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With over a million new people expected to come to New Jersey in the next 20 years and traffic problems already creating headaches, wasted time, and wasted fuel on a daily basis, it's obvious that something has to change. We can't just build our way out of the traffic problem, if we want to preserve New Jersey's remaining open spaces or if we want to save energy and improve air quality. Fortunately, smart growth can help. If we change the way we develop our land, we can provide people with the ability to walk, bike, or take transit if they choose, and we can continue to grow in a way that won't worsen traffic problems, worsen air quality problems, or exacerbate open space loss.
An improved transportation system that provides many transportation options provides society with a multitude of benefits, including:
Enhanced Public Health & Safety
Economic Prosperity
Socially Equitable, Livable Communities
Energy Efficiency & Environmental Protection
Enhanced Health & Safety
As we spend more time in our cars, we become less physically active. Automobile-dependent land use planning makes it increasingly difficult for people to incorporate physical activity into their daily routines. With physical inactivity a leading factor of death and disability in the United States, our auto-dependent lifestyles have come under scrutiny. Physical inactivity exacts an enormous public health toll. For the U.S. population, in which 29% of adults are sedentary and more than 50% are overweight, becoming moderately active can provide a multitude of health benefits. One of the primary ways in which we can improve public health is to use planning techniques that integrate walking and bicycling into daily routines and try to substitute these activities for part of the time we spend driving every day.
Data from the Nationwide Personal Transportation Survey (NTPS), conducted by the U.S. Department of Transportation, has shown that private vehicle-based travel dominates transportation in the United States. In the 1995 survey, travel by motorized vehicle accounts for 86% of all person-trips and 91% of all person-miles. Walking accounted for only 5% of trips and less than 1% of miles. Furthermore, private vehicles have been steadily increasing their share of personal transportation over time, and walking and bicycling trips are mostly for recreational travel. According to the NPTS survey, only 7% of all walking trips and 8% of all bicycling trips were to work. This is, at least in part, because many of our communities are not designed to encourage walking and bicycling - in fact, in some neighborhoods, walking and bicycling is downright dangerous, with no sidewalks, shoulders, crosswalks, or bike lanes, and only high-speed roadways. Less than 10% of children walk to school today.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) attributes a sedentary lifestyle, in part, to current land use and transportation patterns. Studies have also found that people are more likely to engage in the required amount of moderate physical activity if they can incorporate it into their daily routine. As a result, public health professionals are emphasizing the need to build communities that encourage people to walk and ride a bicycle as part of their normal, everyday lifestyle. An editorial in the October 1999 Journal of the American Medical Association stated, "Reliance on physical activity as an alternative to car use is less likely to occur in many cities and towns unless they are designed or retrofitted to permit walking or bicycling. The location of schools, work sites and shopping areas near residential areas will require substantial changes in community or regional design."
Furthermore, auto-dependent design, in addition to promoting physical inactivity, is simply dangerous for those who want to walk or ride a bike. Many of our streets and avenues - even in residential neighborhoods - are not safe to walk or ride on because they are designed solely to move motor vehicles in large volumes and at high speeds. As a result, a disproportionately large number of pedestrians are killed and injured across the nation each year. Children and seniors, the most vulnerable users of streets and sidewalks, are often at greatest risk.
A recent study done by the Surface Transportation Policy Project, "Mean Streets 2002" looks at the perils that face pedestrians around the country. The study found that the deadliest roads tend to be high-speed arterials without visible crosswalks or adequate sidewalks, high traffic volumes and few overall accommodations for people on foot.
The report also found that dangerous streets discourage people from walking and may be contributing to the rise in obesity. According to federal transportation and health surveys, the portion of Americans walking to work has dropped 26 percent in the last ten years, while the percentage of overweight Americans has grown by 60 percent. The report's New Jersey data, which can be found at http://www.transact.org/states/statefacts.asp?s=newjersey, shows that there is still considerable work to be done in New Jersey to make our state safe for those of us who choose not to, or cannot, drive.
Pedestrian Safety, Health, and Spending in New Jersey
From "Mean Streets 2000," by the Surface Transportation Policy Project (www.transact.org)
| Pedestrian Deaths | |
| Fatalities in 1997: | 144 |
| Fatalities in 1998: | 157 |
| Total fatalities: | 301 |
| Annual pedestrian fatality rate per 100,000 residents: | 1.86 |
| Percent of all traffic deaths that were pedestrians: | 0.2012 |
| Health |
| Percent of NJ population that is overweight: |
| 28.95% |
| Spending of Federal Dollars on Pedestrian Projects | |||
| Amount spent per person on pedestrian projects: | Amount spent per person on highway projects: | Portion of federal transportation dollars spent on pedestrian projects: | Percent of all traffic deaths that were pedestrians: |
| 0.08 | 51.92 | 0.0015 | 0.2012 |
Learn More About Health, Safety & TransportationEconomic Prosperity
- Transportation Tools to Improve Children's Health and Mobility
www.lgc.org/freepub/PDF/Land_Use/fact_sheets/sr2s_transportation_tools.pdf
This fact sheet, by the Local Government Commission, contains eight pages of problem-solving methods and practical solutions endorsed by transportation planners and traffic engineers who have been conducting safe routes to school projects. It focuses on alleviating transportation problems in communities through a combination of education, enforcement and engineering solutions.- Street Design Guidelines for Healthy Neighborhoods
www.lgc.org/bookstore/land_use/publications/healthystreets.html
This guidebook, developed by the Local Government Commission and written by Dan Burden, director of Walkable Communities, discusses low-volume, slow speed traditional residential streets.- Land Use Planning for Safe, Crime-Free Neighborhoods
www.lgc.org/freepub/PDF/Land_Use/focus/plan_safe_neighborhoods.pdf
This fact sheet, by the Local Government Commission, contains helpful resources and concepts for fostering a sense of community and safe neighborhoods.- Designing Safe Streets and Neighborhoods
www.lgc.org/freepub/PDF/Land_Use/focus/traffic_safety.pdf
This fact sheet, by the Local Government Commission, examines how to design streets and neighborhoods that are safe for cars and pedestrians and bicyclists.
Auto-dependent land use planning comes with some negative economic consequences.
In the recent study "Driven to Spend," the Surface Transportation Policy Project and the Center for Neighborhood Technology conclude that the average American family living in a highly sprawling area can pay thousands of dollars more per year for transportation than families in more convenient locations. For example, the study found that in 1997 and 1998, Houston-area households used more than 22 cents out of every dollar they spent for transportation, spending $8,840 each year to get around, $2,528 more than the national average. The average American household devotes 18 cents out of every dollar to transportation, more than is spent on health care, education or food. The report also finds that transportation costs are rising. Between 1990 and 1998, the portion of household budgets going to transportation in the metro areas in the report grew by an average of 8 percent. In several metro areas, transportation has become the single most expensive item in the family budget, surpassing shelter. The report also finds that heavy government investment in road infrastructure may be contributing to an increase in household transportation costs. Areas that have balanced road investments with transit and other choices cost families less, on average. The full study can be found at www.transact.org/report.asp?id=36. For the New York/New Jersey metro area and the Philadelphia/Camden/Wilmington metro area (the study only analyzed metropolitan areas - not individual states), the report found the following:
| New York-No. New Jersey-Long Island |
| Portion of Family Budget Devoted to Transportation: 14.5% |
| Annual Household Spending on Transportation: $5,956 |
| Total Household Expenditures on Transportation in New York-No. New Jersey-Long Island: $46.4 billion |
| Breakdown of Transportation Expenditures | ||
| Annual Household Spending | Percent of Total Transportation Expenditures | |
| Vehicle Purchases | 2426 | 0.407 |
| Other Vehicle Expenses | 2219 | 0.373 |
| Gasoline and Motor Oil | 938 | 0.157 |
| Public Transportation | 266 | 0.045 |
| Breakdown of All Household Expenditures | |||
| Annual Household Spending | Percent of Total Household Expenditures | ||
| TRANSPORTATION | 5956 | 0.145 | Households in New York-No. New Jersey-Long Island spend more on transportation than on any other category except for food and shelter. |
| Shelter | 9711 | 0.236 | |
| Food | 6090 | 0.148 | |
| Utilities | 2501 | 0.061 | |
| Other Household | 2941 | 0.072 | |
| Insurance & Pensions | 3655 | 0.089 | |
| Health Care | 1873 | 0.046 | |
| Entertainment | 1835 | 0.045 | |
| Apparel & Services | 2226 | 0.054 | |
| Education | 1062 | 0.026 | |
| Miscellaneous | 2915 | 0.071 | |
| Annual miles traveled by car per household: | 13,446 miles |
| Percentage of trips taken by car: | 0.651 |
| Percentage of trips taken by transit: | 0.1 |
| Percentage of trips taken by foot: | 0.162 |
| Percentage of trips taken by bicycle: | 0.007 |
| Philadelphia-Wilmington-Atlantic City |
| Portion of Family Budget Devoted to Transportation: 18.1% |
| Annual Household Spending on Transportation: $6,904 |
| Total Household Expenditures on Transportation in Philadelphia-Wilmington-Atlantic City: $12.6 billion |
| Breakdown of Transportation Expenditures | Annual Household Spending | Percent of Total Transportation Expenditures |
| Vehicle Purchases | 2978 | 0.431 |
| Other Vehicle Expenses | 2708 | 0.392 |
| Gasoline and Motor Oil | 1015 | 0.147 |
| Public Transportation | 202 | 0.029 |
| Breakdown of All Household Expenditures | |||
| Annual Household Spending | Percent of Total Household Expenditures | ||
| TRANSPORTATION | 5956 | 0.145 | Households in New York-No. New Jersey-Long Island spend more on transportation than on any other category except for food and shelter. |
| Shelter | 9711 | 0.236 | |
| Food | 6090 | 0.148 | |
| Utilities | 2501 | 0.061 | |
| Other Household | 2941 | 0.072 | |
| Insurance & Pensions | 3655 | 0.089 | |
| Health Care | 1873 | 0.046 | |
| Entertainment | 1835 | 0.045 | |
| Apparel & Services | 2226 | 0.054 | |
| Education | 1062 | 0.026 | |
| Miscellaneous | 2915 | 0.071 | |
| Annual miles traveled by car per household: | 15,053 miles |
| Percentage of trips taken by car: | 0.772 |
| Percentage of trips taken by transit: | 0.057 |
| Percentage of trips taken by foot: | 0.103 |
| Percentage of trips taken by bicycle: | 0.003 |
Socially Equitable, Livable Communities
Automobile-dependent development is discriminatory against those members of society who cannot drive or cannot afford to own a car: the elderly, children, and the poor. Because one of smart growth's goals is an equitable society, our transportation system should be socially equitable and allow all members of society to gain access to jobs, education, recreation, and services. Transportation planning should also support revitalizing of developed areas without displacing existing populations. The Bureau of Labor estimates that the average cost of owning and operating an automobile is $6000 or more each year. For those members of society who can't afford such an expense, our sprawling development patterns restrict their ability to access schools, jobs, and shopping.
Energy Efficiency & Environmental Protection
Our automobile dependency and automobile-dependent development patterns have a dramatic effect on our environment - which includes the water we drink, the air we breathe, the climate we enjoy, and the natural spaces we visit.
"Mobile source" pollution from cars and trucks is a significant source of air pollution, contributing to 64,000 premature deaths each year, according to the EPA. More than 125 million Americans live in areas with unacceptable air pollution levels - including New Jersey, which has some of the dirtiest air in the nation. Air pollution is particularly dangerous to the elderly and the 600,000 New Jerseyans with asthma and respiratory problems. Motor vehicles and light trucks - of which we have over 5 million in New Jersey - are the largest source of urban air pollution, and many of the pollutants emitted by cars and trucks are known or likely to cause cancer. In the 1996 National Toxics Inventory, EPA estimates that mobile sources such as cars, trucks, and buses release about 3 billion pounds of cancer-causing, hazardous air pollutants each year.
Automobile use also significantly degrades water quality, thanks to runoff from roads, parking lots, and other impervious surfaces. This runoff includes road salt, sand, antifreeze, engine oil, rubber, metals, and many other toxic substances that damage lakes, oceans, rivers, and our drinking water.
Auto-dependent land use is also recognized as one of the primary causes of habitat loss and biodiversity loss. According to Defenders of Wildlife, more than 1 million animals are killed on the nation's roadways each day. Roadkill is a symptom of habitat fragmentation - roads have fragmented wildlife habitats into small patches, which can be devastating to animal populations who need large areas of land to survive. Roads also degrade habitat by opening up new areas to development. According to recent studies, habitat destruction is the main factor threatening 80% or more of the species listed under the Endangered Species Act.
With respect to climate change, it is widely accepted that carbon dioxide emissions into the atmosphere is the single largest contributor to climate change - and the transportation sector contributes 20% of the nation's carbon dioxide pollution. Every time you drive your car, you are emitting carbon dioxide into the atmosphere; cars and trucks emit 20% of the country's CO2 pollution. The U.S. transportation sector is responsible for over 30% of U.S. CO2 emissions, and almost 9% of the world's total CO2 emissions.
Finally, because our cars and light trucks are so heavily reliant on oil, our car-dependent lifestyles are responsible for extremely high energy consumption and oil dependence. According to the EIA, cars and light trucks accounted for 43 percent of all petroleum consumed in the U.S. in 2000. This trend is expected to worsen, with automobile fuel economy decreasing every year and our auto-dependent land use patterns forcing us to drive more miles every year.