Equity Analysis in Regional Transportation Planning Processes, Volume 2: Research Overview (2020) / Chapter Skim
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15 Findings and Applications The organization of this chapter follows the chapters and steps of the guide. It begins with a foundation section discussing public involvement and proceeds through the five-step equity analysis framework: (1)
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16 Equity Analysis in Regional Transportation Planning Processes analyses of equitably distributed benefits and burdens of transportation services and investments. Required populations may fall into this broader category, as may other populations such as older adults or persons with disabilities.
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Findings and Applications 17 Best Practices and Recommended Approaches Public involvement is recommended throughout each step of the equity analysis process. It is important to note that the outreach options available to agencies include all levels of effort and expense.
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18 Equity Analysis in Regional Transportation Planning Processes minority persons, the agency must gather the same data for non-minority persons so the agency can compare the results produced in relation to each of the two population groups. State of the Practice MPO equity analyses generally do cover the required populations: minority persons, low-income households, and LEP persons.
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Findings and Applications 19 • The areas that fall just to either side of a threshold (e.g., a TAZ with 19% minority persons next to a TAZ with 21% minority persons in a study with a concentration threshold of 20%) may be very similar demographically and may experience very similar impacts from the transportation system or agency activities.
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20 Equity Analysis in Regional Transportation Planning Processes such an index. The indices are useful for identifying areas with many types of underserved populations and can be used to supplement the required analyses.
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Findings and Applications 21 Many of the agencies also conducted targeted public involvement activities to gain qualitative insights on issues such as institutional barriers to civic participation. The agencies that involved equity stakeholders in the Step 2 process also tended to engage them in later stages, such as determining appropriate measures for assessing disparate impacts (Step 3 and Step 4)
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22 Equity Analysis in Regional Transportation Planning Processes Regardless of the scale of analysis, a robust needs assessment requires input from equity stakeholders. Agencies must employ public involvement techniques to engage stakeholders in critical tasks such as identifying issues of interest; assessing exposure to the existing burdens of the transportation system (e.g., environmental and safety risks)
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Findings and Applications 23 population. The assessment process involves selecting indicators of impacts, measuring the changes in selected indicators given a scenario (e.g., a package of proposed investment for the long-range plan)
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24 Equity Analysis in Regional Transportation Planning Processes the underserved community. Although mapping the distribution of investment dollars is a straightforward, replicable activity, the conclusions could be questionable for the same reasons as for the project location analyses.
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Findings and Applications 25 (e.g., commute times, accessibility to destinations, and other indicators that reflect the experience of system users)
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26 Equity Analysis in Regional Transportation Planning Processes understandably would not allocate resources toward conducting a Step 4 assessment to quantify levels of disparity. This state of the practice is not particular to the agencies reviewed for this project; the research team found similar results from a scan for another project that involved 100 MPOs and all state DOTs.
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Findings and Applications 27 proactive approaches can help to address the needs found in the Step 2 analysis, and help to avoid the possibility of disparities arising or deepening. State of the Practice MPOs rarely identify disproportionate impacts at their planning or programming levels.
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28 Equity Analysis in Regional Transportation Planning Processes Agencies that adopt an overarching policy goal relating to equity can still have difficulty in making substantive changes to agency decision-making processes and outcomes. Some agencies that include equity in project selection criteria, for example, simply award points for projects in underserved communities, regardless of whether the project promises to deliver specific benefits that address a documented need or concern expressed by the affected populations.
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