Thursday, January 29, 2015

Addressing Urban Transportation Equity in the United States

By Robert D. Bullard

Transportation touches almost every aspect of our lives and plays a pivotal role in shaping human interactions, economic mobility, and sustainability. Transportation provides access to opportunity and serves as a key component in addressing poverty, unemployment, and equal opportunity goals. This article examines the inequity that exists in the United States when it comes to transit, as the benefits from transportation advancements and investments are not distributed equally among communities, making transportation equity an issue of civil rights and social justice. This article frames transportation issues as a continuation of the civil rights movement and the wrestling with differential treatment that goes back to Plessy v. Ferguson and later Brown v. Board of Education and Rosa Parks. Communities today are disadvantaged when it comes to investments, enhancements and access to transportation resources, detailed in the article in various examples of disparate transportation spending. Measures taken to erase transportation inequities, including government response and fallout from the environmental justice movement attempt to eliminate unequal enforcement of the nation’s transportation systems and policies and combat burgeoning issues such as suburban sprawl and the shift of many jobs to the suburbs where public transportation is inadequate. Transportation continues to be divided along racial lines, but it is a key ingredient in building economically viable and sustainable communities and with the policy recommendations detailed in the article’s conclusion, these inequities can be addressed.


more about public transportation:

Transportation Policy for Poverty Reduction and Social Equity

Examining the Impacts of Residential Self-Selection on Travel Behaviour: A Focus on Empirical Findings

TOWARDS A SUSTAINABLE URBAN TRANSPORT SYSTEM: PLANNING FOR NON-MOTORIZED VEHICLES IN CITIES

Challenges of urban transport in developing countries- a summary

A Review and Critique of NJ TRANSIT, Bicycle Access Policies

A Methodology for Incorporating Fuel Price Impacts into Short-term Transit Ridership Forecasts

Los Angeles Streetcars: A Push To Bring Back The Rich History Of Streetcars Begins In Downtown LA

Monday, January 26, 2015

Transportation Policy for Poverty Reduction and Social Equity

By Debra Efroymson and Maruf Rahman

Most people would agree that reducing poverty is an important goal, as is reducing the gap between the rich and poor. However, exactly how to achieve these goals is a matter of much debate. One often-neglected aspect is transport.
Transport is a key aspect of life, affecting us not only when we travel, but throughout our days. Our peace and quiet are disturbed by car horns. Our air is polluted from vehicular emissions. Our neighborhoods are given over to moving and parked cars, leaving less room for ourselves and our children to walk, bicycle, and play.
In addition to these quality of life and environment issues is that of economics. Investments made in roads take away from investments in public transport and facilities for non-motorized travel, such as by foot or bicycle. For those who can’t afford travel expenses, education and jobs may become inaccessible. For others, travel to and from work represents a heavy expense that contributes to keeping them in poverty. Reducing the travel expenses of the poor could thus help them to improve their standard of living.
This paper discusses various transport options and their advantages and disadvantages, and makes suggestions for improving mobility of the majority while simultaneously decreasing poverty and increasing social equity.


more about public urban transportation:

A REGIONAL ANALYSIS OF URBAN POPULATION AND TRANSPORT ENERGY CONSUMPTION

Climate change and urban transportation systems

A THEORETICAL APPROACH TO CAPABILITIES OF THE TRADITIONAL URBAN FORM IN PROMOTING SUSTAINABLE TRANSPORTATION

How the Built Environment Influences Non-Work Travel: Theoretical and Empirical Essays 

MODELING THE CHOICE CONTINUUM: AN INTEGRATED MODEL OF RESIDENTIAL LOCATION, AUTO OWNERSHIP, BICYCLE OWNERSHIP, AND COMMUTE TOUR MODE CHOICE DECISIONS

Examining the Impacts of Residential Self-Selection on Travel Behaviour: A Focus on Empirical Findings

TOWARDS A SUSTAINABLE URBAN TRANSPORT SYSTEM: PLANNING FOR NON-MOTORIZED VEHICLES IN CITIES

Challenges of urban transport in developing countries- a summary