The What:
The Union of Concerned Scientists released its report, “Freedom to Move: Investing in Transportation Choices for a Clean, Prosperous, and Just Future.”
The Takeaway
The report highlights three important findings. In three “Quick Takes,” we will explore each key finding. The overarching message of the report echoes our own: “More transportation options such as transit, walking, and biking are good for the environment, the economy, and social equity.”
The third takeaway highlights equity and that a “Science-based policies that prioritize more transportation choices align with community-based solutions where local advocates have long fought for a transportation system that prioritizes people over industry interests.”
Why You Should Care
They are saying that the science supports the positions that we are fighting for!
The Proof:
The basic premise here is that Transportation should connect us not divide us – referencing the issues Martin Luther King raised in his essay “A Testament to Hope, “ 1968 “Urban transit systems in most American cities . . . have become a genuine civil rights issue—and a valid one—because the layout of rapid-transit systems determines the accessibility of jobs to the African-American community. If transportation systems in American cities could be laid out so as to provide an opportunity for poor people to get meaningful employment, then they could begin to move into the mainstream of American life.”
Drawing on the Center for Neighborhood Technology’s (CNT) data, the report highlights how low-income and communities of color are hardest hit by the high costs of housing and transportation.
The report shares an interesting model for evaluating and investing in Transit Equity.
They complete the picture with three case studies
-
- Boston MA
-
- Utah, and
-
- Shreveport LA
Sources: