The Nashville Area Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO) is among the
first MPOs in the United States to recognize the interplay of transportation and
public health, particularly regarding physical activity, air pollution, and
traffic crashes. The Nashville MPO has taken a multifaceted approach to
simultaneously improve the transportation system, quality of life, and health
status of the region’s population. The purpose of this paper is to
describe the multiple programs and projects that the MPO has undertaken to this
end, so that other cities might learn from Nashville’s example.
The MPO’s strategy comprised six processes. First, the MPO
conducted the Regional Bicycle and Pedestrian Study in 2009 and 2014 that
established priority issues to be addressed by bicycle and pedestrian projects
in Regional Transportation Plans. Second, the MPO responded to public opinion by
adopting new transportation policies in the 2035 and 2040 Regional
Transportation Plans, including increasing bicycle and pedestrian options and
expanding public transit. Third, the MPO created scoring criteria for proposed
roadway projects that prioritized health impacts. Fourth, the MPO reserved
funding for projects selected under the new criteria and established a new
funding program, the Active Transportation Program. Fifth, the MPO conducted the
Middle Tennessee Transportation and Health Study, one of the first regional
studies in the nation linking transportation and health. Finally, the MPO
implemented the Integrated Transport and Health Impact Model which predicts and
monetizes population-level health impacts of shifting the population towards
active transportation modes.
Recent inventories of bicycle and pedestrian infrastructure suggest these
interrelated processes are increasing opportunities for walking, bicycling, and
public transit use in the region. Further, each of these projects has
contributed to a growing appreciation in the region of the links between
transportation and health, and continued evaluation efforts can determine if
transportation behaviors and health outcomes are changing.