Agenda - 11-01-2022; 5-c - 2022 Orange County Transit Plan Update

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• EQ transit equity. In other words, to achieve equality, there must be an imbalance. Acknowledging historical and existing transit People and communities with the greatest need must be provided inequality shines a light on aspects of transit with relatively more resources, to allow them to catch up. Equity planning and policy that have been in the shadows embraces this imbalance by acknowledging that a disproportionate for far too long, causing harm to particular groups allocation of resources is a necessary condition for change. and communities. A Brief History of Transit Inequality Moving Towards Transit Equity Like transit inequity, transit inequality derives from policy and Transit equity is a solutions-driven model of change. planning decisions that have adversely impacted "vulnerable" and Few people would disagree with this statement. "'marginalized" communities. Until the 1990s, people identifying However, it is not the historical reality for many as Black or African American, were the largest minority population vulnerable populations. Access to transit has not group,comprising 12%of the national population.This group has also been "fair;" "equal;" or '"equitable"" for marginalized been the most disparately impacted in every area of social wellbeing and the vulnerable individuals and communities in (health,education,employment),including transit.These disparities America. Accessible, affordable transportation is were starkly evident in the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on a critical resource. Shifting this historic dynamic minority populations as compared to the white population. National requires focusing less on cost as a measure of surveys indicate that Black residents, who make up an average system success and placing greater emphasis on of around 13% in most communities, represented over 50% of access and a more equitable distribution of the COVID-19 cases and nearly 58% of COVID-related deaths. In North benefits of transit investments. Carolina, Black residents represent only 22% of the population and 38% of the COVID-19 deaths (2020).As Black residents also tend to While many residents in Orange County rely depend more on public transportation than whites, their access to primarily upon automobiles as their primary means health care and employment opportunities has also been adversely of transport, there are still many residents who impacted by the pandemic. depend upon public transportation for access to employment, health care, shopping, and more. The Marginalized groups have also disproportionately suffered adverse Orange County Transit Plan Update attempts to impacts generated by transportation policies and planning favoring identify the needs of vulnerable groups in Orange majority-white communities. This preferential treatment of County, acknowledge that needs have historically white communities has historically tied transportation access to not been addressed, and identify equitable transit opportunities to economic and political power. One notable example solutions moving people and place closerto the goal is the construction of highways through thriving Black communities of transit equality. under the guise of urban renewal. In many cases, highway corridors routes were selected based on the cost of land; areas selected were typically the cheapest or locations where political resistance was weakest. In practice, this meant that urban highways cut through low income and minority communities more often than not. The legacy of these projects is still felt today. Neighborhoods remain disinvested and disconnected from the rest of the community, contributing to transportation access and mobility challenges in marginalized communities that most need quality transit service. G p Just before his assassination on April 4,1968,Dr. Martin Luther King, -. Jr. astutely summarized the important role transportation plays in /i3 Dia' hindering the social mobility of Black Americans: i �JJ►�` "Urban transit systems in most American cities... have become a genuine civil rights issue — and a valid one — because the layout of rapid-transit systems determines the accessibility of jobs to the Black community. If transportation systems in American cities The Montgomery bus boycott was organized by local could be laid out so as to provide an opportunity for poor people to ministers,including Martin Luther King,Jr. ultimately get meaningful employment, then they could begin to move into the helping end segregation on public transit.Image Credit: mainstream of American life." PBS