Mobility Justice
Introduction
This page outlines three actions that advocates can take to reimagine how people move through their communities and address the inequities built into our transportation system. This list is primarily meant for nonprofit and public sector advocates who want to increase equitable access to everyday destinations for people walking and rolling. We have provided resources and intermediate steps to help illustrate how each of these big actions can happen.
As an organization committed to advancing safe walking and rolling to and from schools and in everyday life for people of all races, ethnicities, income levels, abilities and disabilities, we know we cannot achieve this goal without examining why current conditions are the way they are and consciously choosing to do things differently. We invite you along the journey with us.
How We Got Here: A Brief History of Transportation Inequity
Dig deeper with this story map, “We Built It This Way: A Primer on Transportation Inequity.” The story map reviews the historical context that built inequities into our communities and transportation systems, and shows how those inequitable systems have affected communities of color with examples from across the country.
What is Mobility Justice?
The Untokening, an organization that centers marginalized communities to increase equity and mobility justice defines the term:
“Mobility Justice demands that we fully excavate, recognize, and reconcile the historical and current injustices experienced by communities—with impacted communities given space and resources to envision and implement planning models and political advocacy on streets and mobility that actively work to address historical and current injustices experienced by communities.”
Taking Steps Toward Mobility Justice
Equipped with knowledge about how we created the conditions we have today, it’s time to take action. Here are three steps any active transportation or public health advocate can take:
1. Partner with community members
Community members should be at the heart of efforts to improve safe, convenient access and mobility. Nonprofit and public sector advocates should take a supportive role by providing funding, content-area expertise, and other resources to realize community members’ vision.
- Identify and elevate existing community priorities and efforts. Are community members already working in this space? Support their leadership and help build on that work through authentic and meaningful partnership. Don’t begin a new process if there is already something happening in the community.
- Look at the people on your staff or in your coalition to ensure there are people with content expertise, personal experience, and existing relationships that are relevant to the intended beneficiaries and neighborhoods you serve. A strong grounding in the community enables people to understand what residents are asking for and make decisions that center on those desires. Look for partner organizations or individuals that:
- Demographically reflect the population you are working with
- Grew up or live in the community
- Work(ed) in the community and are trusted by residents
- Have an equity focus
- Plan a community engagement event to understand residents’ vision for their community. Use this community visioning checklist to plan and facilitate thoughtful and engaging community visioning.
- Youth have an important perspective on mobility and can bring creativity to efforts that connect everyone to places for work and play. For strategies and tools to effectively engage young people, read Safe Routes for Youth. It is primarily focused on Vision Zero work, but it can apply to any effort to engage youth in safe routes to daily destinations.
- Assess the current state of active transportation options and access to public spaces.
- Get inspired by these community engagement cards that highlight arts-based activities that both foster community building and help collect useful information about what people want and value. They are easily adapted to fit virtual settings and a range of ages.
- Hold a walk audit using this toolkit that guides both planning and conducting the event. It also includes helpful worksheets for participants to fill out during the event.
- For help finding data that illuminates the state of health, access, and safety, use this factsheet: Harnessing Data to Advance Safe Routes to Parks. Although it is targeted at park access, it contains helpful information for gathering existing data as well as collecting new data that can apply to mobility and access more generally.
2. Prioritize community members' desires and elevate their leadership
The initial engagement and data collection should be just the beginning of community members’ involvement. Center community interests in the conversation about how limited resources should be prioritized and how projects should unfold.
By cultivating authentic relationships and involving neighbors and organizations in a meaningful way, you can support community-led stewardship.
- Create space and opportunities for community members to be champions. Their energy, contributions, and ideas will create more buy-in and support while elevating the assets and solutions that best fit community needs.
- Support a “Friends of” group for the park or Adopt-a-Park maintenance group for residents to build political and financial support for enhancements and promotion and maintenance of parks.
- Identify or develop opportunities for community members to serve as advisory committee members or governing board members for the project or to the local government responsible for making decisions about mobility and public spaces. Compensate residents for their time contributing to these efforts.
- Help residents identify their training and skill-building needs, then pair them with opportunities to learn and grow in those areas. Examples include an equity or leadership development training, or advocacy and organizing workshop. Remember to account for obstacles that may prevent some from pursuing these opportunities, such as meeting times and locations, transportation, child care, food, and translation/signing services.
- Work with city agencies to change the process by which they obtain and receive community feedback so that it is easier for resident feedback to reach the right people. Prioritize high-quality engagement and encourage city agencies to try engagement approaches that go beyond the traditional open house.
- For example, at a community event, invite people to draw the thing they love most about their neighborhood and stitch them together to become a “community quilt;” hold bike repair clinics and ask for feedback while people wait; or hold a movie night where you distribute surveys. The possibilities are endless!
3. Advocate to prioritize funding that aligns with community members’ vision.
Advocate for equitable distribution of funding within budgets and push to address the systemic barriers put in place by historic and ongoing inequities. Governments and nonprofits across the country are doing this in a variety of ways.
- Go to the top: Directives that come from leadership, such as the mayor and/or city council, are more likely to spur action at the departmental level. Ask leadership to set a clear vision and goals for equity in the jurisdiction and direct department staff to take concrete actions that align with that vision. In nearly all of the jurisdictions noted on the map below, the push for equity came as a directive from the mayor or city council.
- Add points for equity: When prioritizing projects and funding, include equity as one of the highest-scoring criteria. This will ensure that short-term decisions will align with the long-term goal of equitable distribution of funding. Check out Oakland, CA on the map below for a good example of this in Capital Improvement Plans.
- Standardize the process: Adopt a process to help city staff think through equity considerations when developing policies, programs, and budgets. This standardizes the way that staff can consider equity in everything they do and makes it easier to do so. Check out Madison, WI or Seattle, WA on the map below for good examples.
- Support creative engagement: City agencies and nonprofits can partner to facilitate creative and meaningful engagement that goes beyond the typical open house. Fun, informal events can draw ordinary residents into the conversation to identify there are systemic barriers and where there may be opportunities to address them. Look at Tucson, AZ and Asian Media Access in Minneapolis, MN on the map below for great examples.
Mapping Out Mobility Justice
Explore the Mobility Justice Map below for inspiring examples of how communities across the country are prioritizing equitable distribution of funding for active transportation and public space.
Do you have a story to add? Fill out this form to have it added to the map.
*Safe Routes Partnership would like to thank Prentiss A. Dantzler, Ph.D., Lynda Lopez, Triveece Penelton, AICP, NOMA, and Miguel Vazquez, AICP for their invaluable contribution in reviewing this resource and assisting us in providing this instrument to implement change in our communities.
