Data Driven Equity Standards

Academic lead: Antonio Páez - McMaster University
Partner lead: Michael Hain - City of Toronto

Canada lacks standards or goals for the equitable provision of transportation infrastructure, unlike other countries such as the United States and South Korea. Transportation planners thus receive little formal guidance or training on how to evaluate the equity impacts of their proposed plans. At the same time, data that can help us ensure equity in planning has never been more available, from real time bus crowding information to continuous traffic camera feeds. 

The Data Driven Standards working group will create guidelines for transportation planning using state-of-the-art data and analysis tools. Drawing on the national survey, researchers from this team will test relationships between neighbourhood transport provision and residents’ wellbeing, participation in activities, and socio-economic outcomes. These models will enable our multi-sectoral team to shape guidelines for transportation equity that can be applied across the country. The models will also feed into decision support tools allowing anyone to use our guidelines to evaluate and advocate for local transportation projects and plans.

To register for the upcoming workshop, please click HERE.