Asthma
severity worse near freeways,
study finds
Also
on this page:
1000
Friends of Wisconsin pushes transit
funding.
Feds
should review highway
role, GAO says. |
Aug.
21, 2006 -- People with asthma who live near
freeways and other high-traffic roads are three times
as likely to require emergency room treatment or hospitalization
than are asthmatics who do not live near busy streets,
according to a new study.
The
study, by the UCLA Center for Health Policy Research,
said the burden of living near freeways is disproportionately
borne by low-income and minority communities.
"This
data shows that living near heavy traffic poses significant
health risks for children and adults suffering from asthma,"
said Ying-Ying Meng, a senior research scientist at the
center and lead author study. "Many ethnic/racial
minority and low-income asthma sufferers do not have a
choice about whether or not to live near heavy traffic,
so anything that can be done to continue to control traffic-related
emissions will go a long way toward protecting these sensitive
populations."
The
study's findings are especially significant to Milwaukee
because
the Department of Transportation is weighing potential
expansion of the North-South I-94 freeway, which could
bring traffic significantly closer to homes, parks, and
schools.
The
study
compared 2001 Los Angeles and San Diego health interview
data with traffic counts provided by the California Department
of Transportation. It considered populations living within
500 feet of roadways.
Asthma-related
hospitalizations or emergency room visits by traffic volume
Source:
Living Near Heavy Traffic Increases Asthma Severity, UCLA
The
study found that 22 percent percent of children with asthma
who live near heavy traffic had at least one asthma-related
emergency room visit or hospitalization in the previous
12 months, while eight percent of those who live in low
traffic areas had one.
Some eight
percent of adults with asthma living in high-traffic areas
had an asthma-related ER visit or hospitalization in the
previous 12 months, while 3 percent of those who live
in low traffic areas had one.
The study suggests
"that further reduction of traffic-related air pollution
is needed to reduce the burden of asthma, especially among
low-income and racial / ethnic minority groups,"
the study said.
While air quality
has improved, "levels of ozone and particulate matter
pollution remain unhealthy in many parts of the country,"
the study said.
Even in areas
that meet clean air standards -- which Milwaukee does
not -- "existing air quality levels may still adversely
affect sensitive populations, such as those with asthma."
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Land
use group pushes transit funding
Aug.
14 -- The state should increase transit funding
to accommodate the increased demand occuring as gas prices
continue to rise and highway project costs skyrocket,
according to 1000 Friends of Wisconsin, a land use policy
group.
Ward
Lyles, transportation policy director for the group, said
the state needs to change its transportation emphasis.
"Why
are legislators talking about spending billions of dollars
to pour concrete and expand highways when the demand is
for more transit?” he said.
The
state instead should devote 10% of the transportation
budget to transit, he said. The state now spend less than
6% of the transportation budget, or $150 million annually,
on transit.
A
10% share would raise transit funding to $267.5 million
a year.
“The
'Ten for Transit' plan will provide relief to Wisconsin
residents from skyrocketing gas prices by helping communities
provide affordable, convenient transportation choices
without raising fees, taxes, or bus fares or shifting
costs to local governments,” Lyles wrote in a letter
to the Legislature's pro-highway-building Road to the
Future Committe. “For the first time in nearly a
quarter of a century, Wisconsin residents are driving
less. Meanwhile more and more people are riding transit
more often."
Total
vehicles miles traveled in Wisconsin decreased by nearly
400 million miles in 2005 and demand for transit in cities
like Stevens Point, Madison, and Fond du Lac increased
substantially, Lyles wrote.
Meanwhile,
the Department of Transportation reported earlier this
month that 27 highway projects will exceed their original
budgets by 89%, or $1.7, Lyles said.
“Wisconsin
residents know all too well that the days of $1.50 per
gallon gasoline are gone,” Lyles wrote to the committe.
“They are doing what they can about it - driving
less, driving more fuel efficient vehicles,and using public
transportation more."
"Now,
it is up to you to keep up with the market demand and
spend state funds on more transit, less highways,”
he said.
Feds
should review highway role, GAO says
Looming budget crisis raises critical
questions
Aug.
7, 2006 -- The looming federal budget crisis
is so dire that the government should re-examine its role
in funding highways, according to the Government Accountability
Office.
The review "should include asking whether the federal
government should even continue to provide financing through
grants," it said.
The
2005-07 state Department of Transportation budget includes
about $1.51 billion in federal transportation funds.
The
federal government could drop direct payments and instead
encourage alternative methods of highway funding designed,
like tolls, to capture revenue directly from highway users,
the report said.
The
report "States'
Expanding Use of Tolling Illustrates Diverse Challenges
and Strategies," outlines the impact the
aging population will have on the federal budget and on
road building.
"As the baby boom generation ages, mandatory federal
commitments to health and retirement programs will consume
an ever-increasing share of the nation's gross domestic
product and federal budgetary resources, placing severe
pressures on all discretionary programs, including those
that fund defense, education and transportation,"
the report said.
By
2040, it said, "revenues to the federal government
might barely cover interest on the debt—leaving
no money for either mandatory or discretionary programs—and
that balancing the budget could require cutting federal
spending by as much as 60 percent, raising taxes by up
to 2½ times their current level, or some combination
of the two."
The
report raises new questions about how Wisconsin Department
of Transportation will pay for reconstruction and possible
expansion of freeways in southeast Wisconsin. The department
has developed overall project timelines for the multi-billion
effort effort without saying where the money would come
from. Environmental and design studies for the first segment
to be rebuilt, the North-South I-94 corridor, are underway
and some local and state officials also are pushing to
accelerate reconstruction plans for the Zoo and US 45.
The
GAO said that more than half the states are planning to
develop toll roads, but Wisconsin is not among them.
"A
Wisconsin transportation official told us that Wisconsin
is not implementing a tolling approach because the public
generally believes that fuel taxes already pay for roads
and tolls would adversely affect the state’s tourist
economy," the report said.
It
added later in the report: "In Wisconsin, where tolling
is not being implemented, a transportation official told
us that the public understands that the fuel excise tax
and other user fees are used to fund highway construction.
Therefore, the public would view tolling as another tax
being imposed on them."
