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From page 3... ... NCHRP 08‐100: Environmental Justice Analyses When Considering Toll Implementation or Rate Changes Page 3 2.0 Research Methodology The major tasks of the Research Methodology are described briefly in the following section. Task 1. Review the State‐of‐the‐Practice. A comprehensive State‐of‐the‐Practice Literature Review was conducted in Task 1. This was a multi‐pronged literature review, examining the existing academic literature, policy reports, project specific documents, resource guides, case studies, and effective practices on issues relevant to consideration of equity and EJ on toll implementation and rate change studies. The customary academic literature review is summarized in Section 3.1 of the Research Results section of this report, and detailed literature review summaries are provided as Appendix A. The academic literature review, although thorough, indicated significant gaps in the types of information required for the Guidebook and Toolbox, to provide technical assistance support to the target audience of transportation agencies and consulting practitioners. To supplement the state‐of‐the‐practice research and address this gap, the Research Team also undertook a content review of primary source documents from tolling projects across the country. For this content review analysis of planning and project level technical reports, the Research Team collected and examined planning and environmental technical studies for their treatment of environmental justice considerations. The content review analysis included relevant chapters of transportation plans, environmental impact statements, environmental assessments, and other reports. The content review analysis was systematically undertaken to identify customary approaches as well as leading, innovative, or effective practices that could warrant additional follow‐up research for the Toolbox. In the state‐of‐the‐practice review of planning and project level technical reports, it was found that many of the environmental justice analyses were lacking in one or more ways or provided only a minimal review of environmental justice impacts. Overall there appeared to be room for more thorough and comprehensive analysis as well as greater discussion of the proactive or inclusive approaches being employed to consider environmental justice impacts. For example, several reviewed studies provided little documentation of how public involvement processes were used to inform the identification of affected populations, their needs or concerns, or prospective impacts. While there was significant variation in the types of studies reviewed, several technical reports lacked sufficient analysis of travel behavior related impacts by income segment. Generally, the analyses did not show a direct linkage or relationship between the travel behavior of low‐income and minority populations in the study area and the usage of toll and non‐tolled facilities, but instead relied on proxy arguments (e.g., toll trips came from an area of higher low‐income and minority populations) . Only a few studies appeared to rely upon travel‐related surveys or focus groups to derive findings. In several cases, technical environmental studies made reference to select research studies and surveys of partial pricing (i.e., high‐occupancy tolling [HOT] Read the entire page →
From page 4... ... NCHRP 08‐100: Environmental Justice Analyses When Considering Toll Implementation or Rate Changes Page 4 Task 2. Plan of Outreach to Agencies and Practitioners. The Research Team developed an Outreach Plan for interviews to further assess the current state‐of‐the‐practice in the treatment of environmental justice considerations on toll implementation and rate change projects and identify gaps in existing guidance that should be addressed as part of the Guidebook and Toolbox. The plan of outreach described the rationale and approach for contacting practitioners from sponsoring and regulating public agencies, the private sector, and select transportation, environment, equity, and community advocacy organizations. The purpose was to identify existing methods and actual practices in evaluating environmental justice impacts from toll projects and to validate from practitioners needed topics for the Guidebook and Toolbox. In part, the objective of this research was to identify potential effective practices or case examples that could be described or distilled for the Guidebook and Toolbox. Tasks 3. Technical Memorandum. The Research Team prepared an initial Technical Memorandum that documented the literature, existing case studies, resource documents, and other reports compiled and reviewed during Task 1, and the Outreach Plan developed during Task 2 to contact practitioners and other agencies and organizations to further assist in the identification of the current state‐of‐the‐ practice and technical assistance needs from the practitioner community as it pertains to tolling and environmental justice. The Technical Memorandum reaffirmed that the Guidebook and its accompanying Toolbox elements were expected to follow a step‐by‐step process framework, as initially proposed, to ensure that the Research Team is focused on what is most important to agencies and practitioners seeking to consider environmental justice as part of toll implementation and rate change analyses. Drawing upon the research to date, the Technical Memorandum revisited the prospective steps of the process framework to further scope and identify topics for content development as well as to needed guidance and tools to address environmental justice issues of tolling actions. Questions and considerations were raised under each step of the framework to inform the Research Team's consideration of the needed content for each step of the framework for the next phase of research and to solicit input from the project panel. Task 4. Structured Interviews and Initial Case Studies. The Research Team contacted practitioners from sponsoring and regulating public agencies, the private sector, and select transportation, environment, equity, and community advocacy organizations to fill identified gaps. The targeted interview population included agency staff, practitioners and other affected stakeholders regarding the current state‐of‐the‐practice. The Outreach Plan, contact lists, and interview guides developed in prior tasks were used to collect information on innovative and exemplary practices throughout the United States. The Research Team also developed working templates for tools and case examples to ensure consistent reporting of information and an accessible format for the development of the Toolbox‐related materials. The information gathered was used to begin to develop tools and case examples to address the identified gaps in existing practices in many states. The interviews and outreach were supplemented by additional research and expert consultation as necessary to develop accurate and contextually sensitive tools, continuing throughout Step 6. Task 5. Preparation of Interim Report, Outline for the Toolbox, and Panel Review. This task entailed the preparation of an Interim Report documenting the Research Team's work conducted in Tasks 1 through 4. The Interim Report included a detailed, proposed outline for the Guidebook to be prepared in Task 6. It also included example tools and case examples, and sample chapters and proposed wayfinding mechanisms as a foretaste of the full Guidebook and Toolbox. A presentation was prepared Read the entire page →
From page 5... ... NCHRP 08‐100: Environmental Justice Analyses When Considering Toll Implementation or Rate Changes Page 5 highlighting core findings and recommendations. The study panel provided significant comments that informed the development of the Guidebook and Toolbox as it moved forward. Task 6. Develop the Toolbox. This task entailed the full development of the Guidebook and all of its Toolbox elements. The Guidebook was designed to lead the practitioner to the Toolbox elements that best fit their needs. Many tools required additional research. The draft Guidebook and Toolbox were presented to the study panel, and additional revisions and streamlining were requested by the panel. One of the research efforts resulted in the Tool "Designing and Implementing Surveys to Assess Attitudes and Travel Behavior for EJ Analyses and to Monitor Implementation." The content reviews and tables summarizing the 24 surveys that were systematically analyzed for the development of this tool are presented in Appendix C. Task 7. Prepare Outreach and Presentation Materials. This task developed the outreach materials for transportation agencies to create awareness of the Guidebook and a contact list for notification of the availability of the report elements upon official release. The presentation materials include a fact sheet for widespread reproduction and distribution at conferences, technical meetings, and other venues. Task 8. Preparation of Final Research Report, Stand‐alone Guidebook, and Toolbox. This task consists of this final report that documents the entire research effort and includes the Guidebook and Toolbox, under separate cover. Read the entire page →

From page 3...

... NCHRP 08‐100: Environmental Justice Analyses When Considering Toll Implementation or Rate Changes Page 3 2.0 Research Methodology The major tasks of the Research Methodology are described briefly in the following section. Task 1. Review the State‐of‐the‐Practice. A comprehensive State‐of‐the‐Practice Literature Review was conducted in Task 1. This was a multi‐pronged literature review, examining the existing academic literature, policy reports, project specific documents, resource guides, case studies, and effective practices on issues relevant to consideration of equity and EJ on toll implementation and rate change studies. The customary academic literature review is summarized in Section 3.1 of the Research Results section of this report, and detailed literature review summaries are provided as Appendix A. The academic literature review, although thorough, indicated significant gaps in the types of information required for the Guidebook and Toolbox, to provide technical assistance support to the target audience of transportation agencies and consulting practitioners. To supplement the state‐of‐the‐practice research and address this gap, the Research Team also undertook a content review of primary source documents from tolling projects across the country. For this content review analysis of planning and project level technical reports, the Research Team collected and examined planning and environmental technical studies for their treatment of environmental justice considerations. The content review analysis included relevant chapters of transportation plans, environmental impact statements, environmental assessments, and other reports. The content review analysis was systematically undertaken to identify customary approaches as well as leading, innovative, or effective practices that could warrant additional follow‐up research for the Toolbox. In the state‐of‐the‐practice review of planning and project level technical reports, it was found that many of the environmental justice analyses were lacking in one or more ways or provided only a minimal review of environmental justice impacts. Overall there appeared to be room for more thorough and comprehensive analysis as well as greater discussion of the proactive or inclusive approaches being employed to consider environmental justice impacts. For example, several reviewed studies provided little documentation of how public involvement processes were used to inform the identification of affected populations, their needs or concerns, or prospective impacts. While there was significant variation in the types of studies reviewed, several technical reports lacked sufficient analysis of travel behavior related impacts by income segment. Generally, the analyses did not show a direct linkage or relationship between the travel behavior of low‐income and minority populations in the study area and the usage of toll and non‐tolled facilities, but instead relied on proxy arguments (e.g., toll trips came from an area of higher low‐income and minority populations) . Only a few studies appeared to rely upon travel‐related surveys or focus groups to derive findings. In several cases, technical environmental studies made reference to select research studies and surveys of partial pricing (i.e., high‐occupancy tolling [HOT]

Read the entire page →

From page 4...

... NCHRP 08‐100: Environmental Justice Analyses When Considering Toll Implementation or Rate Changes Page 4 Task 2. Plan of Outreach to Agencies and Practitioners. The Research Team developed an Outreach Plan for interviews to further assess the current state‐of‐the‐practice in the treatment of environmental justice considerations on toll implementation and rate change projects and identify gaps in existing guidance that should be addressed as part of the Guidebook and Toolbox. The plan of outreach described the rationale and approach for contacting practitioners from sponsoring and regulating public agencies, the private sector, and select transportation, environment, equity, and community advocacy organizations. The purpose was to identify existing methods and actual practices in evaluating environmental justice impacts from toll projects and to validate from practitioners needed topics for the Guidebook and Toolbox. In part, the objective of this research was to identify potential effective practices or case examples that could be described or distilled for the Guidebook and Toolbox. Tasks 3. Technical Memorandum. The Research Team prepared an initial Technical Memorandum that documented the literature, existing case studies, resource documents, and other reports compiled and reviewed during Task 1, and the Outreach Plan developed during Task 2 to contact practitioners and other agencies and organizations to further assist in the identification of the current state‐of‐the‐ practice and technical assistance needs from the practitioner community as it pertains to tolling and environmental justice. The Technical Memorandum reaffirmed that the Guidebook and its accompanying Toolbox elements were expected to follow a step‐by‐step process framework, as initially proposed, to ensure that the Research Team is focused on what is most important to agencies and practitioners seeking to consider environmental justice as part of toll implementation and rate change analyses. Drawing upon the research to date, the Technical Memorandum revisited the prospective steps of the process framework to further scope and identify topics for content development as well as to needed guidance and tools to address environmental justice issues of tolling actions. Questions and considerations were raised under each step of the framework to inform the Research Team's consideration of the needed content for each step of the framework for the next phase of research and to solicit input from the project panel. Task 4. Structured Interviews and Initial Case Studies. The Research Team contacted practitioners from sponsoring and regulating public agencies, the private sector, and select transportation, environment, equity, and community advocacy organizations to fill identified gaps. The targeted interview population included agency staff, practitioners and other affected stakeholders regarding the current state‐of‐the‐practice. The Outreach Plan, contact lists, and interview guides developed in prior tasks were used to collect information on innovative and exemplary practices throughout the United States. The Research Team also developed working templates for tools and case examples to ensure consistent reporting of information and an accessible format for the development of the Toolbox‐related materials. The information gathered was used to begin to develop tools and case examples to address the identified gaps in existing practices in many states. The interviews and outreach were supplemented by additional research and expert consultation as necessary to develop accurate and contextually sensitive tools, continuing throughout Step 6. Task 5. Preparation of Interim Report, Outline for the Toolbox, and Panel Review. This task entailed the preparation of an Interim Report documenting the Research Team's work conducted in Tasks 1 through 4. The Interim Report included a detailed, proposed outline for the Guidebook to be prepared in Task 6. It also included example tools and case examples, and sample chapters and proposed wayfinding mechanisms as a foretaste of the full Guidebook and Toolbox. A presentation was prepared

Read the entire page →

From page 5...

... NCHRP 08‐100: Environmental Justice Analyses When Considering Toll Implementation or Rate Changes Page 5 highlighting core findings and recommendations. The study panel provided significant comments that informed the development of the Guidebook and Toolbox as it moved forward. Task 6. Develop the Toolbox. This task entailed the full development of the Guidebook and all of its Toolbox elements. The Guidebook was designed to lead the practitioner to the Toolbox elements that best fit their needs. Many tools required additional research. The draft Guidebook and Toolbox were presented to the study panel, and additional revisions and streamlining were requested by the panel. One of the research efforts resulted in the Tool "Designing and Implementing Surveys to Assess Attitudes and Travel Behavior for EJ Analyses and to Monitor Implementation." The content reviews and tables summarizing the 24 surveys that were systematically analyzed for the development of this tool are presented in Appendix C. Task 7. Prepare Outreach and Presentation Materials. This task developed the outreach materials for transportation agencies to create awareness of the Guidebook and a contact list for notification of the availability of the report elements upon official release. The presentation materials include a fact sheet for widespread reproduction and distribution at conferences, technical meetings, and other venues. Task 8. Preparation of Final Research Report, Stand‐alone Guidebook, and Toolbox. This task consists of this final report that documents the entire research effort and includes the Guidebook and Toolbox, under separate cover.

Read the entire page →

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