Assessing and Mitigating Racial Disparities in the Enforcement of Pedestrian, Bicycle, and Micromobility Traffic-Related Laws

The objectives of this research are to: (1) Assess the nature and magnitude of racial disparities in traffic safety-related policing with respect to pedestrians, bicyclists, and micromobility users; reasons for the disparities; the intended goals of conducting such enforcement; and the impact of disparities on Black, Indigenous, and other communities of color. These assessments will be drawn from a variety of publicly available data including but not limited to police reports (where available), published literature, qualitative and quantitative studies, or other sources such as original research. (2) Describe steps communities are taking to consider and address the effects of biased enforcement within the context of pedestrian, bicycle, and micromobility user related traffic laws, including alternatives to police enforcement. These steps could include community-led programs, technology-based systems, organizational or policy changes, changes to traffic-related laws (e.g., efforts to decriminalize jaywalking), training and education of police officers, or other interventions. (3) Develop and apply a framework to evaluate the impacts and equity outcomes of these approaches and establish recommendations for mitigating inequities in enforcing traffic-related laws with respect to pedestrians, bicyclists, and micromobility users. The recommendations should also speak to the necessary (needed) data sources (qualitative and quantitative) and methods to evaluate alternatives.

• Record URL:
  http://apps.trb.org/cmsfeed/TRBNetProjectDisplay.asp?ProjectID=5187

Language

• English

Project

• Status: Active
• Funding: $500,000
• Contract Numbers:

  Project BTS-21

• Sponsor Organizations:

  Behavioral Traffic Safety Cooperative Research Program

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

  Governors Highway Safety Association

  444 N. Capitol Street, NW, Suite 722
  Washington, DC  United States  20001
• Project Managers:

  Retting, Richard

• Performing Organizations:

  Rand Corporation

  1700 Main Street, P.O. Box 2138
  Santa Monica, CA  United States  90401-2138
• Principal Investigators:

  Anwar, Shamena

• Start Date: 20220817
• Expected Completion Date: 20250216
• Actual Completion Date: 0

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Communities; Cyclists; Discrimination; Equity; Health; Impacts; Micromobility; Minorities; Mobility; Pedestrians; Police; Policy; Race; Traffic law enforcement; Traffic safety
• Subject Areas: Law; Pedestrians and Bicyclists; Safety and Human Factors; Society;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 01775927
• Record Type: Research project
• Source Agency: Transportation Research Board
• Contract Numbers: Project BTS-21
• Files: TRB, RIP
• Created Date: Jul 5 2021 4:59PM