Citation

McClure RJ, Adriazola-Steil C, Mulvihill C, Fitzharris M, Salmon P, Bonnington CP, Stevenson M. Am. J. Public Health 2015; 105 Suppl 2: S223-9.

Affiliation

Roderick J. McClure is with the Harvard Injury Prevention Research Center, Harvard School of Public Health, Boston, MA. Claudia Adriazola-Steil is with the World Resources Institute, Washington, DC. Christine Mulvihill, Michael Fitzharris, and Mark Stevenson are with the Accident Research Centre, Monash University, Victoria, Australia. Paul Salmon is with the Accident Research Center, University of the Sunshine Coast, Sippy Downs, Queensland, Australia. C. Paul Bonnington is with the eResearch Centre, Monash University.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2015, American Public Health Association)

DOI

10.2105/AJPH.2014.302303

PMID

25689177

PMCID

PMC4355720

Abstract

OBJECTIVES: We identified the features of a land use-transportation system that optimizes the health and well-being of the population.

METHODS: We developed a quantitative system dynamics model to represent relationships among land use, transport, economic development, and population health. Simulation experiments were conducted over a 10-year simulation period to compare the effect of different baseline conditions and land use-transport policies on the number of motor vehicle crash deaths and disability-adjusted life years lost.

RESULTS: Optimal reduction in the public health burden attributable to land transport was demonstrated when transport safety risk reduction policies were combined with land use and transport polices that minimized reliance on individual motorized transport and maximized use of active transport modes. The model's results were particularly sensitive to the level of development that characterized each city at the start of the simulation period.

CONCLUSIONS: Local, national, and international decision-makers are encouraged to address transport, land use, and health as an integrated whole to achieve the desired societal benefits of traffic safety, population health, and social equity.

Language: en