Transportation equity updates
Work activity: Ongoing
Location: Statewide
Project description: Consistent with MDOT’s updated mission, transportation equity maximizes and leverages resources, partnerships and investments to connect people and communities with economic and social opportunities Moreover, a focus on transportation equity expands on the principles of environmental justice (EJ) and can ensure that everyone can benefit from the state transportation system. Chief amongst these benefits is equitable access to essential destinations, such as jobs, health care, education and childcare, housing, and healthy food. MDOT is developing methods of measuring access in partnership with peer agencies, national research efforts, and local partners to mitigate or eliminate disproportionate burdens on different groups and across geographic areas. Specifically, populations with transportation disadvantages (statewide) include:
- Households without vehicles; approximately 7 percent1
- People over 64; approximately 19 percent2
- People with disabilities; approximately 14 percent3
- Linguistic isolation (limited English proficiency); approximately 34 percent speak English less than “very well”1
- Single-parent households; approximately 25 percent1
How MDOT prioritizes which burdens to address to ensure transportation equity will shift over time with feedback from the public and other key parties. Detailed information and progress on environmental justice and transportation equity efforts are available on MDOT's Title VI page.
1 American Community Survey Five-Year Estimates, Michigan (2018-2022)
2 U.S. Census Bureau Population and Housing Unit Estimates, Michigan (2022)
3 American Community Survey Supplemental Estimates, Michigan (2022)
