Blog - Articles tagged as Transportation Equity

With the expansion of Bluebikes since 2011, the share of Environmental Justice (EJ) populations living within one-quarter or one-half mile of a station, out of the total EJ population that lives in participating municipalities, has increased significantly. As of 2021, more than 50 percent of the minority or low-income population lives within one-quarter mile of a station, and more than 75 percent lives within one-half mile. This compares favorably to the approximately 20 percent and 30 percent that lived within one-quarter and one-half mile, respectively, of a station in 2011.

In the last year, increased attention to systemic racism has deepened the mainstream conversation about transportation equity. Many Black transportation planners have pushed the field to recognize that emphasizing enforcement in Complete Streets or Vision Zero paradigms can put people of color at risk of violence. Similarly, the COVID-19 pandemic has laid bare the intersection of systemic health inequality and transportation planning. The incidence of chronic respiratory disease in communities of color, exposure to harmful emissions, and high rates of COVID infection and death are all intertwined legacies of highway-focused planning in the United States and the Boston region.

This is Part 4 of a series about Destination 2040, the Boston Region Metropolitan Planning Organization’s (MPO) new Long-Range Transportation Plan (LRTP). Destination 2040 establishes a vision for the region’s transportation system and funds both capital investments and research studies to support that vision. Parts 1, 2, and 3 of this series presented different stages of the new plan’s development, prior to its endorsement in August 2019. This installment explores how the new plan is being put into action.

Since 1993, the Central Transportation Planning Staff (CTPS) of the Boston Region Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO) has been conducting systemwide passenger surveys on behalf of the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA). CTPS conducted the last MBTA systemwide survey in 2008 and 2009. Prior to that, the last comparable survey had been conducted between 1993 and 2000...

Conversations about improving transit access for underserved communities often revolve around creating new service or implementing more frequent service on existing lines. However, recent work funded by the Boston Region Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO) approaches the issue from a different angle... 

The Boston Region Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO) recently completed the Draft 2017 Triennial Title VI Report. This report presents the MPO’s efforts to ensure that federally protected populations are not discriminated against in the MPO’s various activities. This includes discrimination based on income, race, ethnicity, national origin, age, sex, and disability.