HEALTH IMPACT ASSESSMENT CALIFORNIA HIGH SPEED RAIL SAN JOSE TO MERCED CORRIDOR 9 MAY 2011 ELLEN KERSTEN JUSTIN RAUSA JOE SCHUCHTER BRIANNA VAN ERP This Health Impact Assessment was conducted from January - May 2011 as part of a graduate- level course at the University of California-Berkeley. There was no financial support for this HIA. The course instructors - Rajiv Bhatia, Jason Corburn, and Edmund Seto - together direct the UC Berkeley Health Impact Group. They participated in the screening process and provided expert input throughout. Ellen Kersten is a PhD student in Environmental Science, Policy, and Management. She focused on the Transportation Mode chapter. Justin Rausa is a MPH student in Health and Social Behavior. He focused on the Footprint chapter. Joe Schuchter, MCP, is a student in the interdisciplinary Doctor of Public Health (DrPH) program. He focused on the Parking chapter. Brianna van Erp is a MPH student in Health and Social Behavior. She focused on the Employment chapter. All of the four students above contributed to the entirety of the HIA and report. TABLE OF CONTENTS Executive Summary ......................................................................................................................... 1 CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION California High Speed Rail Overview ............................................................................................... 3 San Jose to Merced Corridor........................................................................................................... 4 Brief description of HIA ................................................................................................................... 6 CHAPTER 2: SCREENING Why assess the health impacts? ..................................................................................................... 7 What are the potential health impacts? ......................................................................................... 7 How will this HIA add value to the current process? ...................................................................... 8 What are the goals of this HIA? .................................................................................................... 10 CHAPTER 3: SCOPING Baseline Conditions ....................................................................................................................... 11 Stakeholder Input ......................................................................................................................... 13 Health Determinants Considered ................................................................................................. 13 Health Determinants Pursued ...................................................................................................... 14 Employment .............................................................................................................................. 15 Transportation Mode ................................................................................................................ 15 Parking ....................................................................................................................................... 15 Footprint .................................................................................................................................... 15 Research Questions ...................................................................................................................... 16 Employment .............................................................................................................................. 16 Transportation mode ................................................................................................................. 16 Parking ....................................................................................................................................... 16 Footprint .................................................................................................................................... 16 Methods and Boundaries .............................................................................................................. 16 Vulnerable Populations ................................................................................................................. 17 CHAPTER 4: EMPLOYMENT Overview and Research questions ................................................................................................ 18 Health Impacts of employment .................................................................................................... 18 Objectives and evidence base....................................................................................................... 20 baseline conditions ....................................................................................................................... 20 Corridor Unemployment Data ................................................................................................... 20 Snapshot of Current Employment ............................................................................................. 22 Vulnerable Populations ............................................................................................................. 22 Analysis ......................................................................................................................................... 24 Impact of Short Term Construction Employment ..................................................................... 24 Impact of Long Term Operations Employment ......................................................................... 26 Limitations..................................................................................................................................... 29 Recommendations ........................................................................................................................ 29 CHAPTER 5: TRANSPORTATION MODE Overview & Research Questions .................................................................................................. 31 Health Impacts .............................................................................................................................. 31 Objectives & Evidence Base .......................................................................................................... 33 Baseline Conditions & Analysis ..................................................................................................... 35 Q1 Baseline conditions .............................................................................................................. 35 Q1 Analysis Results .................................................................................................................... 37 Q2. Baseline Conditions ............................................................................................................. 40 Q2. Analysis Results ................................................................................................................... 42 Limitations..................................................................................................................................... 43 Recommendations ........................................................................................................................ 45 CHAPTER 6: PARKING Overview and Research Questions ............................................................................................... 47 Health Impacts Related to Parking ............................................................................................... 48 P1: Run-off and water quantity: Flood-related casualties ........................................................ 50 P1: Run-off and water quaLity: Cancers and Water-borne illnesses......................................... 50 P3: Local traffic: Pedestrian safety ............................................................................................ 51 P4: Heat-Island Health Effects ................................................................................................... 52 Established Standards and Health Objectives .............................................................................. 53 Baseline Conditions ....................................................................................................................... 53 Pedestrian Safety ....................................................................................................................... 53 Gilroy ...................................................................................................................................... 54 Merced ................................................................................................................................... 58 Analysis ......................................................................................................................................... 59 Modeling tool ............................................................................................................................ 59 Analysis level .............................................................................................................................. 59 Data SourceS .............................................................................................................................. 60 Limitations....................................................................................................................................