Transportation Equity in Action

Tools to support more equitable infrastructure development at the City of Toronto

By Matthew Davis, City of Toronto

Equity issues have been a part of transportation infrastructure planning and development for decades. Much of the transportation infrastructure that we use today was planned and built with little to no consideration of short and long-term equity impacts on the affected communities and environment. Political influence further exacerbated the lack of equity in transportation infrastructure, as funding for projects repeatedly went to areas with the most vocal and well-connected residents with access to levers of government. Over time, the combination of these factors resulted in a systemic void of equity considerations in financial investment, project planning and prioritization, and–ultimately–delivery of transportation infrastructure projects. In many jurisdictions, this confluence of factors contributed to social inequities among various communities with Indigenous, low-income, racialized, and new immigrant persons being negatively impacted at a disproportionate scale.

There has been a recent awakening of sorts regarding equity in transportation infrastructure. Some may argue this awakening was sparked by the events following the death of George Floyd in the United States, while others feel that equity has always been an issue worth addressing in the transportation arena. In either case, the term “transportation equity” has become a buzzword in the field of transportation planning and engineering as of late. Many have struggled to define it, as transportation equity can mean different things to different people depending

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Figure 1. Transportation Equity Lens Tool: Equity Categories and Groups

on the context where it is being considered. One common thread defining transportation equity involves the provision of safe, accessible, and affordable opportunities to access transportation and mobility for all while employing a fair distribution of resources to achieve this goal.

With all of this in mind, the City of Toronto’s Transportation Services Division has developed a number of tools to address issues of transportation equity at all levels of infrastructure development from the system level down to individual projects.

Capital Program Prioritization Tool

In 2020, Transportation Services began developing a Capital Program Prioritization Tool to guide future decisions on capital investments. Evaluation criteria were used to provide a risk-based assessment of capital programs, identify their potential impacts, and develop an annual budget and program prioritization scheme that reflects the values and achieves the strategic objectives of the division. The evaluation criteria included Health & Safety, Legislative Compliance, Reputation, Sustainability, Economic Development, and Equity.

Transportation Equity Lens Tool

In 2020, Transportation Services started the development of the Transportation Equity Lens Tool to help identify and remove transportation barriers faced by equity-seeking groups through equitable planning and capital programming practices. The Transportation Equity Lens Tool considers numerous equity-deserving groups and categories, shown in Figure 1.

Transportation Equity Lens Tool in action

2021 Cycling Network Plan Report

Approved in 2016 as a 10 Year Cycling Network Plan, the City of Toronto updated the plan in 2021 following citywide stakeholder engagement. As part of this update, the Transportation Equity Lens Tool was used to help prioritize elements of the Cycling Network Plan that local governments can implement to improve road safety outcomes.

See the Transportation Equity Lens Tool in action in Attachment6(PDF, 829 KB) of the report presented to Toronto City Council. Learn more about the Toronto Cycling Network Plan here.

Photo: Sam Javanrouh\flickr

The key value proposition of this tool is its capacity to initiate critical thinking of projects and programs in the ways they may introduce or remove and address potential barriers to transportation mobility and access for City residents. Through the tool, a better staff-level understanding of program impacts on equity deserving communities is encouraged, and staff empathy with the experience of public end users is increased. The combined use of the Capital Program Prioritization Tool and the Transportation Equity Lens tool provides information used to inform investment decisions and prioritize projects in areas of the city with the greatest need while improving the overall transportation network.

An excellent example of the tool in action is available from the Cycling Network Plan Update report approved by Toronto City Council in December 2021. See the highlight box above for more information.

Equity Baselining

The City of Toronto’s Transportation Services Division sought to measure progress in its efforts involving transportation equity. To achieve this, the Division initiated an equity baselining exercise for each of its capital infrastructure programs, starting with the Local Roads & Major Roads state of good repair program. Spending on the program for the last ten years available was reviewed against outcomes realized in communities identified as Neighbourhood Improvement Areas (prioritized by the City to address demonstrated needs in enhancement of physical surroundings, economic opportunities, healthy lives, social development and civic participation in decisionmaking) as well as all other neighbourhoods. The main metrics used for this exercise were rehabilitation rate per square meter and pavement quality, and it was found that the rehabilitation rate for Neighbourhood Improvement Areas was almost identical, on average, to the rate for all other areas, as shown in Figure 2.

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Figure 2: Road Rehabilitation Rates between NIAs and Non-NIAs by Area

A review of the average pavement quality index for all City roads revealed that the benefits associated with the relatively equal rehabilitation rates for neighbourhoods were not being suitably translated in terms of road conditions, as pavement quality was found to be lower for streets within Neighbourhood Improvement Areas compared to roads in all other areas.

Using this information, the Division will look towards prioritizing streets in Neighbourhood Improvement Areas to ensure equitable pavement quality across the City and measure progress towards that goal. While the measure of pavement quality may appear to be somewhat inconsequential, it has significant influence on transportation initiatives such as cycle lanes, bus lanes, and others deliverable through paint and post style implementation, as these interventions are not feasible to deliver on poor quality asphalt road surfaces. Through equity baselining, the City is ensuring that roadways in Neighbourhood Improvement Areas are not ignored when considering paint and post interventions because of poor pavement quality. Work is underway on equity baselining exercises for the City’s Vision Zero program. This article summarizes some of the tools in use by the City of Toronto to amplify the importance of transportation equity as a principal input for making decisions regarding transportation infrastructure. Other agencies across Canada have similar efforts underway as equity continues to gain traction as a critical consideration in the planning, prioritization, and programming of transportation infrastructure to ensure equitable access to mobility options for all.

Matthew Davis, P.Eng., PE, PTOE, FITE is the Manager of the Capital Projects & Program Unit in Transportation Services at the City of Toronto. His team is responsible for the planning, programming and prioritization of transportation capital infrastructure projects, managing capital and operating budgets, and providing strategic oversight to ensure infrastructure investment decisions are centered in equity and support the City’s development of a safe, efficient, equitable, and sustainable transportation network for all.