Orange County NC Website
Browse       Search
161 <br /> into less disturbed, rural areas, there can be significant impacts on other aspects of the natural <br /> environment. Forests may be cleared, farmland developed, and wetlands and streams paved <br /> over. The increase in impervious surfaces from this development can have an extremely <br /> detrimental effect on water quality as run-off increases. <br /> In contrast, compact,planned land use enables developers to use space more efficiently, <br /> requiring less new development into rural areas. Moreover, compact, mixed-use communities <br /> mean residents can walk, bike, or use public transportation to reach destinations. In turn, fewer <br /> people rely on cars in their daily lives, which equates to fewer harmful pollutants being emitted <br /> into our air and water on a daily basis. <br /> Moreover, the D-O LRT will serve as a keystone piece of a long-term vision for an <br /> improved Triangle-wide public transit system. As explained in the DEIS, the D-O LRT has not <br /> been proposed or developed in isolation; instead, it is part of a broader regional plan to invest in <br /> fixed-guideway transportation solutions.5 As such, the D-O LRT is an important regional <br /> investment in an environmentally-sound public transit solution which will facilitate compact, less <br /> environmentally damaging transit-oriented development. Indeed, the affected municipalities <br /> have premised their public transportation plans on this light rail project being implemented.6 <br /> Local governments' land-use visions "call for more compact, walkable, higher-density, mixed- <br /> use development within the D-O Corridor," and a light rail system will accordingly"channel <br /> future growth by providing a transportation option that supports compact, high-density <br /> developments."7 <br /> B. Light Rail Improves Physical and Mental Health <br /> By driving mixed-use, compact development near public transportation options, light rail <br /> encourages more active lifestyles. Walking and bicycling to destinations, or to the closest light <br /> rail station, will be feasible and easier than driving and finding parking. Transit-oriented <br /> development, and the corresponding greater use of public transportation, increases physical <br /> activity and improves physical health.8 For example, mixed-use neighborhoods with public <br /> transportation access correspond to lower rates of obesity, while sprawling neighborhoods <br /> correspond to higher rates of hypertension, diabetes, asthma, and cancer.9 <br /> One study of individuals living near the Charlotte Lynx light rail system showed <br /> significant increases in physical health, including that light rail users lost weight and <br /> substantially reduced their likelihood of becoming obese.10 Public transportation access and <br /> 5 Id. at 2-2-2-8. <br /> 6 E.g. id. at 8-7. <br /> Id. at 1-22;see id.at 4-291,4-298. <br /> 8 See TODD LITMAN,VICTORIA TRANSPORT POLICY INSTITUTE,EVALUATING PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION HEALTH <br /> BENEFITS 13-15 (2015),available at http://www.vtpi.org/tran_health.pdf. <br /> 9 Id. at 15. <br /> 10 John M.MacDonald,et al., The Effect of Light Rail Transit on Body Mass Index and Physical Activity,39 AM.J. <br /> PREVENTIVE MED. 105, 108(2010). The study concluded that"[t]he findings from the current study suggest that <br /> 3 <br />