Cities must include community members in planning, hire more diverse staff, and stop displacing residents to combat generations of structural racism in our car-dependent society that has long favored suburban commuters in single-family homes over poorer communities riven by highways and pollution, a new report argues.

Smart Growth America’s report, “The State of Transportation and Health Equity,” identifies six systemic challenges and 40 strategies for ensuring safe and free mobility for communities regardless of color or income…

Advocates and planners can address the six key challenges to transportation equity — poor communication, lack of funding, low-quality of leadership, lagging local participation, siloing of experts, and displacement of residents — by “putting people first” in the conversation. The report recommends framing solutions around issues such as freedom and fairness and demonstrating the benefits of street safety with small, sometimes temporary, projects, what some call “tactical urbanism.”
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