Survey—and Massachusetts placed fourth
on the League of American Bicyclists’
2015 Bicycle Friendly State ranking, up six
spots from 2014.
At the heart of these changes was the
commonwealth’s recognition that its popu-
lation follows a national trend: According
to the Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention (CDC), 59.3 percent of
Massachusetts residents were overweight
and 23 percent were obese in 2010. This
raised a red flag for public health officials,
while another flag went up for environ-
mental policymakers concerned about
greenhouse gas emissions.
With some nudging from advocates, the
state first paired health with transportation
about six years ago.
“We’ve made the connection
between transportation and health,” says
Massachusetts Bicycle Coalition Executive
Director Richard Fries.
O
n a spring morning near Boston, the Minuteman Bikeway pulses
with activity. Nearly all of winter’s punishing, relentless snow
has melted; only a few dirty patches remain in shadowy corners.
Trees heavy with blossoms filter sunlight as dog walkers, joggers
and spandex-clad bikers interweave with parents and children
en route to school and commuters biking or walking to public
transportation.
The Minuteman is not a new rail-trail, but its usage has
doubled since 2011. Though estimates vary, more than 1 million people flock to the bike-
way each year, making it one of the country’s most popular rail-trails. The Minuteman
stands out in part because it symbolizes what trail enthusiasts, active-transportation advo-
cates and policymakers all describe as a “sea change” in support of health, fitness and car-
free transport in the Bay State. Boston boasts the highest walk-to-work percentage in the
country—14.5 percent, according to the U.S. Census Bureau’s American Community
Health
Healthy Transportation
The synergy of this critical connection has
engendered a new level of cooperation
between the Massachusetts Department
of Transportation (MassDOT) and the
state Department of Health and Human
Services, most often under the Department
of Public Health. At the heart of this
marriage is the Healthy Transportation
Compact, also signed by the Department
of Energy and Environmental Affairs. With
the compact, the departments pledged in
2009 “to achieve positive health outcomes
through the coordination of land use, trans-
portation and public health policy.”
The state clearly supports this vision
with MassDOT’s sustainability frame-
work, known as GreenDOT. Three years
ago, MassDOT set a more concrete
goal, known as the mode shift goal: to
triple the number of people who walk,
bike or use public transportation—
rails
to
trails
u
fall.15
16
