Racial Equity, Black America, and Public Transportation

TCRP Research Report 236: Racial Equity, Black America, and Public Transportation, Volume 1: A Review of Economic, Health, and Social Impacts reviews the literature and summarizes common practices of the 20th and 21st centuries that have had significant economic, health, and social impacts, and the racial gaps that emerged as a result of transportation inequities, deliberate actions, policies, and projects. The report will be of interest to transportation planners, funders, and policy makers at all levels of government, as well as other stakeholder groups. The research report is the first of four volumes to be published under TCRP Project H-59. An overall objective of the transit community is to help develop an enhanced and more inclusive approach to public transportation planning and decision-making that takes into account and acknowledges that public transportation systems of the 21st century have a critical role in addressing and correcting many of the problems caused by a 20th- and 21st-century transportation sector that severely impacted and, in some cases, destroyed Black communities in the building of today’s transportation systems and network. The public transportation community recognizes the need to address leadership and implement policies and practices to redress the harm from the past through policies, funding, and systems of accountability. The objective of Volume 1 is to document the extent of the damage that has been done to Black communities as a result of transportation decisions and actions. Volume 2 will demonstrate a methodology to estimate how much it would cost to redress those damages. Volumes 3 and 4 will provide tools for elected and appointed officials and other stakeholder groups to engage effectively in the arena of transportation policy, planning, and funding at all levels of government. Under TCRP Project H-59, a research team led by the Thrivance Group conducted a review that highlights the role that transportation, especially public transportation, has played in the creation of the gaps; nuances in the evolution and maintenance of segregation; and contemporary practices and policies, including public transportation policing practices, fare evasion, and fare enforcement. While the review acknowledges that inequitable outcomes in public transportation affect other vulnerable groups, the Black experience is highlighted. The research team has included as part of this literature review a section that provides a thematic outline of identity profiles that will inform the development of focus group instruments, social climate analysis parameters, and quantification focus areas, which will then all feed into the development of a formal set of recommended approaches to reparative transportation planning and investment priorities that will be documented in Volumes 2, 3, and 4.

• Record URL:
  • http://apps.trb.org/cmsfeed/TRBNetProjectDisplay.asp?ProjectID=5071
• Supplemental Notes:
  • A pre-publication of Product 1 (of 4) was posted on Friday, 26 August 2022, and appeared in TRB Weekly on Tuesday, 30 August 2022. Racial Equity, Black America, and Public Transportation, Volume 1: A Review of Economic, Health, and Social Impacts |The National Academies Press was published Friday, 7 October 2022, and appears in TRB Weekly on Tuesday, 11 October 2022. The remaining volumes were panel-approved drafts submitted to TRB for final approval.

Language

• English

Project

• Status: Completed
• Funding: $249,883.00
• Contract Numbers:

  Project H-59

• Sponsor Organizations:

  Transit Cooperative Research Program

  Transportation Research Board
  500 Fifth Street, NW
  Washington, DC    20001

  Federal Transit Administration

  1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE
  Washington, DC  United States  20590
• Project Managers:

  Parker, Stephan

• Performing Organizations:

  Thrivance Group LLC

  ,   United States 
• Principal Investigators:

  Thomas, Destiny

• Start Date: 20211115
• Expected Completion Date: 20240616
• Actual Completion Date: 20240616

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: African Americans; Communities; Financing; Public transit; Race; Recommendations; Transportation equity; Transportation planning; Transportation policy
• Subject Areas: Finance; Planning and Forecasting; Policy; Public Transportation; Society;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 01758958
• Record Type: Research project
• Source Agency: Transportation Research Board
• Contract Numbers: Project H-59
• Files: TRB, RIP
• Created Date: Nov 23 2020 5:31PM