Embedding Equity in Transit Project Design
Date Posted: June 29, 2023
Posted In: Discussion, Ideas,
From HOK:
by Kaven Swan, senior principal/leader aviation & transportation with Luke Bridle, principal/director of transportation
We need to seize the moment. The historic Bipartisan Infrastructure Law is providing billions of dollars to modernize the U.S. infrastructure and increase access to safe, clean and reliable transportation. This includes funding for significant public transit projects in 2023, including a Thriving Communities program that will “help disadvantaged communities advance transformative, equitable and climate-friendly infrastructure projects.”
This is a generational opportunity to modernize and design new transit systems. To truly take advantage of this moment in time, though, we must prioritize providing better transit service for our most vulnerable communities. This means transportation professionals and city officials need to make each decision through a lens of equity.
In our experience designing transportation facilities all over the world, equity can’t be an add-on. It is imperative for it to be a central theme that guides a team’s decision-making from early planning through design, construction and ongoing maintenance.
Here are three scalable methods for embedding social and racial justice into transit projects. Equity is hard to achieve and requires job enlargement—we all need to do more. Otherwise, we are complicit.
1. Provide Quicker, More Seamless Access to Transit Modes
Transportation can be difficult to access for millions of people who live in low-income, underserved communities. Yet these often are the people who need the systems the most.
Transportation planners can help by giving them more (and more affordable) choices about which modes of transportation they use—buses, subways, trains and more—in safe, convenient locations. This requires us to build new networks near neighborhoods with affordable housing, well-paying jobs, quality schools, grocers, healthcare facilities and other services that enhance people’s quality of life.
We also need to make sure that the infrastructure—things like sidewalks, lighting and drainage systems—is there to help people physically access the systems. This includes employing principles of universal design and ensuring that all facilities comply with Americans With Disabilities Act (ADA) requirements.
Instead of following the traditional approach of having all transit lines lead to a downtown hub, transportation planners can make these systems more convenient by creating a series of interconnected, concentric networks linking neighborhoods. This is the goal of the proposed Interborough Express, a rapid transit project connecting underserved areas of Brooklyn and Queens.
Adding transit modes to help people get to the station and then reach their final destination (“first mile/last mile”) promotes use of these systems. On-demand, door-to-transit modes—including rideshare options, shuttles, micro-transit and low-speed autonomous vehicles—can be reimagined for nonprofit public service. To subsidize these options and help close the mobility gap, transportation planners can promote partnerships between cities and rideshare companies.
Transit operators can gain more riders by increasing service frequency to under 15 minutes when possible.
Ensuring that existing transit systems are in a State of Good Repair (SGR)—safe, clean and reliable—also is a priority. Doing so is an opportunity to provide training and jobs for people in underserved and underrepresented communities.