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Articles in Transportation is associated with multiple social and psychological health impacts.

  • Walkable streets increase social cohesion. Residents living in neighborhoods they categorized as walkable were 28% more likely to know their neighbors, 15% more likely to trust others, 14% more likely to be politically active, and 20% more likely to participate in social activities with others.

    Leyden KM. Social capital and the built environment: the importance of walkable neighborhoods. Am J Public Health. 2003;93(9):1546-51.

  • Long commutes can distance an individual from his/her community and decrease social connectivity. Social connection has a variety of health impacts, ranging from reducing stress, having a longer lifespan, supplying access to emotional and physical resources.

    Berkman LF, Syme SL. Social networks, host resistance and mortality: a nine-year follow up study of Alameda County residents. Am J Epidemiol. 1979;109:186-204.
    Poortinga W. Social relations or social capital? Individual and community health effects of bonding social capital. Soc Sci Med. 2006;63:255-270.

  • An increasing amount of time commuting decreases the time an individual has to spend with family and effects engagement in civic or volunteer activities.

    Putnam RD. Bowling Alone: The Collapse and Revival of American Community. New York, NY:Simon & Schuster, 2001.

  • For the elderly and the disabled, limited access to public transit creates barriers to participation in community and civic life, potentially, leading to feelings of depression and alienation.

    Bailey L. Aging Americans: stranded without options. Surface Transportation Policy Project. 2004. Available at: http://www.transact.org/library/reports_html/seniors/aging.pdf. Accessed July 29, 2009.

  • Socially isolated people (i.e., people without access to a car or public transportation) die at two or three times the rate of people with a network of social relationships and sources of emotional and instrumental support.

    Brunner E. Socioeconomics determinants of health: stress and the biology of inequality. Br Med J. 1997;314(7092):1472-1476.

  • Taking public transportation aids in decreasing isolation and encourages what city planning advocate Jane Jacobs referred to as casual contact from unplanned social interactions.

    Jacobs J. The Death and Life of Great American Cities. New York, NY: Random House; 1993.

  • In a study of nine hundred working women in Texas, respondents rated commuting as the activity that gave them the least amount of happiness.

    Kahneman D, Krueger A, Schkade D, Schwarz N, Stone A. A survey method for characterizing daily life experience: the day reconstruction method (DRM). Science. 2004;306:1776.