How Car Traffic Causes and Exacerbates Asthma
Let's talk about asthma — a disease that threatens the ability to breathe, exercise & sleep. It can lead to school & work absences, permanent narrowing of bronchial tubes & life-threatening attacks requiring hospitalization. And car traffic both causes & exacerbates it.
The city's highest asthma-related child emergency department visits occur in City Council District 8, covering El Barrio/East Harlem and Mott Haven/Port Morris. Here there's one annual asthma-related child emergency department visit for every twenty children.
The five Council districts with the most polluted air are all in the congestion pricing zone.
Congestion pricing's vehicle miles traveled reduction will improve health outcomes in the Bronx, Brooklyn, and Queens.
And asthma is not distributed equally across New York City.
The five city council districts with the highest asthma rates have rates more than double the average district — and nearly twice the Black population rate and poverty rate as the average district.
So how can we reduce rates of asthma? Here's how:
Reducing speed limits from 30 mph to 20 causes vehicle emissions to fall nearly 30%. Why? Because of the reduced need to accelerate/decelerate in an urban setting.
Removing car access to streets reduces air pollution rates. After the pedestrianization of Times Square, local air pollution rates halved.
Trees reduce local air pollution.One tree can remove 11,000 miles of car emissions annually, equivalent to $5.60 in benefits for every $1 NYC spends planting. A tree-lined street has 50%+ fewer indoor particulate pollutants than a street with none.
To reduce air pollution and asthma rates in your neighborhood, pay attention to the design and use of public spaces. Explore more in Spatial Equity NYC.
