Implementation of Active Living Policies by Transportation Agencies and Departments

Principal Investigator:  Jennifer Dill, Ph.D.

Graduate Research Assistant: Oliver Smith (Ph.D., Urban Studies)

Sponsor: Oregon Transportation Research and Education Consortium (OTREC) 

Timeline: Fall 2008 to Fall 2009

The overall aim of this project is to examine how and why some public agencies adopt polices that are intended to create a built environment that that supports physical activity and active living. Understanding how and why is essential to promote reformation of planning and policy processes to support active living. The project will focus on transportation agencies, including city and county departments of transportation and public works, congestion management agencies, metropolitan planning organizations (MPOs), other regional transportation agencies, and state departments of transportation.

To address the overall aim, we will answer the following questions:

• What actions (e.g. policies, plans, standards, programs, etc.) can transportation agencies take to support active living?
  
• Which agencies have taken these actions?
  
• Why have these agencies adopted policy innovations that support active living?
• What factors influence adoption?
  
• To what extent is health and active living a motivation for these actions?
  
• Why don’t more agencies adopt such actions? What are the obstacles to active living?
  

Methods include a thorough literature review (print and web), an inventory of state DOT actions, interviews with innovative state DOTs, examining a random sample of MPOs and regional transportation plans, a survey of local and regional agencies that are undertaking best practices, and a random survey of MPOs and city/county agencies.