SSMMA Transportation Planner Leslie Phemister recently presented a session, “Incorporating Public Health and Transportation Policy for Equitable Outcomes,” at Transport Chicago’s Virtual Conference.
The session highlighted the south suburban region’s integration of health considerations into project scoring. Transportation choices and the built environment are major determinants of health. These factors impact access to healthcare, healthy foods, good-paying jobs and more. Developed by the Centers for Disease Control, the Social Vulnerability Index (SVI) considers four categories of vulnerability — socioeconomic status, household composition and disability, minority status and language, and housing and transportation. Leslie presented how the SVI was incorporated into a local funding methodology and how vulnerable communities fared in a recent call-for-projects. See the presentation slides. For more information, please contact Transportation Planner Leslie Phemister at leslie.phemister@ssmma.org.