A Review of Equity in Active Transportation

Active transportation modes are increasingly being acknowledged for their individual and societal benefits. As a result, funding for bicycle and pedestrian infrastructure in the United States has increased substantially in recent years. However, active transportation equity impacts often go overlooked, which has resulted in an inequitable distribution of active transportation benefits. Despite these challenges, equity has received little attention from the active transportation research and planning communities. This paper seeks to review active transportation equity considerations within the broader context of equity research. The paper primarily contributes to the limited body of knowledge in this field by establishing a working definition for active transportation equity, identifying limitations in research and in practice, and developing a set of recommendations for planners and researchers. These recommendations include considering a broader set of equity factors and social groups, emphasizing public participation, separately assessing walk and bike equity, and improving measures of accessibility. If the benefits of active transportation are to be fairly shared among all users, equity will need to play a larger role in the planning process.

• Supplemental Notes:
  • This paper was sponsored by TRB committee ADD50 Standing Committee on Environmental Justice in Transportation. Alternate title: Review of Equity in Active Transportation
• Corporate Authors:

  Transportation Research Board

  500 Fifth Street, NW
  Washington, DC  United States  20001
• Authors:
  • Lee, Richard J
  • Sener, Ipek N
  • Jones-Meyer, S Nathan
• Conference:
  • Transportation Research Board 95th Annual Meeting
  • Location: Washington DC, United States
  • Date: 2016-1-10 to 2016-1-14
• Date: 2016

Language

• English

Media Info

• Media Type: Digital/other
• Features: References;
• Pagination: 16p
• Monograph Title: TRB 95th Annual Meeting Compendium of Papers

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Accessibility; Cyclists; Environmental justice; Equity; Infrastructure; Nonmotorized transportation; Pedestrians; Planning; Public participation
• Geographic Terms: United States
• Subject Areas: Pedestrians and Bicyclists; Planning and Forecasting; Policy; Society;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 01592714
• Record Type: Publication
• Report/Paper Numbers: 16-1835
• Files: TRIS, TRB, ATRI
• Created Date: Mar 4 2016 5:04PM