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