The study committee will identify and advise on opportunities for state, local, and tribal governments to use data, metrics, and analytic methods for measuring and assessing the effectiveness of surface transportation projects in addressing the transportation challenges and barriers faced by historically disadvantaged and underserved communities, areas of persistent poverty, and public transportation-dependent populations. The study will consider data and metrics related to safe and reliable access to housing, employment, health care, education, and essential services, as well as data and metrics for assessing equity with regard to health impacts and other environmental justice interests.The study will: (1) identify and analyze existing data and metrics to establish a baseline of currently available means for assessing and measuring outcomes from surface transportation projects; (2) identify opportunities to improve data, the use of such data to improve metrics, and how such metrics could be applied to make more informed decisions in the planning process for surface transportation projects; and (3) consider new and innovative sources of data, analytic methods, and modeling for using such data and metrics in the transportation planning and decision-making process.
On the basis of its review and assessments, the committee will advise on the most promising methodological approaches and requisite data for analyzing equity impacts from surface transportation projects, giving particular attention to projects that use federal formula transportation funds. The study will consider the findings and recommendations of the National Academies study on “Data, Metrics, and Analytic Methods for Assessing Equity Impacts of Surface Transportation Funding Programs (TRB-CAAS-21-03).” That study, which is underway, will identify data sources, metrics, and analytic methods that USDOT can use to assess the equity impacts of projects that are candidates for federal aid through its discretionary surface transportation funding programs.
It is expected that the results of this Phase 2 study will inform a follow-on (Phase 3) research project to develop and pilot test analytic tools and methods for states, local governments, metropolitan planning organizations, and tribal governments to use in performing equity analyses on the existing and planned surface transportation investments. This follow-on project, which would not be a consensus study, is proposed in a separate prospectus from TRB’s Cooperative Research Program.