Ensuring Transportation System Equity Using Quantitative Analyses

May 16, 2013

Environmental Justice and Transportation Planning

Lynise DeVance Civil Rights Program Manager

Federal Highway Administration

Overview

Based on Federal legislation and Environmental Justice (EJ) requirements, MPOs must ensure the equitable distribution of system level transportation impacts, both positive and negative, on EJ populations as compared to non-EJ populations.

This session will provide information on the various types of

measures and quantitative analyses MPOs can employ to measure system level transportation benefits and burdens.

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Learning Objectives

1. Understand the requirement for quantitative analyses of transportation system benefits and burdens on EJ populations

2. Identify transportation system measures

3. Identify various types of quantitative analyses for measuring transportation system equity

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So what exactly is required?

Title VI of the 1964 Civil Rights Act

Executive Order 12898; USDOT Order; FHWA Order

1999 Joint FHWA/FTA memo

FHWA Environmental Justice FAQs

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Title VI of the 1964 Civil Rights Act

Title VI states that "No person in the United States shall, on the ground of race, color, or national origin, be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any program or activity receiving Federal financial assistance."

Title VI bars intentional discrimination as well as disparate impact discrimination (i.e., a neutral policy or practice that has a disparate impact on protected groups).

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Executive Order 12898/USDOT Order/FHWA Order

Identify populations served by race, color, or national origin and income.

Identify and avoid discrimination and avoid disproportionately high and adverse effects on minority populations and low-income populations.

Identify and evaluate environmental, public health, and interrelated social and economic effects of Federal, USDOT, and FHWA programs.

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Oct 7, 1999 Joint FHWA/FTA Memo

(Suggested Questions) 2. Service Equity: Does the planning process have an analytical process in place

for assessing the regional benefits and burdens of transportation system investments for different socio-economic groups? Does it have a data collection process to support the analysis effort? Does this analytical process seek to assess the benefit and impact distributions of the investments included in the plan and TIP (or STIP)?

How does the planning process respond to the analyses produced? Imbalances identified?

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FHWA Environmental Justice FAQs:

7. How early can issues which give rise to Title VI/Environmental Justice concerns be addressed?

At the start of the planning process, planners must determine whether Environmental Justice issues exist and use data and other information to: (1) determine benefits to and potential negative impacts on minority populations and low-income populations from proposed investments or actions; (2) quantify expected effects (total, positive and negative) and disproportionately high and adverse effects on minority populations and low-income populations; and (3) determine the appropriate course of action, whether avoidance, minimization, or mitigation. If issues are not addressed at the planning stage, they may arise during project development, or later when they could be more difficult to mitigate and delay project decisions. Source: FHWA website - Environmental Justice FAQs: http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/environment/environmental_justice/facts/

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EJ Measures….

Accessibility – to jobs, shopping, etc.; transit service, pedestrian access, bicycle access

Mobility – traffic congestion, LOS, VMT, cut-through traffic, travel times for origin/destination pairs

Safety – vehicle crashes, bicycle crashes, pedestrian injuries and fatalities, personal security

Displacement – residences, businesses, public amenities Equity – investments, costs, maintenance Environmental – air quality, vibration, noise Social – community cohesion/disruption, isolation Aesthetics – diminution of, landscaping, lighting

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Information Resources

Effective Methods for Environmental Justice Assessment; NCHRP Report 532; David J. Forkenbrock, Jason Sheeley; 2004; (366 pages)

Environmental Justice Analysis: Challenges for Metropolitan Transportation Planning; Jen Duthie, Ken Cervenka, S. Travis Waller; January 9, 2008; (5 pages)

Environmental Justice Assessment in Racially Diverse Areas; Honglong Li, Ph.D.; November 2005; (22 pages)

Environmental Justice Concentration Zones for Assessing Transportation Project Impacts; Isabel C. Victoria, Jolanda Prozzi, C. Michael Walton, and Jorge Prozzi; 2006; (6 pages)

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Information Resources (cont’d)

FHWA website - Environmental Justice FAQs: http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/environment/environmental_justice/facts/

Guidance and Best Practices for Incorporating Environmental Justice into Ohio Transportation Planning and Environmental Processes; 2002; (115 pages)

Impact of Environmental Justice on Transportation: Applying Environmental Justice Maturation Model to Benchmark Progress; Adjo A. Amekudzi, Mshadoni K. Smith, Stefanie R. Brodie, Jamie M. Fischer, and Catherine L. Ross; 2012; (9 pages)

In-Use Definitions of Environmental Justice Terminology in Long-Range Transportation Plans; Paul R. Lederer, Ph.D., PE; November 19, 2004; (27 pages)

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Information Resources (cont’d)

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Methodological Challenges of Environmental Justice Assessments for Transportation Projects; A. M. Hartell; 2007; (9 pages)

Spatial Methodology for Assessing Distribution of Transportation Project Impacts with Environmental Justice Framework; Nicholas Klein; 2007; (8 pages)

Technical Methods to Support Analysis of EJ Issues; NCHRP Report 8-36(11); Cambridge Systematics, Inc.; 2002; (138 pages)

This Land is Your Land, This Land is My Land: Addressing Equity and Fairness in Tolling and Pricing; David Ungemah; 2007; (8 pages)

• Examined EJ requirements for transportation planning and their practical application by 64 MPOs.

• Also included the review of 212 LRTPs

• Very good discussion of various EJ measures and analyses.

In-Use Definitions of Environmental Justice Terminology in Long-Range Transportation Plans

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• Good discussion of how MPOs can combine GIS and spatial statistics to analyze the distribution of transportation project impacts in a metro region.

• Includes a discussion of how cumulative impacts can be assessed.

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Spatial Methodology for Assessing Distribution of Transportation Project Impacts

Environmental Justice Assessment in Racially Diverse Areas

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Explores analytical techniques to identify EJ populations in a racially diverse area and to evaluate the benefits and burdens of transportation projects on EJ populations.

Provides good examples of analyses for accessibility, mobility, safety, and equity.

• Inventory of technical approaches to address EJ issues for systems-level and corridor/subarea planning.

• Information collected from 22 MPOs, 15 State DOTs, 3 transit agencies.

• Appendix A - Specific examples of quantitative measures employed by other agencies to examine the distribution of transportation benefits.

Technical Methods to Support Analysis of EJ Issues NCHRP Report 8-36(11)

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• Discusses three major challenges for incorporating EJ into metropolitan transportation planning: • Data needs • How to define and

apply “equity” • Choosing the right

unit of analysis

Environmental Justice Analysis: Challenges for Metropolitan Transportation Planning

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Lynise DeVance Civil Rights Program Manager

FHWA – North Carolina Division Office 919-747-7010

Lynise.DeVance@dot.gov

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