Impact of Environmental Justice on Transportation

2012

Environmental Justice (EJ), in the form of distributional justice, is mandated by a 1994 Executive Order. However, EJ is not easily achieved. This article examines how a philosophy based on John Rawls' theories of procedural justice and access to justice can address the need to achieve distributional justice (EJ).

2011

The purpose of this study is to evaluate the impact of Environmental Justice (EJ) on transportation planning in state Departments of Transportation (DOTs), identify common and effective practices, assess the status of EJ in the Georgia Department of Transportation (GDOT), conduct a gap analysis for GDOT against effective practices, and provide recommendations on next steps to improve the existing capabilities as well as steps to move the existing practice to the status of the most effective practices for achieving EJ outcomes. The overall approach used for this study was to review the literature to find out (1) the USDOT Guidelines for EJ and what the requirements are for achieving EJ outcomes; and (2) common DOT practices in EJ, with the understanding that there is usually a lag between the literature and actual practice, and several agencies that are active in a particular area may not have published anything on their programs. However, given that EJ is an evolving practice, the i...

2007

Metropolitan Planning Organizations (MPOs) are the conduit through which billions of federal and state transportation dollars are funneled annually for regional transportation facilities. MPO transportation investments are guided by regional transportation plans focusing on short and long term improvement needs. Because transportation investments shape land use patterns, decisions by MPOs have important implications for regional land use patterns and, by implication, social and economic opportunity. For their part, MPO decisions are made by boards whose composition vary widely across the nation. They are not generally elected to serve on the MPO, however, and there are few federal requirements affecting board voting and representation. Questions arise about the potential for MPO decisions to be biased, favoring certain investments beneficial to particular metropolitan areas interests at the expense of others-with concern being expressed over whether these organizations adequately represent diverse social and economic constituencies. This paper reviews MPOs generally, and then examines social equity issues from the perspective of transportation planning actions and political representation. Particular attention is given to the variation in MPO voting structures, and transportation equity/planning activities undertaken by 50 large MPOs.

2005

Journal of Planning Literature, 2020

Transportation policies, plans, and projects all flow through state institutions because of the substantial cost of infrastructure and the need to assess transportation system performance, including equity implications. But environmental justice scholarship interrogates the state’s role in perpetuating injustice. Most research and planning practice related to transportation equity has relied upon state-sponsored analytical methods. Transportation planners and scholars can benefit from critical assessments of these approaches. We propose a shift in focus from transportation equity to a broader consideration of transportation justice that is more closely aligned with models of social change promulgated in the environmental justice literature and by related movements.

Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, 2016

Environmental justice (EJ) refers to policy and advocacy intended to achieve equitable protection from environmental harms and access to benefits across demographic groups. Research has shown that low-income communities and communities of color are often exposed to greater harms and enjoy fewer benefits from transportation systems than the general population. However, federally-mandated EJ analyses rarely conclude that projects could result in disproportionate impacts to these communities. This paper investigates the methods used to define EJ communities-a key analytical step for which there is little specific guidance-as a potential driver of variation in observed EJ outcomes. Using a case study of transit accessibility in Fresno County, California, the paper contrasts three methods for the identification of EJ communities: (1) a commonly used threshold-based approach that groups geographic areas using demographics, (2) a population-weighted approach that calculates weighted means of performance measures, and (3) communitybased identification of EJ areas. The analysis indicates that the first method is appropriate for targeting transportation investments but not for assessing EJ outcomes, while the second two methods are appropriate for assessing EJ outcomes. Importantly, the method used to define EJ communities can substantially affect the analytical outcome, potentially shifting a finding of inequity from null to positive or vice versa. These results have important implications for transportation planning agencies and transportation service providers that conduct EJ and equity analyses, as a finding of inequity may lead to design changes or mitigations.

Sustainability, 2023

This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY

2008

The contents of this report reflect the views of the authors, who are responsible for the facts and the accuracy of the information presented herein. This document is disseminated under the sponsorship of the Department of Transportation, University Transportation Centers Program, in the interest of information exchange. Mention of trade names or commercial products does not constitute endorsement or recommendation for use. vii

Journal of Planning Literature, 2004

Belief that transportation investment and operations have caused environmental damage in poor and minority commu- nities to benefit the more affluent has prompted planning agencies to craft policies aimed at promoting environmental justice. Yet, we have only scattered evidence about the distri- bution of the costs and benefits derived from transportation policy, investment, and planning. This article creates a framework based in distributive justice for categorizing the existing research into cost-based and benefit-based claims of injustice. The authors go on to synthesize the cost-based research, which measures the distribution of pollution and hazards from transportation. From this survey, myriad research opportunities emerge.