Transportation and Health Resource Hub - Guidebook

How Measuring Vehicle Miles Traveled Can Promote Health Equity. (2019)   

This communications guide with case studies and lessons learned provides tools and resources for transportation professionals to improve health equity in their region. It focuses on the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) and the passing of SB 743 in California that requires local governments to use Vehicle Miles Traveled (VMT) instead of Level of Service (LOS) as a metric to measure what environmental impacts transportation projects will have for the region.

Lane, L., et al. (2019). Connecting transportation & health: A guide to communication and collaboration. NCHRP Project 25-25, Task 105   

This communications guide provides tools and resources for transportation professionals to collaborate with health professionals. It describes where transportation and health concerns overlap and identifies key actors in the public health field. The guide also identifies key moments in the transportation process for health integration and illustrates them with case examples.

An Active Roadmap: Best Practices in Rural Mobility. (2023) Smart Growth America     

Beginning with definitions of the types of rural communities—such as gateway communities, resource-dependent communities, or tribal or Native American communities—this report identifies the unique needs and challenges of building safer, sustainable, and equitable transportation networks. Strategies and case studies for healthier, connected, and safer rural communities completes the report.

Accessibility Measures in Practice: A Guide for Transportation Agencies. (2022) NCHRP Research Report 1000      

This Guide develops a practitioner-ready resource for transportation agencies on how to select and apply accessibility measures for different decision-making contexts. The research included a literature review and practitioner interviews. The information and insights collected informed an assessment of current practice to identify gaps and challenges as well as feasible improvements in the use of accessibility measures. It also provides a step-by-step approach to selecting and adopting accessibility measures. It distills the essential concepts of accessibility and how accessibility can be operationalized through measurement, even if an agency has very limited data. It takes commonly used measures to equip users to meaningfully integrate accessibility into transportation decision-making. To support users of the step-by-step, Appendix F provides worksheets and Appendix G provides a presentation on using the worksheets. Both resources are also available electronically.

Chapman, J., et al. (2019). Integrating Health and Transportation in Canada. Ottawa, ON:  Transportation Association of Canada.       

Existing transportation systems have been traditionally designed for motorized vehicles and goods movement. While this resource is specific to Canada, there are policies, practices, and recommendations that closely reflect the current state of transportation in the United States. This resource examines the opportunity to further build health considerations into transportation policies, planning, investment, and design decisions.

Rethinking Streets Book Series        

This book series showcases different ways to think about street design through evidence and real-world examples. These books provide case studies of various treatments from different cities across America and Canada including Bike Streets, Transit Streets, Main Streets, Urban Mixed-use Streets, and more. Each book brings a unique perspective on how to design our streets with vulnerable users in mind.

Universal design guide book          

This document provides guidance regarding universal design for affordable housing. Developed with Regional investment partners and funders, the authors worked collectively with a local affordable housing developer to first define and secondly create "universal design"  by applying the guide book principles to new development in the Portland Metro area. The guidelines address a full range of affordable housing topics and demonstrates how to apply them.

Health promoting community design: outline of expected returns

This toolkit provides general findings from project returns of health-promoting projects. With a better informed understanding of project outcomes, practitioners can expand efforts to create healthier and more livable places. This resource demonstrates that health promoting community design features hold the potential to provide economic, health, and ecological co-benefits to communities. Case studies from across the country, consolidated here, provide useful reference for those considering how or why to build healthier communities.