Title

Evaluating transportation equity: guidance for incorporating distributional impacts in transportation planning

Authors

Todd Litman

Document Type

Journal Article

Publication Date

2007

Subject Area

Social Issues - social inclusion, Transport accessibility - Access to vehicles, Transport planning - Accessibility planning, Transport policy - Disadvantage

Abstract

This paper provides guidance on incorporating equity impacts into transportation planning. It defines various types of equity, discusses ways of evaluating equity , and describes practical ways of incorporating equity objectives into decision-making. "Equity" refers to the fairness with which impacts (benefits and costs) are distributed. Transportation decisions often have significant equity impacts. Transport equity analysis can be difficult because there are several types of equity, numerous impacts to consider, various ways to categorize people for analysis, and many ways of measuring impacts. Equity analysis should usually consider a variety of perspectives and impacts.