Author: miller.81@osu.edu

Constructing Valid Geospatial Tools for Environmental Justice: New Report

Decades of research have shown that the most disadvantaged communities exist at the intersection of high levels of hazard exposure, racial and ethnic marginalization, and poverty. Geospatial environmental justice (EJ) tools, such as the White House Council on Environmental Quality-developed Climate and Economic Justice Screening Tool (CEJST), are designed to integrate different kinds of health, social, environmental, and economic data to identify disadvantaged communities and to aid policy and investment decisions that address the pervasive, persistent, and largely unaddressed problems associated with environmental disparities in the United States.  Constructing Valid Geospatial Tools for Environmental Justice, a new report from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, offers recommendations for developing environmental justice tools that reflect the experiences of the communities they measure.

I am very proud to co-chair this consensus study committee and grateful to work with an excellent study committee and the first-rate National Academies staff on a report that I sincerely hope leads to environmental justice for all in the US.

Ghost Neighborhoods and Bronzeville Universe collaboration

The Center for Urban and Regional Analysis and Artfluential co-hosted a community visioning workshop at the African American and African Studies Community Extension Center on Wednesday, July 24th. The event brought together two initiatives: CURA’s Ghost Neighborhoods project and Artfluential’s Bronzeville Universe branding campaign.

Read more about this exciting new collaboration

 

Evaluating accessibility benefits and ridership of bike-transit integration through a social equity lens

New paper. Liu, L., Lee, J. and Miller, H.J. (2024) “Evaluating accessibility benefits and ridership of bike-transit integration through a social equity lens,” Computers, Environment and Urban Systems, 112, 102150.

Abstract. Integration of bike usage and transit services is an effective way to enhance accessibility for both transportation modes. Using high-resolution transit data, the study analyzes bike-transit multimodal accessibility and usage patterns through a social equity lens. Two types of accessibility increment are studied: bicycle increment to public transit – the benefits of using bicycle for transit riders, and transit increment to cycling – the merits of using transit for cyclists. Results show that bike-transit integration benefits both public transit riders and cyclists, expanding their accessible opportunities by up to 70% and enabling longer trips for cyclists while providing continuous benefits for public transit users. Meanwhile, better infrastructure significantly improves multimodal accessibility, resulting in more increment for public transit riders but less increment for cyclists. The paper also shows the spatiotemporal patterns of multimodal ridership. The research highlights disparities in bike-transit activities for Black communities due to inadequate local biking infrastructure. Black people majority neighborhoods enjoy less increment compared to other neighborhoods for shorter and very long trips; they also have disproportionately lower multimodal ridership despite much higher transit ridership and better transit access. Enhancing biking infrastructure in these areas can improve physical accessibility increment and promote social equity. The paper provides practical insights for transit planning, emphasizing the importance of connecting bike lanes and creating safer streets for cycling.