Community Benefits and Equity Practices

Community Benefits of Climate Action

It’s not just about greenhouse gases. Though emissions reduction tends to be the primary focus of climate action, there are many other benefits of climate action that are equally important. The strategies and actions identified in this Climate Roadmap will improve racial equity, air quality, safety, public health, economic vitality and travel experiences. Indeed, generating these community benefits are motivating factors in their own right, and many align with city policies such as Transit-First and Vision Zero. Community benefits are most likely to be realized when actions are implemented together, alongside other important policies and programs, and at the appropriate scale.

Racial Equity

Targeted improvements to the overall transportation system have the potential to advance racial equity that repairs past harms rather than perpetuating them, especially when the community is part of the planning process.

Air Quality

Improvements in air quality will result from fewer vehicle miles traveled, especially those vehicles with internal combustion engines that emit tailpipe pollutants.

Safety

Less driving will also lead to fewer collisions, injuries and deaths on our streets. Feeling safer on foot, on bikes or rolling encourages more active means of getting around the city.

Public Health

Taking transit, walking and biking lead to better public health outcomes like reduced morbidity and mortality from improved air quality, increased physical activity and improved mental health. Public health improvements have a social as well as economic benefit, saving individuals and society millions of dollars.

Economic Vitality

Economic vitality will increase with fewer hours spent sitting in traffic, which can be expected with more trips – particularly commute trips – shifting to active transportation and public transit. Many climate actions can also result in direct personal savings from the ability to switch away from personal car ownership and can improve local commercial corridors.

Travel Experience

A more reliable and connected transit system is more enjoyable to ride, and alongside more walking and biking trips, moving from one part of San Francisco to another can simply become more efficient, safer, and more fun.

Equity Practices

Any actions taken to reduce the climate crisis must advance racial and social equity, not undermine it. For each strategy, staff developed equity practices that should be integrated to reduce burdens and barriers and increase opportunities and benefits for American Indian, Black, Latinx, and other communities who have experienced oppression, including low-income communities and people with disabilities. The strategy-specific equity practices are partially listed with each strategy and in more detail in the appendix1. Additional details on equity practices will be developed in Phase 2 of the SFMTA Racial Equity Action Plan.

Strategies and Actions

Equity Practices

More racially equitable outcomes and increased community benefits

1See Appendix A: Racially Equitable Processes and Expanded List of Equity Practices for details.