M3.5 Transportation


Transportation is essential to everyday life whether its via automobile, Bart, or walking. Unfortunately, for me I have to drive my car and public transportation is not an option though I wish it were. I work 30ish miles from home, I commute 60ish  to USF campus, and I commute throughout the county to do nutrition and physical activity promotion. I also commute 80ish miles to San Jose to visit my significant other.
The implications for my health are sitting for too long in the car during traffic. It hurts my back and affects the circulation in my body just as it would if I was just sitting and watching TV I would assume. Even though I run regularly, prolonged sitting has a negative effect on my overall health. The health of the communities specifically  Richmond city that is adjacent to Chevron refinery, next to freeways and or train tracks, these communities of color's health is more affected due to high levels of  pollution and  decrease in air quality they are exposed to every day. The increase in people living in the Bay Area means more people are driving and contributing to existing pollution and decreases in health if they also live too far to take public transportation (lower physical activity).

My typical form of transportation is to drive to work. I drive by the Valero refinery in Benicia everyday to and from work. I typically do not hit a lot of traffic on my commute even though it is a two lane road all the way to Martinez. It is a fairly easy uncongested commute, which I like. However, every morning I drive by the Valero refinery and think to myself how is this impacting my health and the environment- the water, the residents nearby, the animals... After the huge fire that caused an enormous cloud of black smoke visible miles away in the summer, I knew that no matter what the refinery said about it not being harmful I did not believe it. How can a huge cloud of black smoke that limits visibility on the freeway be safe? I had my doubts. After learning more about the lax regulations or low standards the EPA has on environmental hazards I am skeptical of any statements made by the company or associated stakeholders. It is important to increase public health transportation policies and keep in mind the effect of refineries on the communities health, even if people are just driving by it, we are still being exposed.


Comments

  1. Krissy PamatmatSeptember 26, 2017 at 3:49 PM

    Hi Mayra,

    Thank you for sharing your experience in commuting by using your car. I used public transportation going to work and school so it's nice to hear other people's experience and concern in regards to using an automobile. It's really interesting that you brought up the health issue in Richmond city. I wonder if the government are doing anything to protect the people's health in these areas. The government need to have a stricter policies for refineries to protect the health of the people who live around these areas. In addition, I agree that the government should have better public transportation policies.

    - Krissy

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  2. UnknownSeptember 28, 2017 at 3:28 PM

    Hi Mayra,
    I think we are in the same boat when it comes to our commute to work and to school. My job also involves going to different sites everyday therefore, having a car is absolute necessary for me. I think in order to make the Bay Area more liveable, the government and county has to focus on reducing traffic and traffic hours so that the commute to work for everyone is shorter. This is a extremely difficult puzzle to solve because there's so many factors that go into this. But if one day, we can actually shorten the amount of traffic jam and traffic time, the positive impacts would be immeasurable for our well-being as well as for the environment and the air that we breath.

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  3. Environmental Health MusingsSeptember 30, 2017 at 10:57 PM

    Hi Mayra,

    I can only imagine how hard that commute is between work, school and your personal life. I agree with you that a lot of the activities at the refineries impact health, the environment, water, nearby neighborhoods, and even animals. I've seen several news reports of chemicals, clouds and smells in the Richmond/Martinez/Benicia area where they have also reported that the vapors and clouds are "harmless." I also doubt these claims and agree that we need to be more mindful of the effects of nearby polluters in the community.

    ReplyDelete

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