Assessing Equity and Identifying Impacts Associated with Bus Network Redesigns (2022)

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59   Documents Reviewed Documents are alphabetized by authors. Transit Universal Design Guidelines (APTA 2020) The seven proposed universal design elements are suggested to enhance the user’s transit experience but require public advocacy and engagement to be implemented successfully. Agencies play a critical role in making the public aware of what design features are available for their specific needs and doing so can lessen the need to retrofit inclusive design elements later on. TCRP Synthesis 140: Comprehensive Bus Network Redesigns (Byala, L. B., K. Filardo, O. Hirsch, M. J. Walk, J. P. Cardenas, and J. Hwang 2019) Provides an overview of bus network redesigns including a review of existing research, survey of agency practice, and case examples. In the transit agency survey, equity was found to be one of the most common metrics redesign teams sought to quantify during the planning process. Title VI service analyses were used to assess equity impacts. TCRP Research Report 221: Redesigning Transit Networks for the New Mobility Future (Byala, L., S. Johnson, R. Slocum, A. Zalewski, J. Weiland, L. Culp, B. Eby, P. Lewis, G. Calves, and D. Sampson 2021) Examines recent practices to understand how bus network redesigns have incorporated new mobility including app-based transportation network companies and microtransit. The report discusses how transit agencies have attempted to address equity with one of the report’s key findings being that “Equity considerations are integral to bus network redesign planning efforts.” moveDC 2021 Update (DDOT 2021) This is an update to the District of Columbia’s long-range transportation plan that identifies goals, policies, and strategies to inform transportation investments. Another key component of the plan is ensuring that equity is incorporated into all transportation decision-making processes. No in-person public engagement meetings were possible due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Environmental Justice, Transport Justice, and Mobility Justice (Deka, D. 2021) Environmental justice, transport justice, and mobility justice are distinct concepts used to discuss the transportation problems of disadvantaged populations. Since the 1900s, envi- ronmental justice has been a formal part of U.S. transportation planning while transport justice and mobility justice remain conceptual. Transport justice seeks to establish equitable systems, while mobility justice addresses issues of mobility and immobility for the sake of climate, urbanization, and refugees. Defining “Communities of Concern” in Transportation Planning (Ezike, R., P. Tatian, and G. Velasco 2020) The passage of the 1964 Civil Rights Act and the advent of Title VI policies set up a nationwide framework for defining communities of concern. While the law was a landmark alignment of environmental justice goals and principles, it set up a uniform framework throughout the nation A P P E N D I X A

60 Assessing Equity and Identifying Impacts Associated with Bus Network Redesigns that struggles to capture the nuances of struggling people within a community. Transportation planners should supplement national demographic data with fine-grained information about a locality when possible, to provide additional insight into local communities of concern. How to Engage Low-Literacy and Limited-English-Proficiency Populations in Transportation Decisionmaking (FHWA 2006) The Federal Highway Administration defines low-literacy and limited-English proficiency and describes methods for successfully contacting and engaging these populations. The docu- ment additionally explores data-driven methods to indicate higher potential for low-literacy or limited-English proficiency, including poverty, welfare, income, employment status, and crime, using publicly available data. Public Involvement Techniques for Transportation Decision-Making (FHWA 2015) The Federal Highway Administration provides a wide-ranging overview of public engagement techniques and their importance. The guide highlights the significance of engaging underserved communities, including techniques for making contact as well as applying and understanding different communication styles. Virtual Public Involvement (FHWA 2021a) The Federal Highway Administration provides resources (including best practices) to advance the state of the practice in delivering virtual public involvement. The website notes that “strategies increase the number and variety of channels available to agencies for remotely disseminating information to the public and create efficiencies in how input is collected and considered, which can potentially accelerate planning and project development processes.” Environmental Justice, Title VI, Non-Discrimination, and Equity (FHWA 2021b) The FHWA defines three elements that can contribute to an “equitable transportation system”: environmental justice, Title VI, nondiscrimination, and equity. The elements are compared based on multiple factors including their authorizing source, goals, protected classes, and entities responsible for implementation. Assessing Public Transit Service Equity Using Route-Level Accessibility Measures and Public Data (Karner, A. 2018) The author raises issue with the FTA required approach to evaluating the equity of trans- portation service changes. Instead of focusing on the demographic shares of affected riders, the author proposes using measures of accessibility to better understand a system’s ability to connect people with employment. The methods proposed use mainstream software and publicly avail- able datasets. Practical Measures for Advancing Public Transit Equity and Access (Karner, A. 2021) Authored by researchers at The University of Texas at Austin and Arizona State University in partnership with the FTA, the report explores strategies for advancing equity objectives and discusses five spatial analyses that can be conducted to assess public transportation system performance. Spatial analyses methodologies are accompanied by step-by-step examples from the Houston METRO’s 2015 bus network redesign. Strengths and limitations are also detailed for each measure. Comparison of Two Common Approaches to Public Transit Service Equity Evaluation (Karner, A. and A. Golub 2015) By comparing the use of survey and Census data to estimate service equity impacts to the transit system in Phoenix, Arizona, the authors exemplify how FTA service equity analyses are affected by the data source used. For this reason, the research suggests ridership data should be used to supplement Census data and asserts that accessibility metrics may provide a more accurate representation of equity impacts.

Documents Reviewed 61   Civil Rights Guidance and Equity Analysis Methods for Regional Transportation Plans: A Critical Review of Literature and Practice (Karner, A. and D. Niemeier 2013) Evidence suggests that travel behavior is linked to race but dominant analytical practices for assessing equity fail to represent travel behavior. The author argues that a new methodology focused on travel demand modeling could more adequately reflect the needs of Title VI- protected populations, including people of color. From Transportation Equity to Transportation Justice: Within, Through, and Beyond the State (Karner, A., J. London, K. Manaugh, and D. Rowangould 2020) “Transportation equity” and “transportation justice” reflect a difference in perspectives with “equity” being used by the state to describe processes of distribution and “justice” being used by activists to describe the transformation of social structures. The paper proposes an approach to transportation planning that combines state and society-centric strategies. Achieving Transportation Equity: Meaningful Public Involvement to Meet the Needs of Underserved Communities (Karner, A. and R. Marcantonio 2017) A new model for public engagement is proposed to relinquish a burden of public engage- ment from minorities and low-income people and give underrepresented communities more influence on topics of transportation and environmental justice. The proposed model for public engagement relies on the expertise of planners to assemble issues and potential solutions to transportation-related problems, paired with resource-constrained, participatory budgeting exercises to determine the relative importance of the issues within a community. Measuring the Impacts of New Public Transit Services on Space-Time Accessibility: An Analysis of Transit System Redesign and New Bus Rapid Transit in Columbus, Ohio, USA (Lee, J. and H. J. Miller 2018) Examines whether new transit services improve residents’ accessibility to jobs and healthcare, and whether a new BRT line will improve accessibility. To assess the potential equity impacts of the BRT line, researchers construct a model that uses GTFS, jobs, healthcare, and walking data. The research is significant because it uses a methodology that “fills the gap between the single-mode network-time prisms and people’s use of various transport modes.” Public and Stakeholder Engagement and the Built Environment: A Review (Leyden, K. M., A. Slevin, T. Grey, M. Hynes, F. Frisbaek, and R. Silke 2017) Inclusive public and stakeholder engagement is necessary to achieve mostly agreeable project outcomes, but research struggles to make prescriptive conclusions, due to the contextual nature of every project and the diversity of communities. The barrier to public participation can be too steep for overburdened communities, leading to results skewed toward those who were able to provide input. Agencies should ask questions of who is participating and dedicate the time and effort needed to solicit difficult-to-reach communities. The Politics of Collective Public Participation in Transportation Decision-Making (McAndrews, C. and J. Marcus 2015) The report presents an exchange within a community over the development of a highway to illustrate the many complementary processes involved in a highly engaged public engagement process. In the scenario, a well-organized community had members performing specialized advocacy roles within and beyond their community to influence design decisions on a highway construction project, with varying degrees of success. Equity Index of Mobility Need (Port Authority of Allegheny County 2019) The Port Authority of Allegheny County is a transit agency located in Southwestern Pennsylvania. The transit agency developed an equity analysis to identify areas with disadvantaged popu- lations and populations with greater mobility needs. The equity index gives areas an equity score based on various demographic factors.

62 Assessing Equity and Identifying Impacts Associated with Bus Network Redesigns Transit Access and Zero-Vehicle Households (Puentes, R. and A. Tomer 2011) The report examines the accessibility of jobs via transit within and across the country’s 100 largest metropolitan areas based on demographic, employment, and transit system data. The report presents statistics that highlight the needs of zero-vehicle households. TCRP Research Report 214: Equity Analysis in Regional Transportation Planning Processes (Twaddell, H. and B. Zgoda 2020) The guide lays out a five-step equity analysis framework designed to be used at the regional level to “address the current and anticipated needs of underserved persons, and to correct decision-making patterns that have generated unbalanced benefits or burdens in the past.” To assess the impacts of a proposed activity, the guide suggests selecting indicators that will measure outputs and outcomes. Transport and Mobility Justice: Evolving Discussions (Verlinghieri, E. and T. Schwanen 2020) Through a review of existing literature, the author addresses the theoretical differences that exist between transport equity, transport justice, and mobility justice. Concurrent themes are identified in the literature, including the need to recognize the existence of a wide array of needs, and acknowledgment that society-centric approaches can have an important role in addressing injustices. Bus Network Redesigns Are the “Hottest Trend in Transit” (Vock, D. C. 2017) Describes the increase of bus network redesigns as a way for transit agencies across the country to address ridership declines and demographic changes within their service areas. Bus network redesigns are also opportunities to address inefficiencies (by analyzing data gathered in real-time) and improve the transit experience for riders if they need to make fewer transfers. The article discusses the balance between maximizing ridership and maximizing coverage. WMATA Public Participation Plan: Appendix F – Best Practices Review (WMATA 2014) Developing and maintaining relationships with communities is a necessary practice in public engagement. Most of the agencies interviewed have a department or staff position dedicated to ongoing public engagement, and the staff within these agencies and departments focus their work on trust-building between the agency and the community, while teasing out the best channels to reach diverse audiences. Agencies often rely on local community organizers to disseminate information directly to people, which can help to foster trust-building for future engagement.