A Data-Driven Analysis of Transportation Infrastructure Equity in Utah

Details

• Creators:
  Burbidge, Shaunna K. ; Gee, Collin ; Abel, Emma
• Corporate Creators:
  Avenue Consultants, Inc
• Corporate Contributors:
  Utah. Dept. of Transportation. Research Division ; United States. Department of Transportation. Federal Highway Administration
• Subject/TRT Terms:
  Culture (Social Sciences) Demographics Development Equity (Justice) Infrastructure Pedestrians Societies Traffic Transportation
• Publication/ Report Number:
  UT- 24.11
• Resource Type:
  Tech Report
• Geographical Coverage:
  Utah ; United States
• Edition:
  Final Report Jan 2023 to June 2024
• Corporate Publisher:
  Utah. Dept. of Transportation. Research Division
• Abstract:
  Transportation investments vary across geographic areas. Currently, there is no mechanism in place to ensure that those investments are equitable. This project examined transportation investments and infrastructure quality (e.g., pavement conditions, presence of bike lanes, transit access, speed limits, etc.) in urban and rural Utah and correlated existing conditions with community demographic characteristics (e.g., mean income, people of color, ethnic makeup, people with disabilities, primary household language, household type, etc.) to identify areas where additional infrastructure investment may be needed to support vulnerable populations. Several datasets were used to create a database which could be utilized to identify areas that could benefit from additional investment. Datasets were compiled from a variety of sources, including the UDOT Data Portal, contact with UDOT personnel, the Utah Geospatial Resource Center (UGRC), and datasets generated from a previous Vulnerable Road Users (VRU) project, and national Social-Vulnerability Index (SVI) Data. The analysis found that highly vulnerable population areas exhibit differences in infrastructure quality and investment. Factors including historical redlining, fewer kindergarten-through-12th-grade (K-12) schools (but more higher-education institutions), and more signalized intersections are more likely to exist within more vulnerable demographic areas. Vulnerable tracts also typically have more roadway lanes present on roads (as well as more basic stripe bike lanes) and experience lower pavement quality than other areas.
• Format:
  PDF
• Funding:
  23-9186
• Collection(s):
  US Transportation Collection
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:41c059f848c92ebab3dc46c507232054cf7064f1a27388935037c18da39b07b06967d62112028ba682724d85acfff1459baf5048b06192ab7ecfa6643566e343
• Download URL:
  https://rosap.ntl.bts.gov/view/dot/77217/dot_77217_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 6.17 MB ]