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<br /> walkable communities are also associated with numerous mental health benefits, such as
<br /> reducing emotional stress and symptoms of depression.'I Moreover, in terms of general public
<br /> health,public transit use is safer than private automobile use, with a much lower fatality rate than
<br /> automobile travels.'As one researcher has observed, "[p]eople who live or work in transit
<br /> oriented communities tend to drive fewer annual miles, drive at lower speeds, and have better
<br /> travel options that allow them to avoid high risk driving, such as after drinking alcohol or when
<br /> ill."13 Light rail, as a fixed public transportation system, will lay the foundation for such healthier
<br /> and safer transit-oriented communities in the D-O Corridor.
<br /> Additionally, light rail's resulting reduction in tailpipe emissions corresponds to
<br /> significant human health effects. As noted above, driving individual automobiles creates toxic
<br /> particulate matter pollution and ozone-producing chemicals that can have a wide range of
<br /> adverse health effects. A recent study published in the journal Nature suggests that air pollution
<br /> was responsible for 3.3 million premature deaths worldwide in 2010.14 Air pollution exacerbates
<br /> asthma, which was the leading medical cause for school absences in North Carolina during the
<br /> 2009-2010 school year.15 It is also linked to low birth weight,premature birth, miscarriage,
<br /> autism, ADHD, obesity, diabetes, compromised immune response, increased susceptibility to
<br /> allergies, stroke, liver disease, dementia, anxiety, and depression.16 Particulate matter pollution is
<br /> created not only by burning fossil fuels, but also by road wear, brake wear, and tire wear. The
<br /> cleanest electric car will still cause particulate matter pollution because it cannot avoid friction
<br /> with the petroleum-based asphalt comprising our roads. However, light rail avoids these
<br /> friction-based sources of pollution by not using the petroleum-based asphalt. Moreover, light
<br /> rail can avoid or mitigate these many adverse health impacts by providing a high-capacity public
<br /> transit alternative to driving private vehicles. Fewer cars on the road equates to cleaner air for
<br /> North Carolinians.
<br /> increasing the access to LRT transit for individuals to commute to work may help overcome some of the barriers to
<br /> engaging in daily utilitarian exercise."Id.at 110.
<br /> 11 LITMAN,supra note 9,at 17.
<br /> 12 Id. at 8-9.
<br /> 13 Id. at 8.
<br /> 14 J Lelieveld et al. The Contribution of Outdoor Air Pollution Sources to Premature Mortality on a Global Scale,
<br /> 525 NATURE,367—371 (2015).
<br /> 15 N.C.DEPT.OF HEALTH&HUMAN SERVS.,ASTHMA IN NORTH CAROLINA FACT SHEET 1 (2011),available at
<br /> http://www.asthma.ncdhhs.gov/docs/factsheets/2011/AsthmalnNorthCarolina.pdf;N.C.DEPT.OF HEALTH&HUMAN
<br /> SERVS.,THE NORTH CAROLINA ASTHMA PLAN 2013-2018 2(2013),available at
<br /> http://www.asthma.ncdhhs.gov/docs/NorthCarolinaAsthmaPlan-2013-2018.pdf(identifying Reducing school
<br /> absences due to asthma as one of four priorities of the North Carolina Asthma Plan).
<br /> 16 E.g.Ambient(Outdoor)Air Quality and Health,WORLD HEALTH ORG.,
<br /> http://www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs313/en/(last updated Mar.2014);ARB Fact Sheet:Air Pollution and
<br /> Health,AIR RES.BD.,http://www.arb.ca.gov/research/health/fs/fsl/fs1 htm(last updated Dec.2,2009);Bradley S.
<br /> Peterson,et al.,Effects of Prenatal Exposure to Air Pollutants (Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons)on the
<br /> Development of Brain White Matter, Cognition, and Behavior in Later Childhood,72 JAMA PSYCHIATRY 531
<br /> (2015);W.James Gauderman, et al.Association of Improved Air Quality with Lung Development in Children,372
<br /> N.ENG.J.MED.905 (2015).
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