Lessons Learned

Baltimore Region Environmental and Transportation Project

Prepared for:

The Environmental Protection Agency

Principal Investigator
Glenn Robinson, MM. MA.
Research Scientist, School of Engineering and Institute for Urban Research
Morgan State University

2009

All Rights Reserved

Filling The Gap. Define it! Prioritize it! Analyze it! Evaluate it! Document it!
 Lessons Learned The Baltimore Region Environmental Justice in Transportation Project

Table of Contents
Acknowledgments .............................................................................................................................................3
Introduction ........................................................................................................................................................4
The Project.......................................................................................................................................................4
Lessons Learned.............................................................................................................................................5
Methodology.......................................................................................................................................................7
Source of Information....................................................................................................................................7
Activities..........................................................................................................................................................8
Output and Products .........................................................................................................................................8
Public Participation Framework ..................................................................................................................9
Six Phase Drill down Process .......................................................................................................................9
Literature Review.........................................................................................................................................12
Community Guide .......................................................................................................................................12
Environmental Justice Toolkit....................................................................................................................12
Environmental Justice Toolkit Technical Documentation......................................................................12
Outcome ............................................................................................................................................................13
Results................................................................................................................................................................14
Impact on Management and Policy...............................................................................................................14
Next Steps .........................................................................................................................................................15
Bibliography .....................................................................................................................................................16
Figure

Figure 1: Lessons Learned ................................................................................................................................6

Figure 2 Product Output ...................................................................................................................................9

Figure 3 : Public Participation and Analysis Framework.....................................................................................10

Figure 4 Triage Intake Process .......................................................................................................................11

Figure 5: Measuring Equity ............................................................................................................................13

Figure 6: Potential Triage Committee Members.........................................................................................15

Table

Table 1: EJ Impact Analysis Tools Used In Baltimore...................................................................................5

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 Lessons Learned The Baltimore Region Environmental Justice in Transportation Project

Acknowledgments

Support the Baltimore Region Environmental Justice and Transportation Project is through a
Cooperative Agreement with Morgan State University. The research effort focused on the
concerns of local residents, transit dependant and community leaders in four Baltimore City
communities: Kirk Ave., Cherry Hill, Highway–to-Nowhere, and Lexington Market.

The project team acknowledges Victor McMahan, Environmental Protection Agency, Gloria
Shepard Federal Highway Administration, Tony Brown, Maryland Transit Administration
and Harvey Bloom, Baltimore Metropolitan Commission. As well we are grateful to the
community groups for their fine work, the support they gave to this research, as well as their
willingness to continue to share their experience with us and with other communities. We
wish them the best as they strive to participate in planning decisions to ensure accessible,
affordable and reliable transportation for people with disabilities, low incomes and others in
their communities.

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 Lessons Learned The Baltimore Region Environmental Justice in Transportation Project

Introduction
This lessons learned report summaries the research activities, accomplishments, outputs, outcomes
and next steps resulting from the development of the Environmental Justice and Transportation
Toolkit (EJTK), a web based toolkit (http://www.brejtp.org). This research continues to be ongoing
in that it serves as a vehicle for low income and minority communities’ taxpayers to address issues
and concerns, utilizing a framework for public participation that is both meaningful and responsive
to public input. That the BREJT Project achieved its objective of bringing together community
stakeholders to identify local concerns and potential remedies is demonstrated by emergence of
similarly formatted projects, such as, the “By Choice not By Chance Conference, Baltimore, April
2007”, “Public Health Risk and “Transportation conference, Baltimore July 2007” and “Baltimore
Cities Sustainability Plan, Baltimore, December 2008”.

In recognizing the success of BREJT we pay tribute to the contribution to EJ analysis of NCHRP 8-11,
NCHRP 532 and the Atlanta Risk and Burdens Study and acknowledge that the BREJT project sits
on their shoulders to make its contribution to improving the transportation decision making process
in support of regional and urban air quality, housing and transportation goals. As well the
development of the EJTK precedes emerging efforts in the academic community to address the
needs of underserved populations. This lessons learned report acknowledges the EJTK success in
encouraging other efforts that seek to advance the comparative evaluation of benefits, such as travel
time saved or accessibility to jobs from a regional transportation plan to the costs, amount of taxes
paid by each income group, and by looking at how the burdens, such as deteriorated air quality and
excessive noise are distributed across income, ethnic, and age groups. That said, this project
formulates a guide for repurposing and remixing traditional planning tools to address
contemporary EJ issues by using a real time application format to raise the level of understanding
about transportation related environmental evaluation.

The Project
The Baltimore Region Environmental Justice in Transportation project (BREJTP) is a community
driven bottom up collaborative research effort funded by U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
(EPA) and the Federal Highway Administration (FHA) and to develop a systematic process that
integrates environmental justice into the existing transportation decision making process. The
projects primary mission has been to encourage government and communities to better work
together to achieve environmentally sound solutions when addressing community identified
environmental problems. The need for this work is based the premise: 1) low income and minority
communities are still in need of effective channels for working within the “system”, 2) finding
solutions to community based EJ issues are central and urgent to the tenants of environmental
justice (EJ) in that they promote a better understanding of the decision making process, 3) the
resolution of EJ issues will involve an iterative analysis process that promotes collaboration rather
than agitation and 4) that equity impact analysis overlaps with and is dependent on a complexity
interrelated transportation, housing, public health and governance issues. The four case studies
conducted to achieve the projects objectives are briefly described below:

•Kirk case study focus evaluates the bus depot impact on a inner-city working class neighborhood.

•Cherry Hill case study evaluates public transit service changes, service reductions and poor service
delivery in a predominately African American and low-income community.

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 Lessons Learned The Baltimore Region Environmental Justice in Transportation Project

•Lexington Market case study analyzes the reaction to changes in transit service in an historic
shopping destination frequented by lower-income residents from surrounding communities in
central Baltimore.

•Highway to Nowhere case study evaluates concerns communities in the U.S. Route 40 Corridor.
Here the focus is on plans for a proposed Red Line and efforts to create transit-oriented
development around an existing commuter rail station (West Baltimore MARC) and the fear of
community disruption, destruction and dislocation which occurred in the partially abandoned I-170
which divided low income and minority West Baltimore Communities in the 1960s.

Lessons Learned
The tools shown in table 1 were used in four BREJT case studies ( Kirk Avenue, Cherry Hill,
Lexington Market and Highway to Nowhere). While not providing a legal proof for injustice the
several levels of analysis techniques serve as an EJ early warning system and demonstrate how
issues associated with environmental justice in transportation (EJT) issues can be systematically
evaluated by remixing traditional transportation planning impact measures and analytical tools.
The lessons learned listed in figure 1 are color coded in order of intensity to bring awareness to
issues that may not be in plain view of the public eye.

Table 1: EJ Impact Analysis Tools Used In Baltimore

Kirk Avenue Measures of Impact - Proximity of depot to homes, number of bus using the facility
that provide service to urban communities, public health risk factors associated with
noise and pollution and impact on median sales price of homes. Analytical
Procedures - buffer analysis, noise, transit operations, inventory public health risk
factor and comparisons of property values surrounding other bus facilities.

Cherry Hill Measure of Impact - Accessibility to employment center, mobility of transit

dependant population particularly seniors with disabilities. Analytical Procedures -
Transit accessibility and population demographic analysis.

Lexington Measures of Impact - Shoppers complained that they were forced to walk longer
Market distances to connect with buses, exposed to the weather and vehicle exhaust, traffic
at intersections, and street activity, generally while carrying packages and
shepherding small children. Analytical Procedures -Upon review of the situation,
initial concerns about serious congestion and health effects due to prolonged
exposure to vehicle activity - as framed in the community discussions–appeared less
severe than initially portrayed.

Highway To Measures of Impact – Evaluate the impact of commuter traffic and local congestion
Nowhere on the local areas. Analytical Procedures - ADT, select link, population
demographic, mobile source emissions evaluation, transit service and accessibility
analysis.

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 Lessons Learned The Baltimore Region Environmental Justice in Transportation Project

Figure 1: Lessons Learned

•In the case study communities we found a common desire for a better living environment, a more
responsive government, and the demise of blight and decay. We also discover that planning tools
are not comprehensively used by state, regional and local agencies employed to evaluate EJ issues
which suggest the need for the propagation of cross agency EJ enforceable service and planning
standards.

•The clear message that when individuals, neighborhoods and communities are motivated, well
organized, and better educated on transportation issues and improvement options a sense of
community ownership is created that can better influence project selection outcomes that reinforce
regional growth with healthier neighborhoods and stable communities

•That Environmental Justice Analysis informs the transportation planning process through the
introduction of a community based public participation framework that encourages low income
and minority communities to use performance measures and analytical tools

•That small area analysis when used by community organizers and planning professionals for a
common purpose of improving accessibility and mobility can result in a more equitable way of
assessing environmental justice and transportation issues at the local level has region wide benefits.

•That the low-income neighborhoods communities and the transportation maintenance facilities
that they attract may need better protections to ensure equitable treatment

•That busses traveling through communities and passing near schools increase noise, exhaust
pollution, decreases property value and contributes to a sense of neighborhood decline.

•That thirty years after the Highway to Now-where was constructed there is still a community
memory of the destruction, bitterness about what was done and distrust of the planning process.

•There is a strong sense in the public that low income and minority communities had been
marginalized by the decision-making process, and that commercial interests (such as a parking lot
adjacent to the Lexington Market) were given preference over there well being. Upon review of the
situation, initial concerns about serious congestion and health effects due to prolonged exposure to
vehicle activity remain inconclusive and require an indoor – outdoor air pollution analysis.

•Transportation investment such as light rail systems can be a blessing or a curse. Unequal access
to light rail has limited utility for business and community use in general if it is particularly
difficult for seniors, disabled populations and minority population to use.

•Low Income Residents who have a higher incidence of congested related illness and seniors who
have difficulty riding certain buses need better planning and operational safeguards.

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 Lessons Learned The Baltimore Region Environmental Justice in Transportation Project

Methodology
The overall methodology and approach to each case study involved a series of steps which
revolved around the cooperation and participation of community stakeholders and various
agencies. These steps included: a.) Problem definition (e.g. how widespread), b) Framing impacts
(e.g., critical variables and measures), c) Selection and application of analytical techniques (e.g.,
spatial level of analysis), and d) Resolution and feedback (e.g., evaluation of the tools that might be
employed, or have been employed). To accomplish the analysis of community driven issues,
BREJT was structured into three sequential phases:

 Phase I – Community Outreach: Designed to determine what the key issues and concerns
are to candidate subgroups, as well as identify methods for reaching the correct segments.

 Phase II – Develop Environmental Justice in Transportation Tool Kit: to develop an

environmental justice in transportation planning guide that supports interactive exchanges
between the MPO, community residents, and transportation agencies.

 Phase III – Dissemination of Findings and Possible New Tools: Encouraging the
propagation and dissemination of the improved procedures through academic curriculum,
technology transfer, and peer exchange. There is also the possibility that tools are not
identified in Phase II that will need to be developed in a future phase.
Building upon the findings in Phase I, Phase II of the project developed and organized the EJ &
Transportation Toolkit. In Phase III the most relevant accessibility and air quality related issues in
highly impacted and representative environmental justice communities in the Baltimore region
were disseminated on http://www.brejtp.org

Source of Information
 Existing data
 Follow up interviews or surveys.
 Focus groups designed to foster interaction among key stakeholders, and to allow these
interchanges to raise knowledge and perceptions about less obvious contributing concerns or about
potential solutions.
 Sketch planning methods, i.e., ad hoc techniques that provide a reasonable approximation of the
effect or result with the data and tools at hand, such as with a spreadsheet that has default values
for certain parameters and instructs the user on what data to supply.
 Regional travel forecasting model to estimate either how widespread the particular effect is across
the regional network, or if there are changes in travel mode, route, destination or other effects that
result in a geographic redistribution of benefits.
 Traffic simulation tools, particularly to evaluate the effects on traffic flow and congestion of
actions or events that influence travel levels in corridors or on local street networks.
 Geographic information system (GIS) tools to spatially locate and deal with the overlay of
transportation issues or improvements on particular population market segments.

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 Lessons Learned The Baltimore Region Environmental Justice in Transportation Project

Activities
In 2004, a series of 8 listening sessions and a community dialogue were held in communities
throughout the Baltimore region. These events offered the public a chance to share their concerns
about transportation in the region. There were over 130 participants.

The 2006, Phase II activities are listed below. In July of 2006, over 50 people gathered to kick off
Phase II of the project. At this event, participants chose the top three areas of concern in the
Baltimore region - access to quality transit service, air quality and congestion, and public
involvement in the planning process - and potential communities where these concerns exist. In
March of 2006 a second interim community workshop was held to report back to the community.

• 2 Community Workshops
• Over 30 Case Study Work Group Meetings
• 3 Oversight Committee Meetings
• Project Team Meeting with MTA, City and Regional Officials
• Quantitative Analysis
• Toolkit Dissemination

The result of the above community driven process was to develop the case studies below to explore
the concerns that were initially raised in the listening sessions. The following locations and issues
were selected:

 Kirk Avenue - Air pollution and Noise

 Cherry Hill – History of Transit Service Changes
 West Baltimore (Highway to Nowhere) – History of Public Participation
 Lexington Market – Pedestrian Access, Saftey and Convenience

In March 2007, after much work by community groups and research by the team, the case studies
were presented to attendees of a community workshop and on Saturday, October 25, 2008 BREJT
reported backed to the community fulfilling its promise of not researching and running. The event,
hosted by the BREJT team is an important step in sustaining this regional initiative. The highlight of
the workshop was the release of a Community Guide (PDF: 9,927 KB) intended to provide
information to communities on what EJ is and how to bring issues to the attention of local officials
and Metropolitan Planning Organizations, such as the Baltimore Regional Transportation Board.
Also of note was the presence and participation of so many community members that have
contributed to the understanding and advancement of EJ in the Baltimore region.

Output and Products

The toolkit has been made available electronically to provide easy access to planners as well as
citizens. Discussed below are the primary outputs from this research. They are: public participation
framework, drill down analysis process to tease out what happened, who was involved and what
the community wants, and a commitment from the MPO to maintain an open channel for
processing EJ issues. The projects primary products are described below the following illustration.

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 Lessons Learned The Baltimore Region Environmental Justice in Transportation Project

Figure 2 Product Output

Products
Community
Guidebook

Triage EJ Toolkit
Process

Technical Documentation
Case Studies that Address How Does Environmental
Justice Intersects with Transportation
Baltimore Region Environmental Justice in Transportation Project October 25, 2007

Public Participation Framework

The diagram in Figure 2 shows the recommended BREJT public participation framework and
analysis process. It serves as a guide for understanding, scoping, framing and confirming
community based issues to arrive at agreed upon solutions using a basket of traditional analysis
approaches and performance measures. The user is encouraged to practice the processes and
procedures illustrated below by descriptively documenting in a journal those community issues,
which are believed to have transportation and environmental justice impacts; then after defining the
problem, provide specific examples and surmise potential impacts.

Six Phase Drill down Process

1.) Each phase used in this approach is meant to be inclusive of both the EJ communities and the
transportation agency of responsibility.

Phase 1 - Community-Driven Intergovernmental Engagement and Cooperation

Phase 2 - Community Assessment and Citizen Input (Identify the Local Problems)
Phase 3 - Information Gathering and Analysis (Due Diligence)
Phase 4 - Developing a Community Profile (Analytical)
Phase 5 - Drill Down to Evaluate the EJT Issues (Evaluation)
Phase 6 - Being Heard (Communicating)

2.) In applying the above phases we developed a local EJ network of concerned low income and
minority residents and their advocates and a public participation framework model. The public
participation model (Figure 2) is one of three core environmental justice-planning components. The
other two components are performance measures and analytical tools. These components combine
to provide environmental justice evaluation methods and procedures that maybe be used to confirm
or negate issues identified in low-income communities. In particular the public participation
framework is designed as the starting point for vetting issues and developing analysis strategies for

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 Lessons Learned The Baltimore Region Environmental Justice in Transportation Project

interrogating environmental justice and transportation issues through a triage-type activity that has
multiple screening levels and explicit feedback loops.

3.) Develop a compendium of the technical memoranda prepared into EJ toolkit that specifically best
evaluate issues first at the unit and zonal level. Develop a better understanding of the breath of EJ
Issues and how to best Frame the Analysis, Measure impacts and challenges of major issues develop
a better understanding of analytic tools and considerations evaluating and by extension selecting
analytical tools and analysis procedures for evaluating EJ issues. Advance analytical procedures by
applying a store of performance measures and analytical procedures that are available for
Environmental Justice and Transportation decision making.

4.) As a result of the BREJT project’s listening sessions and community dialogue where over 120
individuals participated in an all-day workshop to share perceptions with elected officials, national
experts, and academic specialists. We fined tuned a process for measuring equity Figure 1).

Figure 3 : Public Participation and Analysis Framework

Step 1, as tends to be the case, issues and concerns related to social and environmental justice
originate within the community.

Step 2, when the community perceives that they are experiencing discrimination in the delivery of a
public good or service they will likely be in need of additional information and/or analysis. An
individual or community group may first take their concerns to the service provider, such as a
transit agency, local planning department, or metropolitan planning organization.

Step 3, when the evidence regarding discriminatory practices is not entirely clear, further evaluation
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 Lessons Learned The Baltimore Region Environmental Justice in Transportation Project

can be used to assess the concerns of the community.

Step 4, this secondary problem screening and analysis step uses a formal process and follows the
identification of issues at the community level. The next step in the process will be to communicate
concerns to organizational heads with influence.

Step 5, in all cases this will involve studying potential solutions or alternatives that have been
identified by an individual, neighborhood, advocacy group or a planning professional. In some
cases this may involve having solutions or alternatives already in hand. In other cases these
solutions may not be known yet but rather need further exploration. The communications step is
important because it dictates whether the ensuing process will be contentious or not. This point the
process is referred to as the Triage Process. Decisions will be made about how the concern or issue
will be treated, especially in relation to its urgency and extent. The intake process for step 5 is
illustrated below in Figure 4.

Step 6, d If it is determined that the concern should be addressed relatively soon, actions may
include toolkit analysis, mediation, or legal action as appropriate.

Step 7, otherwise, the standard MPO planning review process can be used.

Step 8 or a particular action or remedy could be arrived at by consensus.

Step 9, evaluation of each of these three paths should then occur to determine whether the outcomes
of the process are deemed acceptable.

In summary if the acceptability of an outcome remains in question, the EJ analysis framework

should lead back to the Triage Process (step 5) where it can be re-evaluated along with any new
information generated during steps 6. 7., or 8. Otherwise the process can continue on to the
Planning Board or other decision-making body (step 10).

Figure 4 Triage Intake Process


Triage
Committee

Mailbox
c/oMPO

Issue
assigned to
appropriate
Community receives agency
response and is ok
or comes back to
MPO

Agency reviews
issue and works
with community

Baltimore Region Environmental Justice in Transportation Project October 25, 2007

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 Lessons Learned The Baltimore Region Environmental Justice in Transportation Project

Literature Review
The document discusses the need for guidance is both aided and made uncertain by the growing
number of case studies and research reports on EJ. In the course of developing our proposal to
construct an EJT Toolkit under Phase II of the Baltimore Region Environmental Justice and
Transportation (BREJT) project, we have conducted a preliminary review of the literature to
establish whether our premise is valid. This paper summarizes our review of what we believe to be
the key studies and reports that have been produced to date on environmental justice in
transportation. In particular, we have reviewed EJ case studies that have been published by FHWA
or FTA, or that have been sponsored by these agencies and their documentation made available on
the respective websites.

Community Guide
This report demonstrates the sense of urgency for community-action by introducing to the reader
common symptoms of environment injustice, a sketch of the legal definition of Environmental
Justice, key components of EJT analysis approaches in the context a public participation framework
for addressing environmental justice and transportation issues.

Environmental Justice Toolkit

This EJ toolkit is a guide to assist metropolitan planning organizations (MPOs), communities, and
other stakeholders avoid, minimize, or mitigate the social, economic, or environmental
consequences of transportation projects and policies. It is designed to help determine the extent of
environmental justice and transportation (EJT) issues in low-income and minority communities (EJ
communities). This toolkit includes six chapters that provide a framework to better understand
environmental justice (EJ) issues related to transportation projects (existing and new) and methods
to define, analyze, evaluate and document such findings. Throughout the toolkit, examples of four
Baltimore communities are used to demonstrate how tools can work to identify and reduce EJT
concerns.

Environmental Justice Toolkit Technical Documentation

This report presents an evaluation of each case study and in doing so identifies, analyzes and
evaluates a mix of community identified Environmental Justice (EJ) issues at various levels of
geographical detail. The document is designed as a guide for determining EJ issues relevance and to
ultimately develop evaluative criteria that can be used in the transportation planning process. As a
part of the final report a summary of the analysis activities undertaken in relation to each case study
is provided. For each study there is presented a profile, beginning with a brief Description of the
setting and the concerns, followed by an inventory of the Investigations undertaken in support of
the concerns, and then a presentation of the Findings resulting from the analysis and review of the
key questions. In the final section each profile is summarized and followed by the conclusions and
recommendations resulting from the analysis.

The toolkit is a planning guide developed by using the lens of low-income and minority groups to
serve as a planning resource for community activist, transportation professionals, civil servants, and
public servants who have responsibility for spending and advocating for an equitable distribution of
federal funding. The strength of this guide lies in its intent to foster a better understanding of
Environmental Justice and Transportation particularly in low-income and minority communities by

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 Lessons Learned The Baltimore Region Environmental Justice in Transportation Project

providing a better understanding of core transportation planning process mechanisms.

Outcome
The EJ issues identified in the case studies as categorized below in Figure 5 serve as a guide for
conducting EJ impact analysis. They were developed using the enhanced community involvement
and technical analysis process described in the Toolkit (Figure 3). Community groups who are
using this guide are demonstrating an improved ability to measure and track environmental,
health and community well-being impacts and press of continued progress in the Baltimore region.

Figure 5: Measuring Equity

Community
Issues Community Driven Public Participation

Goal Objectives Performance Measures

Job Access Economic Vitality Encourage Work opportunities within 15, 30 and 45
and Employment minutes by car and transit door-to-door. Percent
Competitiveness Opportunities; Urban of transit-dependent riders who can access jobs
Communities with 45 minutes by fixed route of transit
Maintenance Safety and Security Stop the Use of Old Percent and characteristic of out-of-service buses
(Motorized and Equipment in Low coming into an area.
Non) Income Pedestrian/bicycle injuries & fatalities
Neighborhoods Vehicle Crashes, Age of Fleet
Increased Increase Access to Jobs Proximity to transit
Accessibility Accessibility and Level of Service
Mobility Options Accessibility to health care facilities
Accessibility to educational facilities
Reduce Air and Protect Clean Environment Air pollution concentrations; Incidence rates of
Noise Pollution Environment, Respiratory disorders, Number of Households
Conserve Energy exposed to noise. Asthma rates in communities
and Improve adjacent to large transportation facilities,
Quality of Life
Improved Enhance Access to shopping Number of fatalities
Transit Route Connectivity and and services Locations improved per million passenger miles
Structure Integration Across
Modes for People
and Freight
Need Manage and Advocate for project Condition of roads and streets
Assessment Preserve Existing funding to improve Condition of side walks
Transportation local conditions. Ratio of uncongested travel time between
System origins and destinations
Funding Equity Local Fairness in Transit Per Capita Transportation expenditures
Regional Funding Per Capita Operating Expenses
Statewide Number of fatalities
Identity of user who benefit
Locations improved per million passenger miles

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 Lessons Learned The Baltimore Region Environmental Justice in Transportation Project

Results
Because of the community focus, participation, and attention to replication, the Baltimore Region
Environmental Justice and Transportation (BREJT) project has developed a strong public
participation platform for analyzing environmental justice (EJ) issues that will help to identify
critical mobile source related air pollutants, reduce the impacts from transportation facilities and
improve transportation services to communities of concern in the Baltimore region.

1.) Phase I output, which included community listening sessions and a community workshop,
verified the need for community input into transportation decisions affecting the communities of
concern. The subsequent review of the literature and best practices verified the need for a practical
toolkit to effectively address community EJ concerns and transportation and air quality planning
requirements.

2.) The project identified service delivery distributional gaps and supported the need for the Phase
II EJT toolkit - systematic guidance and techniques to undertake a comprehensive EJ and
transportation program.

3.) The U.S. Department of Transportation has joined with EPA to support and expand Phase II of
the Baltimore project. More specifically, DOT’s Transportation Equity Research Program (TERP)
funding and technical assistance will be used to support the EJ case studies, toolkit development
and replication.

4.) As well, community groups and not-for-profit organizations have embraced the development of
the EJ toolkit to further advance the work pioneered by the:

 Atlanta Transportation Benefits and Burdens Study

 NCHRP Project 8-36(11): Technical Methods to Support Analyses of Environmental Justice
Issues
 NCHRP Report 532: Effective Methods for Environmental Justice Assessment

5.) Low income community groups in each case study are seeking accountability in the planning
process and are proactively engaging federal, state, regional and local planning requirements and
processes.

6.) State, regional and local planning agencies as a pretext for long and short range plans and
projects to improve system efficiencies put in place transportation, environmental and land use
concepts with more focus on environmental justice and underserved populations.

Impact on Management and Policy

During the course of this project in the Baltimore region there have been notable increases in the
efforts of state, regional and local agencies to comply with the requirements of Title VI. In doing so
they are reacting to the importance of actively reaching out to low-income and minority
communities to ask for their input and encourage their participation in the planning process. As an
active participant in the development of the toolkit, the Baltimore Metropolitan Planning ha been
conducting the activities listed below and they are working to sustain this work effort by implement
the BREJT recommended Triage committee, Figure 5.

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 Lessons Learned The Baltimore Region Environmental Justice in Transportation Project

 Updating community outreach mailing lists

 Advising transportation planners on outreach activities
 Holding regularly scheduled listening sessions and public hearings
 Reviewing the annual transportation planning work plan
 Reviewing the annual Transportation Improvement Program update

Figure 6: Potential Triage Committee Members

Evaluation of Environmental Justice Issues

Public
Health
Institution
Local State
Government DOT

Urban Triage
Academic Committee MPO
Institution

Business
Group Non - Profit

Community
Group

At the state, regional level and local level, this type of committee effort suggest that administrative
rules maybe required to ensure that agencies go beyond merely identifying low income and
minority communities but actively look for ways that are mitigate environmental justice problems.

Next Steps
The project will initiate a quarterly news letter, encourage the use of the BREJT to blog important EJ
issues, encourage the use and further development alternative public participation frameworks and
continue to demonstrate the utility of alternative analytical procedures that identifies underserved
population and promotes policies that create health urban environments. As well next steps will
address the following observations. Although the study effectively introduced case studies that
were informative of an overall transportation and environmental injustice relationships the link to
policy are missed. This research can be strengthened if general policy conclusions and key findings
can be made that could be relevant to broader policy initiative associated with issues identified in
each of the study area and elsewhere in the region. The economic impact aspect of transportation
systems (land and home values, business impacts, etc) are discussed but are not effectively
integrated in the toolkit. No effective measure or indicator is broadly discussed in this study. Some
of the economic indicators of the impact of transportation decisions on, say property values, could
be an indicator of economic stress and inequity are not well specified. We will also continue to
encourage MPO, transit agencies and local governments to adopt improved public participation
frameworks and apply analytical procedures differently for evaluating EJ issue by targeting low
income and minority communities through the replication of small area analysis. Continue to raise
the level of EJ awareness in low income and minority communities by testing the toolkit in
Pittsburg, Minneapolis, Detroit, Baltimore, Albany and Oakland.

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 Lessons Learned The Baltimore Region Environmental Justice in Transportation Project

Bibliography
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DOT Pub. No. FHWA-EP-01-010 (December 2000).
3) Capitol Region Council of Governments, “Environmental Justice & CRCOG’s Transportation Planning
Program”, Environmental Justice & Title VI Challenge Grant, Hartford, CT (December 2002).
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USDOT Office of Civil Rights Assessment of Environmental Justice and Public Involvement in the Atlanta
Metropolitan Area”, Phase I Report (April 2000).
5) Cambridge Systematics, Inc. Technical Methods to Support Analysis of Environmental Justice Issues, NCHRP
Project 8-36(11) (April 2002).
6) California Department of Transportation, Desk Guide, Environmental Justice in Transportation Planning and
Investments, Division of Transportation Planning, Office of Policy Analysis & Research (January 2003).
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University of California at Berkeley (2003)
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Transportation Research Board (2004)
8) Case Studies in Environmental Justice and Public Transit Title VI Reporting. Final Report, TCRP Project J-
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2004

Baltimore Region Environmental Justice and Transportation Project

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