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Articles in Money spent on transportation is not available for other goods and services that may contribute to health.

  • Transportation costs nationally are increasing at a faster rate for low-income households than for higher income households.

    Sanchez T, Stolz R, Ma J. Moving to equity: addresing inequitable effects of transportation policies on minorities. A joint report of the UCLA Civil Rights Project and the Center for Community Change. 2003. Available at: http://www.civilrightsproject.ucla.edu/research/transportation/trans_paper03.php. Accessed on August 29, 2009.

  • In Alameda County, CA the average household earning <$20,000/year spends over half its income on transportation compared to 7% of income among a household earning $100,00/year.

    Benedict A, Dawkins C, Haas P, Makarewicz C, Sanchez T. Housing & transportation cost trade-offs and burdens of working households in 28 metro areas. Center for Neighborhood Technology and Virginia Tech University. 2006. Available at http://www.cnt.org/repository/H-T-Tradeoffs-for-Working-Families-n-28-Metros-FULL.pdf. Accessed on August 29, 2009.

  • Residential parking represents about 10% of housing costs on average.

    Jia W, Wachs M. Parking and affordable housing. Access. 1998;13:22-25.

  • In urban areas, low-income households allocated a smaller proportion of their household expense to transportation than higher-income households, which were more likely to incur the expense of car ownership.

    Rice L. Transportation spending by low-Income California Households: Lessons for the San Francisco Bay Area. Public Policy Institute of California. July, 2004. Available at: http://www.ppic.org/main/publication.asp?i=428.)

  • Based on transportation costs for the Western Region and the average income in Humboldt County ($33,093), 27% of the average income before taxes is spent on transportation expenses. This compares to 15% in the Western Regions of the US.

    Bureau of Labor Statistics. Consumer expenditure survey 2003-2004. Available at: http://www.bls.gov/cex. Accessed on July 26, 2006:
    US Census Bureau. Humboldt County, California. 2005-2007 American Community Survey estimates. Available at: www.census.gov. Accessed July 29, 2009.

  • Poor rural households are three times more likely to be without a car than non-poor rural households. However, public transportation serves only about 60% of counties nationwide, and 28% of those counties have limited service.

    Brown, DM. Public transportation on the move in rural America. US Department of Agriculture, 2004. Available at: http://www.nal.usda.gov/ric/ricpubs/publictrans.pdf. Accessed July 30, 2009

  • A household with two adults that uses public transit saves an average of $6,251 per year compared to an equivalent household that own two cars. The savings associated with taking public transit can be used for other necessities such as healthcare, food, housing and clothing, and thereby lead to improved health.

    Bailey L. Public transportation and petroleum savings in the US: reducing dependence on oil. 2007. Available at: www.publictransportation.org/reports/documents/apta_public_transportation_fuel_savings_final_010807.pdf. Accessed July 30, 2009.

  • Nationally, it takes on the average $6000 - $9000 a year to own and operate an automobile.

    The County of Humboldt Public Works Department. Humboldt County Transportation Disadvantaged Populations Report. 2006. Available at: http://www.nrsrcaa.org/path/pdfs/HumCoTDPReport5_06.pdf. Accessed on March 3, 2008.