Exploring Equity in Transportation: a critical review and assessment of concepts, indices, and methods

Abstract

By definition, equity is concerned with justice. Ona societal level, equity is concerned with the just distribution of resourcesin society. Because a wide range of theories of just distribution exist, equityconsiderations are multifaceted and create a normative conceptual space inwhich theories can be considered, argued, and applied. In the past few decades,the concept of equity has received increasing attention in the field oftransportation, both within academic journals and practice-oriented books andreports. This dissertation offers a critical review and recommendations forthree aspects transportation equity: concepts, indices, and methods.Within a predominantly western, US andeuro-centric context, Chapter 1 uses concepts and theories from the fields ofsocial psychology, philosophy, and economics to understand and clarify theconcept of equity within the field of transportation. Chapter 2 provides areview of cumulative impact indices that have been specified by various stateand federal US agencies to quantify environmental justice and community resiliency,including a detailed analysis and comparison of equity indices created byWashington state’s Department of Health (DoH) and the U.S. Department ofTransportation (USDOT), respectively. Chapter 3 provides a practitioner-orientedsynthesis of methods and metrics used to incorporate equity in state, regional,and corridor planning efforts.