At the Center for Prevention we support active transportation — biking, walking, and rolling — because we know it leads to better health. Transportation also is what connects us to critical needs like education, jobs, housing, food, and medical care.

A good transportation system gives people the ability to go where they want easily and safely.

In the past weeks and months, we’ve seen the tragic reminders that it’s not just car traffic that make streets unsafe. To advance health equity in transportation we must acknowledge the violence and trauma that Black, Indigenous, and people of color are often exposed to in the streets, and how racism undermines safety.

Improving our transportation system for everyone is one aspect of tackling the racial, economic, and environmental inequities in Minnesota that continue to make the COVID-19 pandemic deadlier for low-income and nonwhite families.

For this episode of the State We’re In Jill Chamberlain, Center for Prevention senior program manager of community health and health equity, hosted a conversation with two advocates who are committed to making the transportation system in Minnesota better for all of us.