NACTO has launched an online COVID-19 transportation resource hub for city transportation staff, officials, and leaders for cities to learn from one another and develop the most effective responses to this evolving global crisis. It provides actionable examples of how cities around the world are addressing critical tasks, such as:

• Helping healthcare and other essential workers get safely where they need to go while protecting transit operators and other frontline city staff
• Creating pick-up/delivery zones to ensure that residents can access food and essential goods
• Opening, and in some cases, closing, public space to enhance social distancing
• Deploying effective public communications, messaging, and signage

 

Car Price Found to Predict Driver Willingness to Stop for Pedestrians

According to Streetsblog USA, "a study published in the Journal of Transport and Health found the more expensive the car, the less likely the driver is to yield to a pedestrian in a crosswalk. University of Nevada, Las Vegas researchers videotaped pedestrians navigating Las Vegas streets under what might seem like the best possible road conditions for walkers: a sunny day with great visibility, on an open road studded with 35 mile-per-hour speed limit signs and school zone warnings for a nearby elementary school, with the pedestrian crossing in a clearly designated mid-block crosswalk and wearing an easy-to-spot red t-shirt. Most drivers didn't yield at all--and the more expensive the cars got, the more often the driver failed to hit the brakes." To learn more, please visit https://usa.streetsblog.org/2020/02/28/study-car-price-is-a-predictor-of-driver-aggression-towards-walkers/.

 

Air Pollution May Make COVID-19 Worse

According to The Washington Post, "scientists are considering whether smoking and air pollution may intensify the COVID-19 disease or increase the initial chances of infection. There are no large-scale studies from the current outbreak of coronavirus, and only a few hints from smaller studies. But experts note that damage to the lungs from pollutants that result from combustion, whether inhaled deliberately by smokers, or inadvertently by those in regions with poor air quality, may increase the risk of respiratory tract infections from viruses such as the novel coronavirus. Poor air can also cause lung inflammation that could worsen the symptoms of COVID-19." To learn more, please visit https://www.washingtonpost.com/.  

 

Globally Air Pollution Shortens Lives more than War, Tobacco and AIDS

According to Airqualitynews.com, "air pollution is responsible for shortening people's lives worldwide on a scale far greater than wars, violence, tobacco and diseases such as HIV and AIDS, according to a study published in the journal Cardiovascular Research. The researchers from the European Society of Cardiology have estimated that globally, air pollution causes an extra 8.8 million premature deaths each year. They estimated that air pollution reduces average life expectancy for all people worldwide by 3 years, and estimated that if air pollution were reduced by removing fossil fuel emissions, the average life expectancy worldwide would increase by over a year." To learn more, please visit https://airqualitynews.com/2020/03/02/air-pollution-shortens-lives-more-than-war-violence-and-tobacco/.