Project Summary
Social equity and mobility justice are increasingly important in transportation planning and policy. This shift is seen in the adoption of equity action plans by the U.S. Department of Transportation, state departments of transportation, and changes in project selection methods by metropolitan planning organizations. These initiatives require agencies to assess the impact of transportation plans on disadvantaged communities to ensure fair investment distribution and avoid unfair burdens. However, there has been no systematic evaluation of the effectiveness of these equity metrics in recent transportation decisions.
This project will compare academic and practical transportation equity metrics to assess their effectiveness. It includes a systematic review covering three aspects: theoretical alignment with mobility justice, a catalog of academic metrics for various transportation modes and population groups, and a list of practical metrics. In a case study of Sacramento, the researchers will evaluate project impacts across these metrics. Key deliverables are a detailed report and a dashboard for public agencies to gauge metric practicality and applicability.
