Blog - Articles tagged as Transportation Equity

With the expansion of Bluebikes since 2011, the share of Environmental Justice (EJ) populations living within one-quarter or one-half mile of a station, out of the total EJ population that lives in participating municipalities, has increased significantly. As of 2021, more than 50 percent of the minority or low-income population lives within one-quarter mile of a station, and more than 75 percent lives within one-half mile. This compares favorably to the approximately 20 percent and 30 percent that lived within one-quarter and one-half mile, respectively, of a station in 2011.

In the last year, increased attention to systemic racism has deepened the mainstream conversation about transportation equity. Many Black transportation planners have pushed the field to recognize that emphasizing enforcement in Complete Streets or Vision Zero paradigms can put people of color at risk of violence. Similarly, the COVID-19 pandemic has laid bare the intersection of systemic health inequality and transportation planning. The incidence of chronic respiratory disease in communities of color, exposure to harmful emissions, and high rates of COVID infection and death are all intertwined legacies of highway-focused planning in the United States and the Boston region.

Conversations about improving transit access for underserved communities often revolve around creating new service or implementing more frequent service on existing lines. However, recent work funded by the Boston Region Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO) approaches the issue from a different angle... 

The Boston Region Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO) recently completed the Draft 2017 Triennial Title VI Report. This report presents the MPO’s efforts to ensure that federally protected populations are not discriminated against in the MPO’s various activities. This includes discrimination based on income, race, ethnicity, national origin, age, sex, and disability.