Researching the health impacts of Zero Fare Transit in Kansas City neighborhoods with significantly lower life expectancies.
BikeWalkKC has been awarded an Environmental Justice Collaborative Problem-Solving grant from the United States Environmental Protection Agency. The grant will fund a two-year project with research partners at UMKC and Children’s Mercy Hospital to conduct an evaluation of the impacts of a Zero-fare Bus Transit (ZBT) policy based on bus use, physical activity, and social determinants of health for residents of Kansas City, MO’s “LifeX” Zip Codes. These neighborhoods are home to 125,000 people whose life expectancies are as much as 15 years lower than other parts of the city.
Read the EPA press release here, and the project abstract below.
The project kicks off in early 2022, and more information will be available at that time.
Recipient: Bike Walk KC
Title: Getting Around KC: An evaluation of KC’s Zero-Fare Bus Transit
Location: Kansas City, MOThe purpose of this ARP funded cooperative agreement is to provide funding to BikeWalkKC to conduct an evaluation of the impacts of a Zero-fare Bus Transit (ZBT) policy based on bus use, physical activity, and social determinants of health for residents of Kansas City’s 11 most impoverished neighborhoods. These neighborhoods were previously identified by the Kansas City Health Department as high priority zip codes due to decreased life expectancy of individuals living in these areas by 15 years, and due to higher incidences of asthma, obesity, heart disease, stroke, and diabetes.
The 125,491 residents of these neighborhoods are mostly Black (47%), Hispanic (17%), and White non-Hispanic (38%) and up to 59% of residents of these neighborhoods live below the federal poverty line. Up to 50% of residents also reported lacking access and ability for leisure-time physical activity.
To address health disparities and limit COVID-19 risks among these residents, the Getting Around Kansas City project will firstly collect data regarding Kansas City bus use, evaluate the impact of a ZBT policy on rates of physical activity using activity-tracking belts worn by project participants, identify further barriers to transportation access, and then determine the value of a ZBT policy for low income residents based on how it increases physical activity, lowers COVID-19 risks, and improves healthcare access.
This project will also collect survey data from focus groups in these neighborhoods and lead discussions with residents on activity, neighborhood walkability, and public transit access. By increasing access to a no-cost bus system, the Getting Around Kansas City project can increase access to walkable neighborhoods and to healthcare facilities, as well as increase physical activity rates in the residents to lower overall health risks.
The intended beneficiaries of this project include the low income and underserved residents of 11 high priority zip codes in Kansas City.