University of North Carolina, Charlotte
IN-1: Innovation 1

UNC Charlotte collaborated with Mecklenburg County and the Charlotte Area Transit System to conduct a Health Impact Assessment (HIA) on the addition of two light rail stations at the main campus (under construction, to open in 2017). The county received a grant from the National Association of County and City Health Officials (NACCHO) and selected the University's project as the focus of their grant. HIA is an uncommon practice, being promoted by the National Institutes of Health Center for Disease Control. The rationale is that development projects should assess health impacts as well as the more common environmental and economic impacts. The addition of a new transit mode to campus will be disruptive, with possible positive health outcomes by increasing walking/biking by commuters using rail, and through the reduction of air pollution from automobiles.

Workshops on Health Impact Assessment (HIA) development and use were held at the University to train staff from Facilities Management, Campus Planning, Housing & Residence Life, Parking & Transportation Services, and faculty from the Dept. of Public Health. These led to cooperation between university staff and County Health Department Staff to complete the HIA for the university and neighboring populations. Cooperation included sharing of information, data, and analyses. The HIA study results were used by the university in subsequent traffic studies and infrastructure design projects to address improvements to remove barriers to pedestrian and bicycle connections to the light rail stations and to address traffic noise and pollution impacts near university housing. The HIA also contributed credibility that allowed university staff to argue for light rail use growth scenarios that were substantially higher than the original estimates, and thus for more pedestrian and bicycle infrastructure to be constructed by opening day in August 2017.