Articles

Use of the “War on Terror” since 9/11 to Discriminate

Against Bicyclists, Pedestrians, and Mass Transit Riders

Paul K. Simpson, M.D.

 

 

 

In 2000, in response to the worsening obesity epidemic, the U.S. Centers For Disease Control issued a call to action recommending that NGO’s and all levels of government develop and implement programs to help reverse the parallel trends of decreasing physical activity and increasing obesity and diseases related to obesity among the U.S. population. Data was released graphically demonstrating the “obesification” of U.S. residents with over two thirds of American adults now being overweight and over one third obese. In 2001, immediately after assuming office, Vice President Dick Cheney convened the National Energy Policy Development Group consisting primarily of representatives from major US energy corporations including Enron and Halliburton. The full list of “advisors” and the content of the meetings has remained secret, but it is known that although the task force had over fifty members, not a single environmental or alternative transportation group was invited. The recommendations of the task force were adopted by the Bush administration and enacted as the U.S. National Energy Policy. The policy had no provision for improving fuel efficiency or promoting energy-saving and health-improving alternative means of transportation.

Immediately after the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, U.S. President, George W. Bush declared, “You’re either with us, or you’re with the terrorists.”  Unfortunately, the attacks have subsequently been used by authorities as an excuse to mount a war against those attempting to use non-automotive means of transportation.

No terrorist attack has ever been carried out in the U.S. using bicycles, but after 9/11, managing authorities of many high-rise buildings which had required that bicycles be transported in freight elevators implemented outright building-wide bans on bikes citing “security reasons.” Trucks have been used in terrorist bombings, but no restrictions were implemented for trucks in buildings with parking garages and loading bays. Security “experts” also recommended that steps be taken to prevent terrorists accessing bridge support structures. First, fences were put in place along bridge sidewalks and bike paths to keep “terrorist” bicyclists and pedestrians from climbing over rails to access bridge supports. Later, bike and pedestrian ways were closed altogether. It is no longer possible to walk or bicycle across many of the major bridges in the US.

            At the local level, my town of State College, Pennsylvania, is planning a new transit depot. During discussion in the planning committee of bicycle facilities, one of our borough councilors resisted the placement of bicycle parking within or adjacent to the building, stating that bicycles could be used as bombs in a terrorist attack. This objection completely disregarded the fact that the facility will be entered many times every day by trucks, buses and cars, all of which have been involved in terrorist attacks in the U.S. When challenged, the councilor admitted that the recommendation that bicycles not be allowed near buildings had been conveyed to her during an anti-terrorism training session provided to borough staff by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. Whether willful or part of our culture’s irrational blindness to the dangers of motorized transport, we are seeing this attitude repeatedly result in exclusion of bicycles and pedestrians from public facilities, even facilities designed to serve only bikes and pedestrians.
            “This Bike is a Pipe Bomb” is the name of a punk/folk band from Pensacola, Florida. Their music emphasizes themes of peace and equality. In 2001, An Austin, Texas policeman arrested a woman at a peace rally because a sticker bearing the band’s name was on her bike. She was later released after police confirmed the existence of the band.
            On March 2, 2006 an Ohio University policeman reported a terrorist bomb chained to the Oasis restaurant The bomb was in the form of a bicycle adorned with the band’s sticker. Despite assurances from the bike’s owner, a graduate student, that the sticker was just the name of his favorite band, the area was cordoned off, and the campus was closed. The Athens, Ohio bomb squad removed the bike and used explosives to destroy it in a remote area. The owner was arrested as a terrorist and charged with inducing panic. The charges were later dropped, and the owner was compensated for the bike. On March 14 that same year, Bellamine Hall at Saint Joseph’s University in Philadelphia was evacuated because of a bicycle with the band’s name painted on it.
            On February 16, 2009, the terminal at Memphis International Airport was evacuated after a pilot notified police that he had seen a bike with the band’s sticker on it. K9 units were sent in, but no explosives were found. The bike owner was arrested as a terrorist, but was released hours later because police could not determine that a crime had been committed. A few days later, the lead singer of “This Bike is a Pipe Bomb” urged fans to use caution with the band’s stickers.

Reclaim the streets began in London in 1996 with a “street party” to encourage the city government to convert a large disused street to a city park. Their innovative tactics and general appeal resulted in a popular movement which soon spread globally. In the US the movement manifested as block and intersection parties to draw attention to degradation of quality of life in urban neighborhoods caused by noisy and aggressive motor traffic traveling at excessive speeds. Unfortunately, a few kids partying in the street was seen as such a threat to the American way of life, that in 2003, Reclaim the Streets was included by U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft in his list of 100 top terrorist organizations to be targeted by the FBI for surveillance and disruption.

 The Flying Rutabaga Cycle Circus is a group of performance artists who tour by bicycle each summer with puppet shows, plays, and circus acts to educate on environmental themes. In 2003, the theme was the dangers of genetically modified foods. The start of the 2003 tour was to be at the Biodiversity Conference in St. Louis, the home of Monsanto. The conference was to be in answer to a biotechnology conference being hosted at the same time for corporations and government officials by Monsanto, the largest producer and marketer of genetically modified food. A group of artists living in St. Louis had offered to host the circus during their visit. On arrival, they all went to dinner. On returning, the Rutabagans and the resident artists were brutally arrested by the St. Louis police who had broken into the house. They were freed by attorney intervention after 48 hours. When they got their possessions back, their puppets and artwork had been destroyed, their bike tires were slashed and the bikes damaged, and their clothing had been urinated upon. The police claimed they had been acting on a tip that terrorists were staying in the house.

            Bike Pittsburgh works to support community cohesion, alternative transportation, and sustainability with a wide range of programs. The organization holds a weeklong bikefest annually. In 2005, Bikefest  culminated in a day-long carfree conference. After several years of diligent work. The group had secured $1.2 million in federal transportation and matching funds as well as municipal support, and a donated building under a bridge downtown for a commuter bike station to include showers, secure bike parking, and a bike repair station. The U.S. Department of Homeland Security has blocked the bike station plan citing an anti-terrorism policy which forbids any new facilities under bridges. At the carfree conference, David Hoffman, president of Bike PGH, declared that he now worries he may have been declared a terrorist because the definition of terrorist in the USA PATRIOT act includes anyone who makes public statements against oil companies.

            In May, 2004, New York City began to encourage the public to plan to avoid using cars in Manhattan during the week of the Republican National Convention to be held in August. Groups advocating alternative transportation such as Transportation Alternatives and Times Up! were enlisted by the Mayor’s office to assist in a campaign to encourage bicycling, walking, and use of mass transit during the convention. Seeing an opportunity to further their cause, the advocacy groups signed on and began working for the errort.

            In spite of this seeming willingness to cooperate with alternative transportation users, a massive mobilization of police trained in military tactics was undertaken using the “Miami Model”. The Miami Model is the brainchild of John Timoney who rose through the ranks to become New York’s Chief of Police in 1994. He was head of the Philadelphia Police Department in 2000 when police brutality against peaceful demonstrators at the Republican National Convention generated numerous civil suits against the city as well as criminal charges against police officers. In 2003, the Bush administration diverted to the City of Miami, $8 million from money authorized by Congress for the war in Iraq. This money was to be used by the city as part of the “War on Terror” to develop an aggressive program for domestic policing using military tactics in dealing with protestors. Timoney was immediately hired as the Miami Chief of police.

The Miami Model was unveiled at the November, 2003 demonstrations against the Free Trade Area of the Americas in Miami. The tactics used included:

–         a massive media and news campaign to paint the demonstrators as violent anarchists and terrorists and to warn “law abiding citizens” to stay off the streets during the FTAA meetings,

–         extensive fencing to corral protestors,

–         use of dogs, pepper spray, tear gas, and rubber bullets against peaceful demonstrations,

–         use of undercover police disguised as demonstrators to provoke violence and to brutalize peaceful protestors,

–         search and seizures, especially of bicyclists and pedestrians, without cause throughout the city,

–         “preemptive arrest” of potential demonstrators,

–         use of mainstream reporters “embedded” with police units, and

–         targeting of independent reporters for assault and arrest.

Despite prominently displayed press credentials, Ana Nogueira, producer of of Democracy Now! was arrested along with two other independent journalists as soon as they arrived to cover the protest. Other reporters were beaten by police and shot with rubber bullets and guns firing wooden blocks, severely wounding some.

            Immediately following the 2003 FTAA meetings, Timoney was hired by Mayor Bloomberg as a consultant to the NYPD to develop plans for the upcoming Republican National Convention using the Miami Model. After months, of “consulting” Timoney resigned in July, 2004 in the face of increasing criticism and media attention to the previous year’s events in Miami.

Critical Mass began in San Francisco in 1990. It is a celebration of bicycling and a call for respect and better, safer facilities for bicyclists. The “mass” meets on the last Friday of each month. The ride is spontaneous, having no leader or determined route. It has been occurring monthly in Manhattan for 10 years, and had always been supported by police who blocked auto traffic at intersections and acted to ensure the safety of riders. The atmosphere had been festive and non-confrontational. On August 27, 2004, the day before the start of the Republican National Convention in Madison Square Garden, 5000 riders joined Critical Mass. The ride went peacefully for over an hour, but around 9 pm, police diverted the mass into a dead end side street, and without warning, began knocking riders down, brutally arresting them, and confiscating their bikes. After being knocked down, cyclists were charged by groups of police wielding metal sidewalk barriers to pin them against walls. Their hands were then tied through the bars, and the barriers were dropped to the sidewalk to hold the arrestees for later processing and placement in paddy wagons. Cyclists were then held without due process for up to four days in holding pens in a pier which had been condemned due to asbestos and chemical contamination.

On Sunday, August 29, hours before the massive permitted demonstration in Manhattan, without prior notification and without providing justification, the NYPD instituted a “bikes frozen zone” between 34th and 59th streets west of 6th Ave, allowing motor vehicle traffic, but forbidding bicycles and bicycling. At the same time, all subway lines and bus routes to the area were shut down, effectively freezing transit in Manhattan. Bicyclists attempting to get to the demonstration were diverted onto side streets by police roadblocks. Plainclothes police on motor scooters attacked the cyclists by riding at high speed into their midst and knocking them off their bikes.They were then attacked, brutalized, and arrested by police waiting on the sidewalk and in vans.

Following the Republican National Convention, hundreds of lawsuits were filed against the city and the NYPD regarding violations of first amendment rights, brutality, preemptive arrests, confiscation of legally parked and locked bikes (essentially constituting theft), illegal detentions, and disruption even of permitted demonstrations.            The New York Police Department has been shown on numerous instances to have falsified evidence and committed perjury against bicyclists arrested during the RNC. Many of the arrestees were simply riding to or from work or restaurants and had no involvement in protests. On the night of the Critical Mass arrests, Alexander Dunlop was riding his bike to his favorite sushi restaurant when he found himself trapped in an area cordoned off by police. When he asked a police officer which way he should go to exit the area, he was arrested and charged with disorderly conduct and resisting arrest. Video evidence provided by NYC prosecutors, when compared by I Witness Video, to the same video from another case, was found to have been altered to exclude a segment showing Dunlop peacefully submitting to arrest. The complete video from the other case also confirmed Dunlop’s contention that the officer who provided a sworn affidavit of Dunlop’s resistance had committed perjury. Not only was the testifying officer not the officer who had arrested Dunlop, but he was not even present at the scene. The new video clearly showed Dunlop being arrested by a female officer who was not  listed in NYPD records as the arresting officer. All charges against Dunlop were dropped. Hundreds of other cyclists have subsequently been exonerated in similar circumstances through the work of I Witness Video.

The NYPD has continued to aggressively harass and disrupt the monthly New York City Critical Mass rides. On October 25, 2004, NYC filed a lawsuit requesting an injunction which would require a permit for the rides. Since the rides are leaderless and unorganized, Times Up! And individuals arrested filed a countersuit arguing that what the city was asking, in essence, was that bicycling without a permit be judged illegal. On November 20, a Federal judge ruled that the city could not confiscate legally parked bikes, nor could it prevent the Critical Mass rides form taking place. The November 30 Critical Mass was again disrupted, and riders were brutalized. The City of New York has subsequently been found in contempt of court, and a final ruling has declared that the NYPD cannot stop or disrupt the rides. The behavior of the police, however, has not changed. The police have taken to declaring a “ride route” and posting and handing out notices such as this one advising that Critical Mass riders who do not follow the printed rules of the NYPD will be subject to arrest.

Following the London terrorist bombings of 7/7/05 which killed fifty and injured several hundred, there was a sudden increase in bicycling in Britain as people attempted to avoid mass transit. Bicycle sales in London shot up 150%, and the numbers of cyclists on London streets quadrupled. The exodus from London transit was fueled not only by fear of terrorist attacks, but also by fear of the new “shoot to kill” anti-terrorism policy adopted by London police which soon resulted in the shooting of an innocent electrician in the subway on his way to work. Two weeks later, the Victoria Transport Policy Institute published an analysis of the relative risk of driving vs. riding mass transit. The paper pointed out that the number of people killed and wounded in the terrorist attacks equaled the number killed and wounded every six days in crashes on British roads. Even factoring in the terrorist attack fatalities, the risk of death for UK transit passengers is 1/20 the risk of death for auto occupants. London city officials became concerned by a sudden 90% increase in numbers of traffic violations committed by cyclists, although an increase in violations is to be expected from a quadrupling of bikes on the streets. Nevertheless, in the face of numerous complaints, primarily from taxi cab drivers, the city felt compelled to act, launching a massive crackdown on cyclists by handing out tickets with 30 pound fines.

Meanwhile, in the U.S., we saw the devastating result of decades of corporate and government policy which discriminates against those who do not own cars by dismantling our public transportation system while heavily subsidizing motor vehicle use. The evacuation plan for New Orleans, developed at a cost of over one million dollars, consisted of nothing more than advising residents to drive their cars to safety in the event of an emergency. Over 1/3 of New Orleans residents do not own cars. By the time the evacuation order for Hurricane Katrina was issued, the bus and train services out of New Orleans had already been shut down. The last Amtrak train to leave New Orleans departed not to evacuate people in the path of Katrina, but to avoid hurricane damage to Amtrak rolling stock. That train traveled to Tennessee empty of passengers.

            The money which had been earmarked for levee strengthening to prevent this long-predicted disaster had been diverted by the Bush Administration to the war in Iraq, the crown jewel in the so-called “war on terror.” Bush had also reduced FEMA, the Federal Emergency Management Administration from a cabinet- level organization to a subset of the Department of Homeland Security, and its funding, expertise and resources had been largely shifted to his “war on terror.”  The horrible debacle seen by the world as our government failed to respond to the disaster of Hurricane Katrina is the ultimate example of use of the “war on terror” to discriminate against users of alternative transportation.

 

 

Paul K. Simpson, M.D. is a practicing Internal Medicine physician. He is a founding member of the People’s Power Exchange, a cooperative international effort to build community by sharing cultural and material assets through developing educational bike cooperatives, earn-a-bike programs, and bicycle powered machines in an area of Tanzania economically devastated by HIV/AIDS and globalization. The group developed an exchange of Tanzanian artists and North American students to explore ways to rebuild and keep strong communities despite the forces fragmenting society. Dr. Simpson is an officer in the Centre Region Bicycle Coalition www.centrebike.org. He is CRBC’s liaison to the World Carfree Network.

 

For reprints contact:

Paul K. Simpson, M.D.

1301 East Branch Road

State College, PA 16801

USA

pksimp@comcast.net

570-726-7992 (office)

814-867-4266 (home)

814-574-6334 (cell)

To date, efforts to study the health effects of inequality in transportation have focused on crash injuries, noise-related stress and social disruption, pollution exposure, social isolation in high traffic neighborhoods, and difficulty accessing medical care by those who are transport disadvantaged. A 1999 World Health Organization study of mobility concluded “Exercise levels, social contact, and access to services in children, the elderly, the ill, and the poor is inversely related to the societal level of motor vehicle usage in all countries.” In 2006, Transportation Alternatives (TA) in New York published a study showing that people who live on streets with heavy traffic go outdoors less often and have fewer friends than those living on quieter streets. The study, “Traffic’s Human Toll” reveals that high volume vehicular traffic has profoundly negative impacts on the lives and perceptions of residents who live near it. The study concluded that, “Compared to their neighborhood counterparts living on streets with low traffic volumes, residents living on higher volume streets:
• harbor more negative perceptions of their block;
• possess fewer relationships with their neighbors;
• are more frequently interrupted during sleep, meals, and conversations;
• spend less time walking, shopping and playing with their children.” A 1995 study of social contact in San Francisco third graders showed that, on average, those living on streets with light traffic had three times as many friends and twice as many acquaintances as those living on streets with heavy traffic. Studies from the United Kingdom show that low socioeconomic status children are five times more likely to be killed in car-pedestrian crashes than are age-matched higher status children.

Nature Deficit Disorder describes a failure to develop a sense of connectedness with nature resulting from lack of meaningful experience of natural areas. This disorder develops in children who are constantly indoors or in motor vehicles. Children who are deprived of contact with nature begin to show deficits in motor and social skills as early as age five. The disorder was clearly demonstrated in a study by Marco Huttenmoser of Zurich in which children aged 6 and 7 were asked to draw pictures of their daily trips to school. The pictures drawn by those who walked to school were rich with color and showed details of plants, animals, and neighbors, while pictures drawn by classmates always driven to school showed inferior motor and drawing skill and tended to be devoid of living things, showing only the car, the road, and the origin and destination buildings.

Although some studies have mentioned feelings of insecurity related to traffic volume and proximity, analyses of the adverse health effects of the status syndrome resulting from transportation inequality have been lacking. The status syndrome describes a direct link between social status and health, independent of other health risk factors. Higher social status is associated with lower risk of illness across a broad spectrum of health and disease indicators. The syndrome was first described by Sir Michael Marmot, professor of Epidemiology at the International Institute for Society and Health, University College , London . According to Marmot, “The higher the social position, the longer can people expect to live, and the less disease can they expect to suffer.”

Marmot first noticed the effect during analysis of data from the 1970’s Whitehall Study which looked at coronary artery disease risk factors among British civil servants housed at Whitehall , U.K. Whitehall was studied because its high degree of stratified organization lent itself to ready collection of the data needed. When the data were analyzed, Marmot was surprised to discover that position in the bureaucratic hierarchy was directly related to the risk of coronary events. Thus, the number one official at Whitehall was less likely to have a myocardial infarction (M.I.) in any given period of time than was the number two official who was at less risk than the number three official. This effect continued undisturbed down the hierarchy and was independent of all other risk factors. Men in the lowest employment grade (office support) were four times more likely to experience M.I. than those in the highest grade (administrative). In fact, the data showed employment grade to be a more powerful predictor of M.I. than the classic risk factors of smoking, serum cholesterol, and blood pressure combined. This astounding finding led to a second (Whitehall II) study of 17,000 bureaucrats which confirmed and expanded upon the original findings.

Several studies have since confirmed the reproducible risk difference associated with even small salary differences. These studies have refuted the argument that the health risk disparity between different socioeconomic classes are solely the result of lifestyle differences or differing ability to afford health care, although those factors are real and operate independently of the status syndrome

Work stress and work hierarchy have been shown to be independent risk factors for the metabolic syndrome (a constellation of coronary risk factors, including central adiposity, hypertension, glucose intolerance, and hyperlipidemia). The more work stress that was reported, the greater the likelihood of having the metabolic syndrome. Ninety percent of the metabolic syndrome stratification by employment grade remained after smoking, sedentary lifestyle, and alcohol consumption were factored out. In addition, several studies have shown a direct link between increased risk of coronary disease and low control in the workplace and perceived imbalance between efforts and rewards. This lack of control is much more stressful and harmful to health than is the perceived heavy workload and long work hours typically associated with upper level administrative positions. The impact of the status syndrome seems to be more severe the greater is the degree of inequality in any given hierarchy. This is seen in the health status rankings of nations. Thus, the large disparity between social classes in the U.S. is thought to be a major reason this wealthy country, which spends the most per capita on health care, consistently ranks far down the list in such parameters as infant mortality and life expectancy.

The status syndrome is demonstrable over a wide range of health variables including longevity, infant mortality, HIV/AIDS, and others. It is also demonstrable across a broad array of socioeconomic variables such as employment hierarchy, community social status, regional and national economic ranking, and even education level. A 1990’s study in Sweden showed M.I. risk to be lower the higher level of educational degree obtained even to a difference depending on the number of PhD’s an individual has earned

The status syndrome is thought to be mediated through the mechanisms by which our endocrine and nervous systems respond to stress. Acute stress causes an outpouring of hormonal and nervous system impulses to enable the organism to cope more effectively (the “fight or flight” response). Chronic stress produces constant elevations of these levels which negatively affects the health of the organism. Numerous studies have demonstrated that individuals’ stress hormone (glucocorticoids and catecholemines) levels are inversely related to social status in humans and all other primate species with social hierarchies. In human societies, stress associated with the adverse effects of status is compounded by internalization of messages of inferiority resulting in poor self-esteem. Insecurity, chronic anxiety, social isolation, and lack of control in work and social interactions undermine mental and physical health.

The effects of the status syndrome seem to begin well before birth. Maternal stress hormones and other chemical factors cross the placenta. Low birth weight and predisposition to a number of metabolic diseases are directly associated with lower social status. Blood cortisol levels in adults are inversely related to birth weight. Low birth weight is a direct risk factor for later development of diabetes type 2. Multiple studies have shown that mortality is related directly to low levels of social integration. The status syndrome even has linear geographic correlates. The life expectancy of a male resident of Washington D.C is 57 years and increases 1.5 years per mile to Montgomery County , Maryland , where the male life expectancy is 76.7 years. Following the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1990, the associated decline in social status and the rise of social inequality led to a rise in mortality which was somewhat mitigated by higher education level. In 1978, coronary disease mortality rates were nearly identical in Lithuania and Sweden . By 1994, coronary mortality was four times higher in Lithuania than in Sweden .

The World Health Organization’s landmark 2005 report on the social determinants of health, “The Solid Facts,” recognized transport as a major area where inequality negatively affects health. But even that report, co-edited by Sir Marmot, failed to consider the status syndrome as a direct health risk factor in its transportation section. We need to recognize that, as was true within Whitehall , our transportation systems are designed as hierarchies with motorists enjoying higher status than other users. Usually, the degree of disparity between motorists and others is extreme. Typically, pedestrians are at the bottom of this social stratification. As we spend longer hours using these systems, especially in areas where sprawl development is the norm, the adverse health effects of this designed inequality can be expected to reach greater prominence. Unfortunately, this effect has received little study.

Let us now consider some situations in which transportation disparity has been reduced. In 1991, Cuba was suddenly faced with a transportation crisis when the collapse of the Soviet Union interrupted its oil supply and immobilized its motor vehicle fleet. The government declared a “special period” emergency. All available means of alternative transportation were put into use. 1.5 million bicycles were imported from China , and tractor trailers were converted to “camel” buses which can carry up to 150 passengers. The crisis served to decrease transportation disparity. In general, social inequality is much less extreme in Cuba than in most developed countries. The Cuban population now consistently ranks much higher than the U.S. in measures of health.

Enrique Penalosa became mayor of Bogota , Colombia in 1995. He implemented a plan of social equalization which concentrated on promoting transportation equality. During his six years in office, Penalosa’s administration developed 52 new schools, refurbished 150 others, added 14,000 computers to the public school system, and increased student enrollment by 34 percent. He also built three large central libraries and 10 neighborhood libraries. He improved life in the slums by bringing water to 100 percent of Bogotá households, and buying undeveloped land on the outskirts of the city to prevent real estate speculation and ensure that it will be developed as affordable housing with electrical, sewage, and telephone service as well as space reserved for parks, schools, and greenways. Penalosa successfully reclaimed the sidewalks from motorists, who traditionally drove and parked on them with impunity. The year before he took office, over 200 pedestrians were killed by cars driving on the sidewalks or when they stepped into the street to go around cars parked on the sidewalks. “I was almost impeached by the car-owning upper classes,” Peñalosa said, “but it was popular with everyone else.”

Penalosa estabished over 300 kilometers of separated bikeways, announcing, “These bike paths are a declaration that a citizen riding a $30 bicycle is equally as important as a citizen driving a $30,000 car. We built symbols of respect, equality and human dignity, not just sidewalks and bike paths. Motor vehicles on sidewalks were a symbol of inequality – people with cars taking over public space. A premise of the new city is that we want a society to be as egalitarian as possible. For this purpose, quality-of-life distribution is more important than income distribution, and quality of life includes a living environment as free of motor vehicles as possible.”

Penalosa created the Trans-Milenio, a bus rapid transit system (BRT), which now carries a half-million passengers daily on special bus lanes that offer most of the advantages of a metro at a fraction of the cost. His programs reduced traffic by 40 percent with a system where motorists must leave cars at home during rush hour two days a week. He also raised parking fees and gas taxes, with half of the proceeds going to fund the new bus transit system. He implemented an annual carfree day during which everyone had to use alternative transportation. He created a 45 km. greenway along a blighted river in a space which had been slated for an 8-lane highway. He built the world’s longest (17 km.) pedestrian street. He established or refurbished 1200 parks and playgrounds throughout the city.

Penalosa recently declared, “The world’s environmental sustainability and quality of life depends to a large extent on what is done during the next few years in the Third World ‘s 22 mega-cities. There is still time to think different… there could be cities with as much public space for children as for cars, with a backbone of pedestrian streets, sidewalks and parks, supported by public transport.” During his term in office, the murder rate in Bogota fell by two thirds. Violent crime rates declined dramatically, and quality of life indices rose. Penalosa’s successor has continued his programs which have been so popular that election of a mayoral candidate who espouses reversal of the equalizing efforts is considered exceedingly unlikely.

There are many other examples of legislative, infrastructural and programmatic changes which help to equalize transport modal status. Notable among them are the “green wave” traffic light system developed in Odense , Denmark , a city of 60,000 which has been designated the Danish National Cycling Laboratory. The green wave consists of roadside bollards which monitor cyclist speed. Each successive bollard flashes green when the cyclist approaching it is traveling at the speed for which traffic lights are timed. Riding with the “green wave” allows the cyclist to travel through the town without ever stopping for a red light. Motorists have begun traveling at the green wave speed to take advantage of this freedom from red lights. Also notable is the Netherlands law assigning fault to motorists in collisions with cyclists unless the cyclist can be proven to have deliberately caused the accident. The danger motor vehicles pose to other road users and the ease with which motorists can physically intimidate and dominate cyclists and pedestrians clearly justify further changes to promote parity.

Just as the city of Odense has become the Danish National Cycling Laboratory, the transportation changes of the “special period” in Cuba and those initiated by Enrique Penalosa in Bogota can provide laboratories for studying the benefits of transport equalization. To facilitate such study, methods to measure status syndrome effects in transport systems must be developed and refined.

In the USA in 2005, Hurricane Katrina highlighted the devastating result of decades of transportation policy which discriminates against those who do not own cars by dismantling public transportation systems while heavily subsidizing use of the private motor car. By the time the evacuation order for Hurricane Katrina was issued, the bus and train services out of New Orleans had already been shut down. Over 1/3 of New Orleans residents do not own cars. The last Amtrak train to leave New Orleans traveled to Tennessee not to evacuate people in the path of Katrina, but to avoid hurricane damage to Amtrak rolling stock. That train traveled to Tennessee empty of passengers.

Although more study is needed regarding the magnitude of the status syndrome effect in transportation systems, analysis to date supports the role this phenomenon plays in damaging the health of victims of transportation inequality. It is well proven that individuals seek to avoid the psychological and physical stress associated with low status. Our transportation systems are hierarchical by design and through properties intrinsic to each of the various modes. Without stringent effort to minimize status disparity between system users, those users will naturally tend to seek the perceived highest status level, the private motor car.

Through the status syndrome, motorists adversely affect the health of other modal users. This effect constitutes an externalization to society of the cost of motoring which has not been fully recognized or subjected to economic analysis. The costs of motoring not fully paid by motorists themselves have, therefore, been underestimated by economists. This externalization of cost must be accounted for in future economic analyses of transportation impacts

The perception of transportation mode status by individuals has largely become internalized and automatic. Transportation programs which elevate the status of pedestrians, bicyclists and transit users to equality or superiority with respect to motorists will help change this perception and should result in more rapid adoption of alternative transportation modes than programs which ignore status effects or which seek to change status perception by education or marketing approaches not accompanied by real and demonstrative changes in the system hierarchy. By lowering motor vehicle usage, these programs will serve to decrease the health impacts of both the status syndrome and the other adverse effects of transportation inequality mentioned above (i.e. crash injury, noise stress, social isolation, pollution exposure and healthcare access limitation).

Transportation equality is clearly a vital matter of health and social justice. I offer these recommendations as beginning steps:
•  Make equality promotion a goal of all transportation systems and a design feature of every transportation project.
•  Include equality analysis as a criterion in all transportation studies.
•  Develop transportation equality metrics to standardize these studies.
•  Consider the status syndrome in all studies of transportation health effects.
•  Recognize status syndrome health impact as an externalized cost in economic analyses of transportation projects

Paul K. Simpson, M.D. is a primary care physician of Internal Medicine. He practices at:
Clinton Medical Associates
7133 Nittany Valley Dr .
Mill Hall , PA. 17751

For reprints contact:
pksimp@comcast.net
570-726-7992 (office)
814-574-6334 (cell)
814-867-4266 (home)

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