In 2022, USDOT surveyed State Departments of Transportation (State DOTs) and Metropolitan Planning Organizations (MPOs) to better understand how these agencies consider equity in transportation planning and programming activities and how they conduct meaningful public involvement. USDOT has now released a summary of the survey results.
These survey results are informing USDOT’s implementation of the USDOT Equity Action Plan and helped USDOT establish a baseline for this Key Performance Indicator (KPI) from the FY 2022-26 USDOT Strategic Plan: All 50 State DOTs and the Top 100 MPOs adopt a quantitative equity screening component to their S/TIP development process by 2030.
Based on the analysis of survey responses, USDOT set the baseline for the KPI: 6 percent (3/52) of State DOTs and 20 percent (42/214) of Transportation Management Area (TMA)-Serving MPOs self-report that they have an equity screening component in their transportation planning and programming processes for all funding sources.
USDOT is developing resources and training opportunities to support State DOTs and MPOs to support transportation agencies in advancing equity. This includes developing a document describing how transportation agencies advance equity in the transportation planning process and conducting qualitative research on local decision-making practices and needs. USDOT also plans to continue surveying State DOTs and MPOs to help gauge progress and identify additional technical assistance needs in this area.
To read more highlights from the survey, read the full summary here.