Traditional transportation policy has been crafted to move cars faster and further. Missing from the equation is how transportation, or lack thereof, affected people’s quality of life: their health, their opportunities and their vitality.

The consequences of these policies are felt today with high levels of air pollution, injury, and lack of access to critical goods and services. Also, given our focus on cars, non-automobile related transportation options have been neglected; a lack of walking and biking infrastructure such as sidewalks, crosswalks and bike paths have added to the alarming increase in obesity in the U.S. All of these impacts are felt particularly strongly in low-income communities and communities of color adding to rampant health disparities in our nation.

The Transportation Prescription: Bold New Ideas for Healthy, Equitable Transportation Reform in America, a report by PolicyLink and Prevention Institute, commissioned by the Convergence Partnership, is a policy guide that analyzes the intersection of transportation, health and equity. This report provides key policy and program recommendations that can improve health outcomes in vulnerable communities, create economic opportunity, and enhance environmental quality.

This report also features a foreword by Rep. Jim Oberstar, Chairman of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee and one of the primary authors of the upcoming federal transportation bill -an over $500 billion investment that will set transportation policy and funding in the United States for approximately the next six years.

“For too long now, our transportation decision-making has failed to address the impacts that our infrastructure network has on public health and equity,” Rep. Oberstar said. “The asphalt poured and lane miles constructed enhanced our mobility and strengthened our economic growth; but too often, this auto-centric mindset took hold and crowded out opportunities to invest in a truly sustainable inter-modal transportation system, in particular a system that meets the needs of underserved communities.”

The William C. Velasquez Institute (WCVI) just released a white paper entitled The End of the American Dream for Blacks and Latinos: How the Home Mortgage Crisis is Destroying Black and Latino Wealth, Jeopardizing America’s Future Prosperity and How to Fix It.

According to WCVI, the report specifically addresses the “current destruction of minority wealth and how if left unaddressed it will impede America’s economic recovery. It also presents a policy proposal to end the crisis while keeping people in their homes, and laying the groundwork for sustainable growth in home ownership.”

Click here to learn more about the work at WCVI.

I must say I felt hopeful when I came across a recent article in The Nation, introducing some of the interesting work that environmental advocate Kim Thompson-Gaddy, along with other city and state officials are bringing to the table.

I have no doubt that the residents of Newark, particularly the children—many whom suffer disproportionally from asthma—are ready for a cleaner Newark, with more green space, and the promise of green jobs which could help revive the local economy.

Newark Mayor Cory Booker, said it best, when stating that “Newark’s success in bringing its green vision to life will be measured largely by whether it can provide a pathway out of poverty.”

And though Newark still  has a long way to go before this vision is realized—at least they are making progress…

Here are some highlights mentioned in The Nation piece:

 “Creating jobs—green or otherwise—in cities like Newark and Trenton is largely a question of resources, says Alan Berube, research director of the Metropolitan Policy Program at the Brookings Institution…the greatest potential for new resources to devote to such projects lies in the stimulus package being hammered out in Washington.”

The Center for American Progress has a cool tool up letting you design your own stimulus package. The interactive tool allows you to choose precisely how many dollars you’ll dedicate to unemployment benefits, health care, infrastructure, tax cuts, etc.

The best part about it, though, is it also shows you how many jobs you’ll be saving/creating with your package.  My recovery package provides significant funding for unemployment benefits, food stamps, local government assistance, energy, education, health care and infrastructure and only includes refundable tax cuts for the lowest income-earners (no across-the-board income tax cuts, corporate tax cuts or capital gains cuts).

The results are pretty good — all at a cost basically equivalent to the current package being debated on the Hill:

America’s backbone is crumbling. Our schools, our transportation systems, even our water pipes are creaking and worn out. We must deal with this crisis now – and do it in a way that helps all people thrive in communities of true opportunity.

That is why PolicyLink is pleased to announce the creation of the “PolicyLink Center for Infrastructure Equity” to advocate for fair and inclusive public policies and provide community and grassroots leaders, advocates, and public officials with the tools, training, and consultation needed to ensure that public investments in infrastructure create economic opportunity and health in all communities.

The center was officially launched during the opening plenary session at this month’s Regional Equity ‘08 Summit in New Orleans. Rep. Keith Ellison (D-MN), whose Minneapolis district includes the I-35 W Bridge that collapsed in August, helped unveil the center with the video introduction below: