The majority of pedestrian master plans consider how to make equitable walking infrastructure. Less than half of plans implement strategies to address the fact that people of color are disproportionately represented in pedestrian fatalities.
Amber Berg and Gregory Newmark's new paper "Incorporating Equity into Pedestrian Master Plans" analyzes 15 pedestrian master plans from major American cities "to understand how some of the largest departments of transportation were — or weren’t — centering the needs of marginalized communities in their policies," writes Kea Wilson.
Wilson points to a troubling finding from Smart Growth America that older, non-white pedestrians are disproportionately more likely to be killed by drivers than white pedestrians. Wilson describes the paper's analysis:
But Berg and Newmark found that even cities with more "vertical" approaches to equity planning were not necessarily reducing disparities in their equity metrics. To understand why, they evaluated all the plans through a framework they are calling the “Three A’s”: Acknowledgment, Accountability, and Application.
Measuring equity in pedestrian plans using these three metrics, Berg and Newmark found that Portland and Seattle lead the pack. "These seemingly subtle differences, the researchers say, can have huge implications for a region’s long-term equity efforts," writes Wilson.
FULL STORY: Why Every City Needs to Learn the Three A’s of Equitable Pedestrian Planning
Complete Streets Policies Still Seeking Equity
Though the quick expansion of complete streets policies is worth celebrating, minority and low-income communities are still being left behind, and killed at a disproportionate rate.
Pedestrian Safety Still Not a Priority in the United States
Dangerous by Design 2021 quantifies the transportation sector's ongoing neglect of the health and safety of people performing that basic human action of taking a walk.
Making it Safer to Walk to Transit in Portland
TriMet, the regional transit agency in the Portland, Oregon area, this week launched a process for creating a new Pedestrian Plan.
Florida Considers Legalizing ADUs
Current state law allows — but doesn’t require — cities to permit accessory dwelling units in single-family residential neighborhoods.
Manufactured Crisis: Losing the Nation’s Largest Source of Unsubsidized Affordable Housing
Manufactured housing communities have long been an affordable housing option for millions of people living in the U.S., but that affordability is disappearing rapidly. How did we get here?
Research Shows More Roads = More Driving
A national study shows, once again, that increasing road supply induces additional vehicle travel, particularly over the long run.
EV Chargers Now Outnumber Gas Pumps by Nearly 50% in California
Fast chargers still lag behind amidst rapid growth.
Affordable Housing Renovations Halt Mid-Air Amidst DOGE Clawbacks
HUD may rescind over a billion dollars earmarked for green building upgrades.
Has Anyone at USDOT Read Donald Shoup?
USDOT employees, who are required to go back to the office, will receive free parking at the agency’s D.C. offices — flying in the face of a growing research body that calls for pricing parking at its real value.
Urban Design for Planners 1: Software Tools
This six-course series explores essential urban design concepts using open source software and equips planners with the tools they need to participate fully in the urban design process.
Planning for Universal Design
Learn the tools for implementing Universal Design in planning regulations.
City of Moreno Valley
Institute for Housing and Urban Development Studies (IHS)
City of Grandview
Harvard GSD Executive Education
City of Piedmont, CA
NYU Wagner Graduate School of Public Service
City of Cambridge, Maryland