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Regional Equity – Overview
OVERVIEW • METHODS AND MEASURES • TARGET COMMUNITIES • DATA AND MAPS
The MPO is committed to considering the transportation needs and views of underserved constituencies, including communities of low-income and minority residents. The MPO developed its Regional Equity Program to provide for a systematic method of considering environmental justice in all of its transportation-planning work. The Regional Equity Program builds on the foundation of ongoing outreach concerning transportation needs and previous analyses of accessibility and mobility for low-income and minority communities in the Boston region. The findings from this work have been incorporated in the development of a number of MPO documents, including the 2000–2025 Regional Transportation Plan, the 2000–2025 Regional Transportation Plan Addendum and Update, the 2004–2025 Transportation Plan, the recently adopted 2007–2030 Transportation Plan (JOURNEY TO 2030), and recent Transportation Improvement Programs and Unified Planning Work Programs.

The MPO has adopted the following definition of environmental justice:
Environmental justice requires the MPO to:
  • Examine the allocation of benefits and burdens, currently and in the planned future
  • Ensure that minority and low-income communities are treated equitably in the provision of transportation services and projects
  • Provide full participation for minority and low-income communities to advise the MPO during its planning and decision-making process
The MPO´s Regional Equity Program is composed of three key elements: community outreach, incorporation of environmental justice in the planning process, and analysis of the effects of planned transportation projects.
Vision for Regional Equity
The MPO´s vision for regional equity is that the needs of low-income and minority residents will be assessed through regular outreach activities and technical analyses, low-income and minority residents will share equitably with others in the access and mobility benefits of the transportation network, and environmental burdens from transportation facilities and services on these communities will be identified and minimized. This vision has led to the development of the following policy statements to guide decision making:
  • Continue outreach to communities with a high proportion of low-income and minority residents
  • Assess regional equity by analyzing mobility, accessibility, and congestion for communities with a high proportion of low-income and minority residents
  • Fund projects that address identified regional equity issues and needs
Environmental Justice in JOURNEY TO 2030
In order to continue to improve the ways in which the MPO addresses environmental justice concerns in the Transportation Plan, the MPO compiled existing environmental justice information and then held environmental justice forums to solicit input for the development of JOURNEY TO 2030, the MPO´s current Transportation Plan. The MPO also analyzed the effects of the projects that were recommended in the Plan on environmental justice areas. As part of the analysis, the MPO examined how mobility, accessibility, and pollution levels changed for environmental justice areas compared to non-environmental-justice areas. The analysis showed that the projects recommended in the final Plan benefit environmental justice areas more overall than they benefit non-environmental-justice areas.

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