Advancing Equitable Community-Based Transportation Planning
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Researched, authored, and published by: Othering and Belonging Institute (UC Berkeley)
Principal investigator: John A. Powell
Subcontractors and project partners: Institute of Transportation Studies (UC Davis), Center for Regional Change (UC Davis), Pueblo Planning, Thrivance Group, and nine Leaders-in-Residence*
Project cost: $1,200,000
Focus area: Planning
Status: Completed
Contract number: 20MSC007
Purpose
Supported STEP Planning grantees, assessed inclusive planning strategies, and co-created equity-focused recommendations with community leaders. Designed and implemented technical assistance, evaluation, and community-led learning processes to shape the future of equitable transportation programs in California.
Reports
- Advancing Equitable Community-based Transportation Planning (published February 2024)
- Focuses on community-based transportation planning and provides an overview of technical assistance and evaluation efforts.
- Radical Imagination in Transportation Justice
- A zine co-created with grassroots transportation leaders exploring equity-centered approaches and visionary thinking in transit planning.
- Meaningful Measurements of Mobility (published March 2025)
- Outlines new metrics and methods to assess equity in transportation beyond traditional quantitative data.
Key findings
- Communities should lead efforts to identify transportation solutions.
- Success should reflect what matters to people—like safety, dignity, access, and joy—not just quantitative performance measures.
- Evaluation should include community voices from the start to reflect real experiences and power dynamics.
- Technical assistance must be flexible, co-created, and attuned to the realities of community partners and the project team.
- Equity is not a product, but a practice—one that requires shared decision-making, healing-informed engagement, and structural change.
What this work involved
- Technical Assistance: Provided tailored support to eight STEP Planning grantees across California (e.g., Bakersfield, Oakland, Isla Vista). Included over 250 hours of coaching, training, and thought partnership; co-developed equity planning tools; and held interactive workshops on justice-centered planning.
- Evaluation: Investigated how community transportation needs assessments (CTNAs) are working—what helps, what hinders, and how future efforts can shift power and improve impact.
- Discovery Phase: Reviewed STEP and CMO planning approaches, gathered insights from grantees and agency staff, and facilitated a community accountability process to guide the evaluation.
- Leaders-in-Residence: Partnered with nine grassroots transportation leaders* to explore radical imagination in planning and co-create a public zine with reflections, tools, and original art.
- Policy Recommendations: Contributed to CARB’s Planning and Capacity Building and Clean Mobility Incentives Strategy documents with practical guidance for designing equity-centered programs and selection processes.
* Leaders-in-Residence included: Jessica Meaney, Rio Oxas, Nailah Pope-Harden, Ariel Ward, Martha Armas-Kelly, Hana Creger, Amada Eaken, Linda Khamoushian, and Marven Norman