Public Health in Oregon - Join The Conversation

Interesting comments, everyone. Here’s an statistic, compliments of the Harper’s Index from October 2008: The number of lives saved through reduced car accidents related to $4.00 gasoline prices in the United States: Approximately 1,000 per month!

I believe that gas prices has a major effect on the public and its health. Making gas such a hard thing to purchase, (especially in this economic crisis) people will have to resort to using other means of transportation. (tri-met, max, streetcar, bike) Not only is it better for the environment but it also improves the health of people who have to walk to the bus or max, or people who decide to ride their bike.

I hold that when a gallon of gas is above $3.00, we start to see a massive shift in public and private investments in greener forms of transportation.  On the individual level, when gas hits that level or over, we see droves of people jumping on their bikes. 

Economics is making bike transportation a better choice; therefore, economics makes it easier to motivate people to incorporate exercise into their daily life.  A win for public health.  However, many people do not feel safe rising along with traffic. Exercising in the path of car exhaust is another issue all together. If the price of gas is to rise again, which I believe it will by October 09, then these issues are bound to resurface. 

Once infrastructure is in place to make biking, walking, and running easy and safe, and accommodations are made for freight and other gas drenched industries, a gas tax would be worth a conversation to artificially motivate people to exercise in their daily lives, such as biking to work.

The best public health planning makes it easy to be healthy, and harder to be unhealthy.

I think that gas prices have both a negative and positive affect on public health.

The positive is that people are more likely to walk or bike to work or school.

The negative is that since there really is not a safe infrastructure for these types of transportation modes then there is likely to be an increase in pedestrian and biking accidents.

Another positive/negative that has been stated in a previous comment is that people are more likely to eat at home, but since the price of food has not decreased with the price of gas then people are going to buy cheaper foods (which generally are less nutritious) that fit in their budgets.  Another factor to this is that as people stop eating out then restaurants are going to have decreased business which leads to layoffs, which in turn leads to a shrinking safety net for social services.

Gas prices definitely have an affect on public health in both positive and negative ways. I just hope that everyone looks to the future to hopefully find a balance in their lives where they can be both healthy and economical.

From the Safe Routes to School perspective high gas prices have a major impact on our project as families reanalyze their transportation choices when gas prices are high and the general interest in biking and walking increases as people look for ways to save money.

    Cities are also more open to considering infrastructure changes that include cyclists and walkers when they see increased numbers of those modes out on the street.

    We are more likely to build walkable and bikeable cities if gas prices are higher.  This can be seen in many European countries where high gas prices effect peoples travel behavior.

The positive effects of high gas prices are that there is increased activity among people who cannot afford to drive.  I have seen more people walking since the gas prices have been high.  Even though gas prices have fallen again, people still cannot afford to drive like we used to due to rising costs of other things.

It society is less mobile and stays home more, I think families will go back to a simpler lifestyle and perhaps prepare meals at home more and eat out less.  Home cooked meals are more economical and much healthier.

Decreased trips from making our use of vehicles more effecient, can help to decrease pollution in the environment, which can help with respiratory illness and asthma prevention.

The negative impact to public health on high gas prices is the increased costs passed onto consumers for food and other necissary items.  If food prices increase, citizens may have to buy cheaper and less nutritious foods to feed thier families.