Transportation Equity – Says Who?

Equity is in the eye of the beholder. In a politically driven world of transportation policy, this disagreement leaves substantial vulnerabilities for the idea of equity to be hijacked for political purposes. This superficial theft can happen to such an extreme that those claiming the equity mantle are often advocating for an outcome that may more accurately be characterized as preserving the status quo. This happens even though there is almost universal agreement that the status quo is not equitable.

This perspective describes some examples of where the issue of equity was twisted to the point that decision-makers may have wound up hurting the very people they were allegedly trying to help. They are (1) Vermont BRT Corridor, (2) Traffic Reduction Study (congestion pricing), and (3) Bus Operations.