From rhetoric to reality: Promising practices for advancing transportation equity in Canadian cities.

Registration is closed for this event.

Workshop Fee: $50
Note: Workshop fees will be waived for those who self-identify as members of equity-deserving groups or face financial barriers to participation. Please contact the conference organizers at info@carsp.ca to discuss fee waiver options.

In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, Canadian cities are moving quickly to advance policies that aim to confront inequities persisting from historical practices in urban planning. This is paralleled by major government investments in sustainable transportation over recent years that are reshaping our cities to address wicked problems, like congestion and the climate emergency. How can we apply equity policies on the ground to ensure that new transportation infrastructure benefits those who need it most?

Join urban planners and academics from across Canada to learn from cities who are moving transportation equity from rhetoric to reality. Through a mix of interactive presentations, dialogue, and scenario-based learning activities, workshop attendees will:

1. Discover promising practices, and potential pitfalls, when applying equity principles and policies in a sustainable transportation context;
2. Apply lessons learned to real-world transportation planning scenarios;
3. Build a common agenda for advancing sustainable transportation equity in Canada, including key principles, strategies, and evaluation metrics.

This workshop will share key findings from the PISTE Project, a joint initiative of INTERACT and LevelUp Planning to capture promising practices and inspiration from Canadian cities making progress on sustainable transportation equity. Through policy analysis and key informant interviews, we’re examining the state of equity policies in Canadian cities, discovering jurisdictions that are successfully operationalizing these policies in a sustainable transportation context, and delving into what worked, what failed, and why. Takeaways from our initial policy scan were recently published in Plan Canada (read the article online here). The final case studies offer practical guidance for multisectoral professionals involved in planning, implementing or advocating for sustainable transportation interventions, and grappling with how to successfully embed equity in this work. For example – How can equity be considered in public engagement around new transportation programs and infrastructure? How might transportation needs vary depending on overlapping identities such as age, ability, income, immigration, gender, sexual orientation, race, and mode choice?

For more on the PISTE Project, visit our website. 

Speakers

The workshop will feature a panel of transportation professionals from three case study cities in Canada:

• Deborah Lightman (Program Manager, Active Transportation Planning, City of Ottawa) 
• Nathan Smith (Senior Engineer, Mobility/Planning & Environment Services, City of Edmonton)
• Lisa Leblanc (Director of Engineering, City of New Westminster)
• Sawsan Al-Refaei (Anti-Racism, Women and Gender Equity Manager, City of Ottawa)

Workshop Team

• Meghan Winters, PhD (Faculty of Health Sciences, Simon Fraser University; CIHR Applied Public Health Chair in Gender and Sex in Healthy Cities)
• Victoria Barr, PhD (Principal, LevelUp Planning Collaborative)
• Tessa Williams, RPP (Faculty of Health Sciences, Simon Fraser University)
• Jaimy Fischer, PhD (c) (Faculty of Health Sciences, Simon Fraser University)
• Meridith Sones, PhD (c) (Faculty of Health Sciences, Simon Fraser University; Interventions, Research and Action in Cities Team (INTERACT))