UBC Faculty Research and Publications

The Health Impacts of Rail Transit Investment : Synthesis of Evidence and Methodologies to Date Frank, Lawrence D.; Hong, Andy

Abstract

On March 6th, 2018, 12 researchers from across North America were brought together to form an expert panel focus group on the causal relationship between rail transit investment, health and other related topics. Findings of the panel discussion are grouped into three sections: (I) What to study; (II) Who to study; and, (III) How to study. The discussion in the first section is divided into subjects related to a topic, and subjects related to gaps and opportunities in research methodology. In terms of topics, the main themes were: health, equity, new transportation technology, and economic development. The main gaps and opportunities identified were in areas of co-investments, co-exposures, and control group selection. In the second section, the main themes were vulnerable populations (physical and economic), easiest to study populations (commuters and fare card users), and populations who can provide the most insight (choice riders, and small business owners around transit). Finally, in the third section, the main themes were in regard to the recruitment methodology, data collection, study design, and transferability of findings. These findings are to bolster an existing literature review to help guide future research.

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Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International