Transportation's impact on health in Houston
Add Axios as your preferred source to
see more of our stories on Google.
In the Houston metro area, 5.2% of households don’t have access to a vehicle — and that number is even higher for households headed by people of color and by women, per the National Equity Atlas.
Why it matters: Transportation is a key social driver of health equity.
- While telehealth has reduced some transportation barriers, it's not accessible to all and can't replace in-person care for all medical needs, Axios' Adriel Bettelheim reports.
The big picture: More than one in five U.S. adults without access to a vehicle or public transportation missed or skipped a medical appointment last year, according to a report by the Urban Institute.
What they found: Nationwide, 21% of adults without access to a vehicle or public transit said they went without needed medical care in 2022.
- Though 91% of adults reported they had access to a vehicle, the figure was substantially lower for Black adults (81%), those with low family incomes (78%) or a disability (83%), and for individuals with public health insurance (79%) or no coverage (83%).
Dig deeper: A study in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine found as much as 10% of a person's health can be attributed to socioeconomic factors like education, employment and transportation availability.