The regional equity process is an effort by the MPO to ensure the equitable distribution of transportation benefits and burdens in the Boston region, with a particular focus on the needs of low-income and minority populations.

Common concerns expressed during previous outreach efforts include:

• Mobility dependence – Many residents do not have automobiles and are dependent on transit, carpools, vanpools, or taxis.

• Language and cultural diversity – For many residents, English is a second language in which they are not fluent. This presents difficulties for them in using the English-based transportation system.

• Poor air quality – High traffic volumes (including trucks and buses) passing through communities add air pollution, as does congestion. Some communities report a higher-than-average asthma rate.

• Gentrification – Several communities believe that transportation improvements will result in housing-cost increases that may displace current residents.

• Proximity of major construction to neighborhoods – Construction of transportation facilities often involves temporary but significant burdens on communities.

Common needs include:

• Service improvements for existing transit system – Improvements can be made to various aspects of the system, including stations, provision of schedule and arrival information, adherence to schedules, provision of shelters, overcrowding, and frequency of service. Schedules do not always meet the needs of shift workers for late-night, early-morning, and weekend service.

• Transportation to decentralized destinations – The system may not meet all of the destination needs of residents. Access to some destinations (in neighboring communities, along highways, in industrial parks, or where a trip to the central core and a transfer to a radial line are required) can be extremely time consuming. Suburban jobs are often accessible only by highway.

• Reduction of through traffic – Heavy through traffic on a roadway can form a barrier dividing the community, create visual impacts, and contribute to air pollution.

Based on these needs and concerns, several indicators of benefits and burdens were developed by the MPO to analyze potential project scenarios for the Transportation Plan. The MPO will also conduct a system-level analysis of travel patterns, as it did for the preceding (2004–2025) Transportation Plan, to identify inequities in the existing transportation system and to understand how projects and programs considered for JOURNEY to 2030 can address the equity needs of the future.

How does the MPO provide for regional equity in the Boston region transportation system?

The regional equity process builds on previous environmental justice outreach and analysis and consultation with representatives of low-income and minority communities. As first steps in the process, the MPO developed its definition of environmental justice and began evaluating neighborhoods’ mobility and their transportation burdens using performance measures. Later, the MPO identified 17 “communities of concern” (see below) and evaluated access and mobility for those communities. Most recently, the MPO has continued its outreach to organizations serving communities of concern in the region and has participated in regional forums. It is working to ensure that environmental justice is incorporated into all of its transportation-planning efforts.

Communities of Concern

Communities of concern are specific neighborhoods within the Boston Region MPO area for which the MPO performs special outreach and analysis. The MPO has identified 17 communities of concern based on household income and minority population. They are shown in the map below.

The target communities include:

Allston/Brighton Cambridge Chelsea Chinatown Dorchester East Boston Framingham JP/Mission Hill Lynn

Mattapan Quincy Revere Roxbury Salem Somerville South Boston South End