activities, employment, and social interaction.
And the TIP will also improve environmental aspects around traffic corridors by incorporating street trees, plantings and other green elements. Vegetation around bus stops serves to minimize exposure to diesel and air pollution. These green areas also provide shade, allowing for safer movement around the city during extreme heat events.
Security: Mobility options and safety will increase by redesigning 35 high-injury intersections to reduce risks.
Last year, 37 people lost their lives while walking or biking in Nashville. Well-designed pedestrian infrastructure encourages walking and cycling as convenient and desirable modes of transportation. This promotes physical activity and greener transportation, both of which are crucial for maintaining good heart and lung health, reducing obesity, and improving overall fitness and mental health.
To improve pedestrian safety, street improvements will focus on safer intersections with well-marked bike lanes, better street lighting, and more pedestrian sidewalks. At complex intersections, “all-access corridors” will be created, which improve the coordination of all modes of transportation (bus, car, bicycle and walking). Better traffic patterns and signals help optimize the flow of vehicles, pedestrians and cyclists, and also reduce congestion and the risk of accidents. This benefits all road users regardless of the method of transportation.
The Mayor’s TIP will help Nashville residents navigate the city more efficiently and affordably. It will also help give all Nashville residents the opportunity to be healthy. Transportation, at its most basic level, dictates our ability to navigate the world around us. And it is a key factor in health outcomes. When safe, accessible and affordable transportation systems exist, cities and the people who live in them thrive.
By leaning on smart, common-sense transportation policy, we can begin to improve the health and well-being of our entire city. Modernized transportation options will ensure that all residents, regardless of their income, circumstances or neighborhood they live in, can more easily navigate the city. This cultivates a more inclusive and better-connected community, and improves our health and well-being along the way. And each and every one of us will benefit.
