The Environmental Costs of Automobile-Centric Transportation Planning

Date of Award

3-6-2008

Document Type

Undergraduate Capstone Project

Degree Name

Master of Applied Science

Organizational Unit

University College, Environmental Policy and Management

Disciplines

Environmental Policy & Mgmt

First Advisor

Steven Bissell

Keywords

Biodiversity, Ecosystem services, Environmental costs, Habitat fragmentation, Human health, Land use, Mass transit, Sprawl, Transportation

Abstract

Since the passage of the Federal-Aid Highway Act of 1956, the automobile has become the primary form of transportation on the Mississippi Gulf Coast. As the rate of motor vehicle use continues to rise faster than population growth, the benefits of the current transportation system are coming at a price that rivals annual household expenditures for housing. Furthermore, the automobile-centric transportation system incurs environmental costs. Carbon dioxide emissions, motor fuel use, health care costs for chronic illness, and the loss and impairment of natural resources due to sprawling development, continue to escalate. This project analyzes the environmental costs associated with automobile-centric planning for the urbanized area of the Mississippi Gulf Coast and compares these costs to those of alternative transportation modes.

Publication Statement

Copyright is held by the author. Permanently suppressed.

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