By: Amr Shalkamy, Ph.D., P.Eng., RSP1

Abstract 

Equity in transportation aims to ensure fair access to mobility and transportation networks for all individuals and communities, regardless of their location or mode of transport. Historically, road design has favored vehicle movement, often underserving vulnerable road users (VRUs) such as pedestrians and cyclists. This article explores equity considerations in transportation, particularly focusing on road safety. It emphasizes the importance of integrating equity into road safety initiatives and addresses inequalities both among neighborhoods and different road user groups. The article also identifies indicators of inequity within road networks and provides municipalities with strategies for incorporating equity into the planning, design, and safety review processes, to help improve not only safety but also comfort and convenience for all road users. Key challenges associated with achieving equity are discussed, including trade-offs between safety improvements and operational impacts. The article underscores the need for a balanced approach that prioritizes safety while also considering travel efficiency.

Introduction

Equity in transportation aims to ensure fairness in how mobility and accessibility are provided to all community members and different road user groups, including motorists, pedestrians, cyclists, and others. This concept revolves around achieving a balanced distribution of benefits and drawbacks within the transportation system across different neighborhoods and user demographics (i.e., different road user groups) (1). It helps ensure that road users, regardless of where they live, how they get around, or their economic status, have fair access to a transportation network that is safe and convenient.

Historically, urban planning and road design have prioritized the movement of vehicles, often at the expense of vulnerable road users (VRUs) including pedestrians, cyclists, and motorcyclists. This historical emphasis on motorist convenience has created significant inequities in road safety. Vulnerable road users frequently encounter greater risks due to challenges present in road networks such as inadequate pedestrian facilities (e.g., crosswalks, sidewalks, pedestrian signals) and cyclist facilities (e.g., bike lanes and cycle tracks). These deficiencies force pedestrians into making risky choices, such as crossing at midblock locations, and cyclists riding on sidewalks or sharing lanes with motor vehicles, which increase the likelihood of collisions.

Equity in road safety refers to advocating for and prioritizing VRUs who have been historically underserved when the main goal of building roadways was to move vehicles. Beyond just ensuring safety, equity in road safety includes providing convenience and comfort for all users. This comprehensive approach acknowledges that an equitable road network should offer all users equal opportunities to travel safely and comfortably, regardless of how they choose to travel.

This article will discuss the importance of integrating equity into road safety considerations and safety reviews. It will examine inequalities among different road user groups such as pedestrians, cyclists, motorists, and public transport users, as well as disparities between affluent (wealthy) and underserved neighborhoods. Additionally, the article will identify signs of inequality within road networks, discuss the challenges in achieving equity, propose strategies for incorporating equity into road planning and safety initiatives, and examine the potential impacts of these measures in supporting vulnerable road users.

Why incorporating equity in road safety is important?

Data show that pedestrians, cyclists, and motorcyclists face a higher incidence of fatal or serious injury collisions (2). The fatalities involved are not just numbers; they are real humans, members of the community who have left behind families and loved ones. Applying an equity lens when planning, designing new roads, or reviewing the safety of existing roads is crucial to address the specific safety concerns faced by these historically underserved road users. Incorporating equity into the process helps ensure that everyone, regardless of how they travel or where they live, has fair access to a safe and accessible transportation system. This approach not only enhances safety but also fosters a more inclusive, compassionate, and forgiving transportation system that prioritizes the convenience and well-being of all road users.

Neighborhood-Level and Individual Road User-Level Inequalities

Achieving equity in urban transportation involves addressing disparities both across different neighborhoods and among various road user groups. This section discusses these two dimensions of inequity and provides a brief overview of equity considerations on both the individual and neighborhood levels.

Equity Across Urban Neighborhoods

In urban environment, achieving equity on the neighborhood level involves addressing disparities across various neighborhoods. It requires understanding which demographics within a neighborhood experience a greater share of benefits and drawbacks compared to other neighborhoods. Affluent or wealthy neighborhoods often enjoy well-maintained infrastructure, road safety features, traffic calming measures, and adequate street lighting, contributing to safer travel conditions. In contrast, underserved neighborhoods frequently lack these essential safety elements, leading to increased risks for pedestrians, cyclists, and other road users. Incorporating equity in road safety on the neighborhood level first requires identifying the contributing factors to these inequalities, such as socio-economic factors or roadway-related deficiencies like the absence of basic road safety features, crosswalks, traffic calming measures, and adequate street lighting. The next step is to rectify these deficiencies to help ensure that all neighborhoods have balanced access to safe and accessible transportation infrastructure.

Equity Among Different Road Users

Equity considerations extend beyond the neighborhood level to various road user groups, each facing unique challenges and needs. Pedestrians often encounter issues such as the lack of sidewalks, unsafe crossings, and inadequate lighting. Cyclists face challenges including the lack of bike lanes, navigating busy intersections, and inadequate secure bike parking facilities. Motorists, while generally more privileged in terms of infrastructure, still require clear signage, well-maintained roads, and safe speed limits to ensure their safety and that of other road users. Public transport users need safe and accessible transit stops, clear and accommodating sidewalks, and pathways to access busy stops safely. Addressing these specific challenges and needs of various road user groups will help create a more balanced and inclusive transportation system that caters to the needs of all road users.

Signs of Inequity in Road Networks

Identifying and addressing signs of inequity in road networks is crucial for creating a fair and safe transportation system. One primary sign of inequity is deficiencies in pedestrian facilities, such as inadequate sidewalks, lack of midblock crossings, and absence of controlled crossing opportunities where needed. Similarly, the lack of dedicated facilities for cyclists is another indicator of inequity. Without bike lanes and secure parking, cyclists are forced to share lanes with motor vehicles or ride on sidewalks, increasing the risk of collisions involving vulnerable road users. These issues are often coupled with prioritizing vehicle mobility over the safety of vulnerable road users.

Inequity issues often relate to the fairness in the distribution of safety measures and road improvements across the road network, reflecting broader socio-economic impacts of road safety strategies. Communities with fewer resources frequently experience these deficiencies, indicating possible inequality in the prioritization and allocation of safety measures. The level and nature of community engagement when developing or implementing policies also play a significant role; without inclusive participation from the community, certain groups may continue to be underserved, and specific needs may be neglected (3).

Strategies for Incorporating Equity in Road Safety

Incorporating equity into road safety is essential for fostering a transportation system that prioritizes safety and accessibility for all users. Here are key strategies that municipalities and organizations can implement:

• Complete Streets Approach: Focus on creating streets and roads that cater to the safety and accessibility of all users, not just motorists. This approach, known as “Complete Streets”, aims to create a balanced transportation system that meets the needs of pedestrians, cyclists, and public transit passengers (4). When designing Complete Streets, it is crucial to acknowledge the role of reducing vehicle speeds to enhance the safety of vulnerable road users. Measures like lane narrowing and road diets reallocate road space to prioritize facilities for active transportation, reducing vehicle capacity, lowering speeds, and creating safer environments for pedestrians and cyclists.
• Vision Zero and Beyond: Integrate equity and social justice into road safety initiatives by adopting a broader data-driven approach that includes socioeconomic and community engagement alongside quantitative crash data. Ensure diverse road user and socioeconomic groups are meaningfully included in goal setting and policy implementation (3).
• Comprehensive Community Engagement: Engage local communities to understand specific safety needs, preferences, and challenges. Incorporate community feedback into planning and implementation to ensure locally relevant and effective improvements.
• Equity-Informed Road Safety Reviews: Integrate key equity considerations into traditional In-Service Safety Review (ISSR) processes. This includes deep dives into demographic data to uncover potential inequalities in access to safe transportation options among communities and road user groups. The City of Toronto serves as a leading example in conducting this type of studies, where an equity-informed safety review was conducted by Arcadis for Jane Street, one of the busiest road corridors in the Greater Toronto Area.  (5).
• Neighborhood Demographic and Road User Risk Analysis: Identify underserved neighborhoods and road user groups and prioritize interventions based on their rank within the road network using safety and equity indicators. During the process of identifying underserved neighborhoods or road users, consider factors like historical collisions, road network deficiencies, pedestrian and cyclist volumes, demographic profiles, and community-specific safety concerns.
• Accessibility Analysis: Evaluate access to mobility options such as bike networks, bus routes, and road networks for different socio-economic groups. Focus on improving accessibility alongside safety to enhance overall mobility (6).
• Policy Recommendations and Planning Integration: Develop policies that ensure meaningful inclusion and participation of diverse road user groups and communities from different neighborhoods in decision-making processes related to road safety. Integrate equity considerations into transportation planning and funding decisions to promote fair and inclusive outcomes across all communities.
• Targeted Interventions: Recommend inclusive measures in road rehabilitation and retrofit projects, such as wider sidewalks, dedicated cycle tracks, and transit priority measures, to improve safety and accessibility in underserved communities.
• Collision Data Utilization: Collect and analyze collision data across different neighborhoods and user groups to identify inequities and areas needing targeted interventions. Use these data to prioritize safety improvements in underserved communities or for underserved road user groups.
• Design and Infrastructure: Propose specific design interventions such as protected bike lanes, pedestrian priority zones, and traffic calming measures to enhance safety and comfort for all road users.

Challenges in Achieving Equity

Achieving equity in road safety is often hindered by several challenges. One significant challenge is the historical prioritization of motorists in the road-built environment, where the needs of motorists have historically taken precedence over vulnerable road users such as pedestrians and cyclists. This bias has resulted in infrastructure designs that prioritize vehicle flow and speed, making implementing changes or improvements to the road environment very challenging. While physical improvements to roadways are effective in addressing this bias, fostering a paradigm and cultural shift towards promoting equity and safety, supplemented by engineering and enforcement measures, is a more balanced approach.

Another challenge in incorporating equity into road safety is the lack of localized data. Despite extensive nationwide data on road safety, effectively using these data at the local or community level to advocate for change pose a significant challenge. Local policy and decision-makers often require localized data that specifically highlight safety inequalities and community-specific needs. A comprehensive approach that combines top-down policies with bottom-up strategies, including localized data collection and analysis, is essential to effectively address these disparities and implement targeted interventions that enhance road safety and accessibility for all community members (7).

Conclusion 

Incorporating equity into road safety is crucial for creating safer, more inclusive urban environments. Throughout this article, we have explored various dimensions of equity in road safety, from addressing inequalities across neighborhoods to meeting the diverse needs of different road user groups. By integrating equity considerations and prioritizing measures like Complete Streets designs and community-centered approaches, municipalities and organizations can foster transportation systems that prioritize the safety and accessibility of all users, regardless of where they live or their mode of transport.

Overcoming challenges such as the historical prioritization of motorists and the need for localized data requires a comprehensive approach. This approach integrates community engagement, policy development, and data-driven decision-making. By involving diverse communities in planning and implementing road safety initiatives, municipalities can ensure interventions are tailored to local needs and priorities.

It is important to acknowledge the trade-offs associated with safety improvements, such as reducing speed limits, and potential operational impacts like travel delays. Analyzing these trade-offs involves balancing safety benefits with the inconvenience of potential delays, emphasizing the need for a balanced approach that prioritizes safety while considering travel efficiency. Acknowledging and addressing these trade-offs ethically places road safety as a collective responsibility that prioritizes human life above all else.

 

References

1. Flom E. Incorporating an Equity-Based Approach into Transportation Operations. Public Roads. 2023;87(1). Available from:
   Incorporating an Equity-Based Approach into Transportation Operations | FHWA (dot.gov)
2. Canadian Motor Vehicle Traffic Collision Statistics: 2022. Available from: https://tc.canada.ca/en/road-transportation/statistics-data/canadian-motor-vehicle-traffic-collision-statistics-2022
3. Abebe HG, Belin MÅ, Björnberg KE. Equity and Social Justice considerations in road safety work: The case of Vision Zero in New York City. Transport policy. 2024 Apr 1;149:11-20. 
4. Bas J, Al-Khasawneh MB, Erdoğan S, Cirillo C. How the design of Complete Streets affects mode choice: Understanding the behavioral responses to the level of traffic stress. Transportation research part A: policy and practice. 2023 Jul 1;173:103698. Available from: How the design of Complete Streets affects mode choice: Understanding the behavioral responses to the level of traffic stress - ScienceDirect
5. RapidTO: Equity-Informed Safety Studies of Jane Street, City of Toronto. Available from: https://www.toronto.ca/services-payments/streets-parking-transportation/transportation-projects/rapidto/rapidto-have-your-say/rapidto-jane-street/
6. Crash and Equity Analyses Technical Report, Safe Mobility Strategy 2021-2025. City of Edmonton, AB, Canada. Available from: Safe Mobility Strategy - Crash & Equity Analyses Technical Report (edmonton.ca)
7. McCullogh, E., Giles, A., Macpherson, A., Buchan, C., Pike, I., Torres, J., . . . Richmond, S. A. (2022). Applying the Consolidated Framework for Implementation Research (CFIR) to examine barriers and facilitators to built environment change in five Canadian municipalities: lessons from road safety and injury prevention professionals. Journal of Transport & Health, 27, 1-14. Available from:  https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2214140522001505

 

 Bio: 

Dr. Amr Shalkamy is a Project Manager at Arcadis and a certified Road Safety Professional (RSP1) with 12 years of experience in transportation engineering, including road safety, smart and shared mobility, active transportation, road design, and traffic operations. He earned his Ph.D. in road safety and related technologies from the University of Alberta. Dr. Shalkamy has published over 10 peer-reviewed journal articles in top-tier international journals, co-authored several technical reports, and delivered numerous presentations at national and international conferences. In recognition of his work, Dr. Shalkamy has received multiple awards from esteemed entities such as the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC), the Transportation Association of Canada (TAC), Mott MacDonald, Transport Canada, Alberta Innovates, the University of Alberta, the City of Edmonton, and the Canadian Society of Civil Engineers. Dr. Shalkamy is also a member of TAC Road Safety Committee and a committee member of the SNN Editorial Committee of The Canadian Association of Road Safety Professionals (CARSP).