experience high demand for their expertise while having limited resources with which to meet this demand. Additionally, direct action in the form of programmatic or policy change that stems from the equity measurements discovered is not well documented and does not seem to be reliably achieved in the industry. One way to increase the possible types of measurement and improve the results of such measurement is to ensure that recent and relevant data are used, something that may be difficult to access without proper funding and/or data expertise. One successful method of increasing the capacity for equity work within a transit agency is to codify the responsibilities and value of the people who work on equity, in policy, or similar documentation. Such formal acceptance and buy-in for the work gives more influence to the contributions of those individuals or groups and can help avoid cuts to the programs and projects they lead.

Process

As with any initiative led by transit agencies, the process used to guide equity initiatives influences the outcomes directly. For transit equity, process challenges include terminology; guidance from the federal government; transparency, accountability, and engagement; collection and application of qualitative information; and local development patterns and/or processes.

Variations in how practitioners define and approach the concept of equity can limit progress at the local and industry levels. During the literature review, the synthesis team determined that each transit agency or stakeholder entity had slightly different understandings of the concept of equity. This determination was reinforced by the case example findings, which showed that each case example site approached the need to define equity in transit differently. While context-sensitive understanding of transit equity is critical to meaningful change, some level of uniformity with regard to how transit equity is understood in the industry at large could help accelerate progress toward more widespread equitable outcomes.

Much of the literature indicates that federal requirements and guidance cannot be the only way to measure progress toward equity because of the nuance and context required to address many problems. However, according to transit agencies, these types of requirements are useful for encouraging transit agencies to achieve, at least, a minimum level of equity or initiate equity-related conversations with their constituents.

Dialogue is a critical component of transit equity initiatives. Hearing from riders and the public is so important because public feedback and stakeholder inquiries activate different, and often more powerful, responses within transit agencies because of the need to ensure a positive public image. This fact can be useful for equity work because it helps motivate decision-makers to approve and invest in such efforts. With the right feedback loop via meaningful engagement, transit agencies can become experts in the needs of their riders. The feedback loop between transit agencies and the people they serve can be strengthened by implementing transparency throughout the process of establishing equity goals and measures as well as transparent progress reporting. Such candid information sharing is important to earn and maintain trust among riders and the community. Lastly, it is important to level-set commitments and expectations, through honest assessments of capacity, when working to address inequities so that the people being served can confidently rely on the services being sustainable in the long-term.

Because of the context-sensitive nature of transit equity, qualitative data are important for establishing good performance measures and providing context to quantitative information. According to this project’s literature review and case examples, trends show increased willingness and capacity to include this type of information in transit equity performance measures.

Because transit service does not occur in a vacuum and is directly influenced by land use decisions within the service area, it is important for transit agencies to monitor and engage with

non-transit, decision-making processes in their service areas. For example, development patterns that favor expansion over densification directly and negatively affect transit service equity.

Culture

Equity measurements are gauges of what society has gotten right or wrong (e.g., do programs and services support everyone in the ways they need support, or are some people left out?). Therefore, discussing and addressing transit equity is an intimidating, and potentially overwhelming, task because it requires engaging with difficult truths related to historical and current injustices perpetrated at multiple levels of society. Normalizing such conversations is an important step in addressing inequity and working toward an equitable transit system. This type of cultural change is necessary for equity measures to take hold and have a lasting impact; however, long-standing methods and perspectives are difficult to change without sustained attention, a consistent vision, and empowered practitioners backed by decision-makers and funding. The cultural shift necessary to mainstream equity work and conversations is also challenged by higher rates of turnover among people who work on equity, which can inhibit progress, according to information collected during the case example research. It is important to anticipate this fact and strive to promote and praise equity work, even when it produces challenging results, so that momentum toward change can be maintained or even accelerated.

Next Steps for Research and Implementation Opportunities

While research on transit equity has recently received a boost in interest and funding, many more questions remain to be asked. Regarding goals and performance measures specific to transit equity, three clear next steps for research and implementation are presented in a proposed order of execution:

1. Investigate methods for conducting research on industry trends and practices that make it easy, convenient, and rewarding for practitioners to participate. During the course of this project, the synthesis team learned that it is increasingly difficult for transit practitioners to participate in the data collection traditionally used in such projects due to limited time and growing responsibilities. The ongoing success of TCRP and similar research programs would benefit from updated data collection practices and/or dedicated funding to support the time commitments required from such practitioners. Additionally, this type of limitation has the potential to bias the research, as only those practitioners with the ability to participate will be heard from.
2. Research on the level of guidance and standardization appropriate to help transit agencies achieve greater transit equity without limiting those agencies’ ability to develop goals, measures, and programs that directly reflect the unique needs and circumstances of their riders would benefit the industry. While uniformity and replicability are important when measuring performance, methods for understanding and incorporating local context are critical. It is especially important that this research help practitioners understand how to collect and act on qualitative data that describes people’s transit experience.
3. Develop guidance to support transit agency efforts to create equity-first goals, objectives, and performance measures. During this synthesis project, it became clear that each transit agency that was working on equity performance measures or that had established equity-related goals did so via ad-hoc processes. While locally oriented, context-sensitive methods and practices are critical inputs in equity initiatives, additional guidance on successful methods would reduce the barriers to engaging with equity that some transit agencies face and lower the level of investment required to initiate equity programs, thus increasing equity throughout the transit industry.