Public Health

Uncovering Physical Activity Trade-offs in Transportation Policy: A Spatial Agent-Based Model of Bogotá, Colombia

Stankov, I
Meisel, JD
Sarmiento, OL
Delclòs-Alió, X
Hidalgo, D
Guzman, L
Rodriguez, D
Hammond, R
Roux, AV Diez
2024

Transportation policies can impact health outcomes while simultaneously promoting social equity and environmental sustainability. We developed an agent-based model (ABM) to simulate the impacts of fare subsidies and congestion taxes on commuter decision-making and travel patterns. We report effects on mode share, travel time and transport-related physical activity (PA), including the variability of effects by socioeconomic strata (SES), and the trade-offs that may need to be considered in the implementation of these policies in a context with high levels of necessity-based physical...

Early Pandemic Behaviors and the Role of Vaccines in Reversing Pandemic Mobility Trends: Evidence from a US Panel

Obeid, H
Anderson, M
Bouzaghrane, MA
Li, M
Parker, M
Hayes, D
Frick, K
Rodriguez, D
Chatman, D
Sengupta, R
Walker, J
2024
The COVID-19 pandemic disrupted travel behavior and resulted in the emergence of new mobility trends. In this paper, we study the degree to which vaccines played a role in reversing pandemic-induced travel behaviors and contributed to a “return to normal.” Using five waves of original U.S.-based survey data combined with passive smartphone tracking data collected in 2020 and 2021, we show that in the early phases of the pandemic, the behavioral response of people in the United States was heterogeneous: individuals with low levels of concern about being infected with COVID-19 engaged in...

Research Translation to Promote Urban Health in Latin America: The SALURBAL Experience

Slesinski, SC
Indvik, K
Bolinaga, A
Caiaffa, WT
Rodriguez, D
2024

In highly urbanized and unequal Latin America, urban health and health equity research are essential to effective policymaking. To ensure the application of relevant and context-specific evidence to efforts to reduce urban health inequities, urban health research in Latin America must incorporate strategic research translation efforts. Beginning in 2017, the Urban Health in Latin America (SALURBAL) project implemented policy-relevant research and engaged policymakers and the public to support the translation of research findings. Over 6 years, more than 200 researchers across eight...

Temperature-Related Mortality in Nine Latin American Countries Under Climate Change and Population Scenarios

Kephart, JL
Bakhtsiyarava, M
Sanchez,BN
Arunachalam, S
Mandavilli, R
Gouveia, N
Dronova, I
Schinasi, L
Bilal, U
Caiaffa, W
Jaffe, A
Rodriguez, D
Roux, AV Diez
2024

Climate change and an aging population are converging challenges rapidly accelerating the risk of extreme temperatures for older adults in Latin America. Older adults are especially vulnerable to health impacts from extreme temperatures and in Latin America the proportion of adults aged 65+ years is expected to double by 2050. However, existing projections of temperature-related mortality in Latin America do not incorporate expected population aging, likely severely underestimating future deaths. We estimated temperature-related deaths from 2045-2054 in all cities in nine Latin...

Rail Transit Ridership Changes and COVID-19: Lessons from Station-Area Characteristics

Li, M
Rodriguez, DA
Pike, S
McNally, M
2024

The COVID-19 pandemic has had a significant impact on public transit ridership in the United States, especially for rail transit. Land use, development density, and the pedestrian environment are strongly associated with station-level transit ridership. This study examines how these characteristics affect transit ridership pre- and post-COVID and how they differ across station types based on longitudinal data for 242 rail stations belonging to Bay Area Rapid Transit, San Diego Metropolitan Transit System, Sacramento Regional Transit, and LA Metro between 2019 and 2021. We found...

Decline of Rail Transit Requires New Strategies

Rodriguez, D
Pike, S
McNally, M
Li, M
2024

During the pandemic, California’s four major rail systems— Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART), San Diego Metropolitan Transit System (MTS), Sacramento Regional Transit (SacRT), and Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority (LA Metro)—experienced an average ridership decline of 72 percent between 2019 and 2021. BART had the greatest decrease (87 percent) and MTS the lowest (47 percent). However, ridership changes varied significantly across individual stations, with stations located in the central business district or at the end of lines having the highest ridership losses. Land...

Projected Changes in Heatwaves Over Central and South America Using High-Resolution Regional Climate Simulations

Ramarao, MVS
Arunachalam, S
Sánchez, BN
Schinasi, LH
Rodriguez, D
Dronova, I
O'Neill, MS
Avila-Palencia, I
Gouveia, N
Ju, Y
Kephart, J
2024

Heatwaves (HWs) pose a severe threat to human and ecological systems. Here we assess the projected changes in heatwaves over Latin America using bias corrected high-resolution regional climate simulations under two Representative Concentration Pathway scenarios (RCPs). Heatwaves are projected to be more frequent, long-lasting, and intense in the mid-century under both RCP2.6 and RCP8.5 scenarios, with severe increases under the RCP8.5 scenario. Even under the low emissions scenario of RCP2.6, the frequency of heatwaves doubles over most of the region. A three- to tenfold rise in population...

Urban Environments, Health, and Environmental Sustainability: Findings From the SALURBAL Study

Roux, AV Diez
Alazraqui, M
Alfaro, T
Barrientos-Gutierrez, T
Caiaffa, WT
Rodriguez, Daniel
2024

Despite the relevance of cities and city policies for health, there has been limited examination of large numbers of cities aimed at characterizing urban health determinants and identifying effective policies. The relatively few comparative studies that exist include few cities in lower and middle income countries. The Salud Urbana en America Latina study (SALURBAL) was launched in 2017 to address this gap. The study has four aims: (1) to investigate social and physical environment factors associated with health differences across and within cities; (2) to document the...

A Research Roadmap for Transportation and Public Health

Sandt, LS
West, A
Johnson, S
Brookshire, K
Evenson, K
Blackburn, L
Peach, K
Tartala, M
Ricklin, A
Shah, S
Rodriguez, D
Coburn, J
2019

Develop a holistic and strategic research roadmap–Identify evidence to support practical and useful information, and implementable tools, for state DOTs and partners.

The Effect of Population Mobility on COVID-19 Incidence in 314 Latin American Cities: A Longitudinal Ecological Study with Mobile Phone Location Data

Kephart, J
Delclòs-Alió, X
Rodriguez, D
Sarmiento, O
Barrientos-Gutierrez, T
Ramirez-Zea, M
Quistberg, D
Bilal, U
Roux, AV Diez
2021
Little is known about the effect of changes in mobility at the subcity level on subsequent COVID-19 incidence, which is particularly relevant in Latin America, where substantial barriers prevent COVID-19 vaccine access and non-pharmaceutical interventions are essential to mitigation efforts. We aimed to examine the longitudinal associations between population mobility and COVID-19 incidence at the subcity level across a large number of Latin American cities.In this longitudinal ecological study, we compiled aggregated mobile phone location data, daily confirmed...