BACKGROUND

Historic transportation policy and investments have favored motor vehicle users at the expense of those who walk or bike. Further, historical disinvestment and disenfranchisement of historically marginalized communities has been attributed to reports of the over-representation of people of color among pedestrian and bicyclist victims of  traffic crashes, serious injuries, and fatalities. Additional impacts to users from embedded racial and economic systemic biases can include increased exposure to dangerous or unhealthy conditions such as proximity to high-speed, high-volume roadways; exposure to harmful air, noise, and heat pollution; and over-policing that discourage walking, biking, and rolling while negatively influencing health, life expectancy, and access to community resources.

Existing research has sought to document racial and socioeconomic inequities in safety and health outcomes in active transportation. This research has been hampered by limitations in the available data and analytical methods. There is need for further research to identify and address specific racial and socioeconomic inequities in transportation outcomes, the distribution of investments, and practices applied during planning, project development, design, operations, and maintenance.

Research is needed to strengthen the knowledge base on the extent and root causes of safety and health inequities experienced by people walking, bicycling, and rolling as well as the practices that can create those inequities. Furthermore, research should assess and address the data and methods available to practitioners to identify and mitigate inequities in active transportation already in place. 

This research efforts should build upon the foundation provided by previous research, including but not limited to NCHRP Research Report 893: Systemic Pedestrian Safety Analysis and NCHRP Research Report 803: Pedestrian and Bicycle Transportation Along Existing Roads – ActiveTrans Priority Tool Guidebook and closely coordinate with and contribute to research currently underway for NCHRP 08-150, “Tools to Integrate Equity into Active Transportation and Safety Investments,” NCHRP 07-31, “State DOT and Tribal Use of Active Transportation Data: Practices, Sources, Needs, and Gaps,” and NCHRP 08-165, “Use of Active Transportation Data in Decision-Making.”

OBJECTIVE

The objective of this research is to develop a guide that (1) identifies and documents the inequities in the systemic, operational, and safety conditions and outcomes for racially and socioeconomically marginalized people; (2) identifies and evaluates the limitations, gaps, and biases of data sources and applications that might illuminate inequitable differences in exposure to unsafe conditions, such as high-speed arterials and highways, and air, noise, or heat pollution; (3) proposes improvements to data collection practices; and (4) introduces and provides technical instruction on analytical methods and applications that integrate racial and socioeconomic considerations into decision-making by state departments of transportation (DOT) to avoid or mitigate active transportation inequities in practice.

The research should build upon concepts and strategies that:  

• Evaluate differences in access to safe active transportation infrastructure, networks, and systems based upon race, ethnicity, land use, and income;
• Consider differences in how bicyclists and pedestrians are perceived and treated by motorists and the enforcement community based upon race, ethnicity, land use, and income; 
• Evaluate differences in overall safety outcomes for racially and socioeconomically diverse populations of active transportation users with the understanding that safety is a broader concept than simply protection from carelessly or negligently driven motor vehicles;  
• Consider the policies and practices that result in inequitable outcomes in enforcement, land use, and transportation investment decision-making. Identify how existing or additional data would support project decisions that avoid vehicular trauma to active transportation users from historically marginalized populations and offer redress for historic underinvestment.

RESEARCH PLAN

Accomplishment of the project objectives will require the following tasks.

PHASE I – Data collection, analysis, and documentation of inequities in safety conditions and specific health and safety threats to active transportation users from lower-income and historically marginalized communities.

 Task 1. Conduct a literature review that:

• Identifies and documents the fundamental, systemic, and structural causes of racial and socioeconomic inequities in active transportation safety and the possible impact on decisions about whether and where to walk, bike, or roll;
• Describes the inequities in the condition of existing infrastructure by race and socioeconomic status to include exposure to unsafe street conditions for active transportation users and access to safe infrastructure countermeasures, and crash data;
• Examines the potential underreporting of pedestrian and bicycle crashes and potential bias in yielding behavior of drivers to people of color;
• Examines potential biases in enforcement practices by the law enforcement community of jaywalking, biking on sidewalks, and similar infractions, as well as crash reporting practices, particularly against people of color;
• Assesses the availability, strengths, and weaknesses of sociodemographic and transportation data, and analytical methods to identify and address unequal safety conditions for bicyclists and pedestrians by location and type of activity as well as race and income;
• Documents current practices to deploy data for active transportation safety equity assessments, including any efforts to overcome or correct for data gaps; and
• Identifies and discusses the strengths and weaknesses of existing resources and equity assessment tools.

Task 2. Plan and execute outreach to supplement the information collected in Task 1 with the perspectives of the research stakeholders, to at least include representatives of state DOTs; state health departments; local, regional, and Tribal governments and agencies; and advocacy groups and service providers representing lower-income and other historically marginalized communities;

Task 3. Document the state of practice to deploy data and conduct active transportation safety and equity assessments. This state of practice should include discussion of efforts by agencies to overcome or correct for gaps in data or methodology. Identify the limitations of or gaps in existing data, data analysis, and methods used to identify differences in safety experiences and outcomes by historically marginalized populations based on data collected in Tasks 1 and 2;

Task 4. Estimate the extent of inequities in active transportation safety by race and income both overall and in distinct contexts (e.g., urban, suburban, rural). The assessment should seek to use the best available data and modeling methods; knowledge about the limits, potential bias, and underreporting; and illustrate proxy data, methodological adjustments, and limitations. The analysis would explicitly address uncertainties in estimates due to data limitations.

Task 5. Develop an interim report that comprehensively documents the research conducted to this point, summarizes conclusions, and recommends next steps in the conduct of research during Phase II to address the gaps and limitations of existing data and methods.  This report will be shared with the panel for review and comment and presented to the panel in an interim meeting to be convened by NCHRP.

PHASE II -  Analysis of data

Task 6. Define data sources and methods to fill the gaps in available tools and practical approaches to identifying and quantifying safety disparities in walking, bicycling, and rolling experienced by lower-income and historically marginalized communities.

Task 7. Develop a memo that documents the process and outcomes of the research conducted in Phase II. Include an annotated outline of the practitioner’s guide and other proposed products. This memo shall be shared with the NCHRP staff officer and panel in a virtual meeting for review and comment.

PHASE III – Product development

Final products will be developed in Phase III. The final products should be relevant and applicable to a wide variety of stakeholders and practitioners.  

Task 8: Develop draft deliverables for NCHRP review and comment. The deliverables from this research project include, but are not necessarily limited to:

1. A conduct of research report documenting the research process and findings;
2. A practitioner’s guide; 
3. A communications packet including a Power Point presentation and/or other media for sharing the major lessons learned from this research to agency stakeholders, peers, managers, and executives; and
4. An Implementation plan for promoting and facilitating the application of the research results in practice. 

STATUS: Proposals have been received in response to the RFP.  The project panel will meet to select a contractor to perform the work