Rural Transportation Logo

Transportation and Health Tool

In This Article:

The Transportation and Health Tool (THT) was developed by the U.S. Department of Transportation and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to provide easy access to data that practitioners can use to examine the health impacts of transportation systems.

Different indicators are available for states, urbanized areas, and metropolitan statistical areas, and a downloadable spreadsheet provides users with the entire dataset.  The indicators in the tool include alcohol-related fatalities, commute mode shares, complete streets policies, person miles traveled by mode, physical activity from transportation, public transportation trips per capita, road traffic fatalities by mode and exposure rate, seat belt use, use of federal funds for bicycle and pedestrian efforts, and more.

Although the indicators are not available for rural regions, rural planners and stakeholders may find useful information in suggested strategies.  In addition, the literature on the five major pathways that transportation affects health may be helpful to review: active transportation, safety, cleaner air, connectivity, and equity, as well as links to other general health in transportation resources.

Additional Resources

Newsletter

Click the button below to receive NADO and Rural Transportation news and information directly to your inbox.