DVRPC is committed to advancing equity in the Greater Philadelphia Region. As the region's Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO), part of our mission is to work toward a prosperous, innovative, equitable, resilient, and sustainable region that fosters greater opportunities for all.
Achieving this vision is a collective effort involving extensive collaboration, support, and resource mobilization across the region and beyond. At DVRPC, we advance equity through many different strategies and initiatives. By providing additional support and building capacity in underserved and under resourced communities, we constantly work to integrate equity into our programs, tools, and plans, ensuring our vision becomes a reality for everyone in the region.
Collaborative Plans
Trenton Bike Plan (2024): DVRPC partnered with the City of Trenton to create a citywide bike plan, called Our Streets: A Trenton Bike Plan for All. To gather feedback about proposed street design changes, the DVRPC project team conducted robust community engagement targeting residents representative of Trenton’s demographics as a majority-minority city. The Community Engagement Activities Summary for Our Streets: A Trenton Bike Plan for All memorandum summarizes lessons learned and takeaways from the engagement process, which can be applied by other public engagement professionals and urban planners when tailoring their own engagement plans.
Camden Health Element (2021): The Camden Health Element is a planning document that prioritizes health for all Camden residents as the city continues to grow and develop. With the Health Element, the City of Camden is embracing the opportunity to incorporate community health and well-being into the city’s Master Plan, and ultimately into the policies, programs, and spaces that make up the City of Camden. The Health Element describes the relationship between planning and public health, reviews social determinants of health and current health conditions, and proposes strategies to improve the environmental and social conditions for better health for all residents.
Reviving Vine (2018): This study evaluated the feasibility of a "road diet" or lane reconfiguration on Vine Street local roads in the City of Philadelphia to increase neighborhood connections and create a safer, more accessible multimodal streetscape. By improving safety and rebalancing roadway uses, the recommendations outlined in this report intend to empower residents and visitors to reclaim Vine Street as a safe, attractive, and community-oriented public space; pedestrian safety is the core concern. To gather public input, DVRPC hosted a public open house in partnership with the Philadelphia Chinatown Development Corporation (PCDC) and the City of Philadelphia at Holy Redeemer Chinese Catholic Church and School where attendees shared feedback and new ideas, and voted for their top five proposed improvements.
Research
Crashes in Communities of Concern (2018): This report is a study of the regional inequities in crash incidence, using a correlation analysis to determine which federally protected classes (“communities of concern”) are at the greatest risk of severe vehicle crashes in the Greater Philadelphia region. The study used DVRPC's Indicators of Potential Disadvantage (IPD) analysis tool and PA and NJ Department of Transportation crash data to identify which potentially disadvantaged populations are most exposed to severe vehicle crashes. Its main finding is that census tracts with above average rates of low-income, racial minority, ethnic minority, and disabled populations correlate with census tracts that have above average crash rates in the region.
Voices of Environmental Justice Communities: Shaping an Equitable Long-Range Plan (2023): DVRPC staff sought to engage members of Environmental Justice communities to understand their needs and perceptions of various transportation projects in preparation for an updated long-range plan and associated region-wide environmental justice (EJ) analysis. Staff hosted four focus groups in July and August of 2023 to discuss the impact of transportation projects affecting daily life for underserved groups. Participants were selected from a pool of applicants to convene a regionally representative sample of low-income and racial and ethnic minority populations. The focus group discussions underscored the urgent need for investment in environmental justice (EJ) communities, with a particular emphasis on transportation and recreational infrastructure.
Benefits and Burdens: Case Studies in Transportation Equity in the Philadelphia Region (2021): DVRPC commissioned students within the Temple University Master of Public Policy and Master of City and Regional Planning programs to conduct an equity analysis on projects in designated regions. The report includes the students' evaluation of eight case studies, a deep analysis of the equity impacts of multiple Philadelphia projects across six themes, and next steps for DVRPC to further enhance and leverage the framework to evaluate future projects. Students analyzed the following projects: the Blue Route (I-476), the Market-Frankford Line reconstruction, the Vine Street Expressway (I-676), NJ-29, PATCO, Direct Connection, US 422, and the Schuylkill River Trail.
Mobility Choices: Transportation Conversations in Three Black and Latino Communities in the Greater Philadelphia Region (2022): The objective of this project was to better understand how people living in communities of color in the Greater Philadelphia region choose their mode of transportation, and what physical, social, or structural forces shape those choices. This was done by surveying in three communities: North Trenton, New Jersey; Mantua and East Parkside neighborhoods in Philadelphia; and Norristown, Pennsylvania. The surveys and discussions covered topics such as safety, accessibility, reliability, cleanliness, and affordability of different transportation options that play a role in how people choose modes of transportation.
Title VI Implementation Plan (2024): As the Metropolitan Planning Organization of the Greater Philadelphia region and recipient of federal funding, DVRPC is responsible for maintaining a Title VI Implementation Program to guide, define, and demonstrate the implementation of nondiscrimination in every aspect of DVRPC’s activities, including the Unified Planning Work Program (UPWP), Transportation Improvement Program (TIP), and Long-Range Plan (LRP).
Initiatives
Equity Through Access (ETA): Equity Through Access seeks to improve economic and social opportunity in the region by expanding access to essential services for vulnerable populations - those who are more critically impacted by barriers and gaps in infrastructure, service coordination, and policies. Vulnerable populations are individuals who are low income, seniors, physically disabled, mentally disabled, and more likely to be transit dependent than the general population. ETA has engaged local governments, human services agencies, nonprofits, transportation providers, advocates, and low income, senior, and disabled users to identify unmet mobility needs and service gaps, recommend new or different kinds of transportation access solutions, and enable more people to access social and economic mobility.
Transportation and Community Development Initiative (TCDI): The Transportation and Community Development Initiative (TCDI) is a grant opportunity that funds local planning initiatives that also advance the goals of the region’s long-range plan, Connections 2050: Plan for Greater Philadelphia. TCDI focuses on linking land use, transportation, and economic development planning that: builds municipal capacity;
enhances the transportation network; fosters greater regional resilience; improves overall quality of life;
promotes and encourages the use of transit, bike, and pedestrian transportation modes; and protects the environment.
Public Participation Task Force: At DVRPC, we believe that planning must be done with the public rather than for the public. We know that our decisions affect the future of all those who live and work in our region; we are committed to understanding your diverse needs and concerns, and to learn from your experiences. Get involved in the planning process by signing up for our mailing lists, attending public meetings, sending comments on DVRPC products or Board Actions, or joining our Public Participation Task Force.
Clean Energy to Communities: Southeast PA Clean Energy Center: our Office of Sustainable Energy received funding from the Department of Energy through the Clean Energy to Communities (C2C) program to scale clean energy programs throughout the southeastern PA region. Through this in-depth partnership with the National Laboratories and other regional planning partners, we will develop a Clean Energy Implementation Plan and establish a Southeastern PA Clean Energy Center. The Center will be an interconnected ecosystem of partners that will provide coordinated planning, project development, and implementation support to end users like residents, organizations, and local governments. The goal of this Center is to identify, research and develop blueprints for large-scale clean energy programs with a focus on residential buildings and local government operations.
Programs
Supporting Communities: This program's purpose is to better connect the transportation infrastructure needs of disadvantaged communities with available funding for planning and implementation by: listening to community residents' and leaders' preferences and needs for transportation improvements in collaboration with trusted local partners; developing planning or capital projects based on what we hear from residents and local leaders, and informed by relevant transportation data (such as asset condition or crash history) as appropriate; following through on those projects by providing assistance to deliver them through available funding programs; adapting what we learn through these targeted efforts with specific communities, to benefit other communities across our full portfolio of work. Supporting Communities is an ongoing, evolving, collaborate effort to offer help to communities in different ways across the planning and project development pipeline.
Transportation Alternative Set-Aside (TASA): The TA Set-Aside Program funds community based “non traditional” projects designed to strengthen the cultural, aesthetic, and environmental aspects of our multimodal transportation system. These 'transportation alternative' projects can include building pedestrian and bicycle facilities, improving access to public transportation, designing safe routes to school, preserving historic transportation structures, providing environmental mitigation, and creating trail projects that serve a transportation purpose while promoting safety and mobility. This funding program is also used for transportation projects that achieve compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act.
DVRPC alone cannot achieve a fully equitable region.
It's important that everyone has access to the knowledge, resources, and support that help build communities and regions where residents of all incomes, races and ethnicities participate in and benefit from decisions that shape the places where they live. Public participation and involvement is an integral part of the planning process, and helps to ensure that diverse viewpoints and lived experiences are included in decision-making. Consistent and meaningful conversations among planners and the public create strong relationships and lead to planning decisions that have larger benefits and smaller burdens, especially for historically disadvantaged communities.
DVRPC has many opportunities for anyone in the region to get involved in the planning process.
As a member of the public
Current Outreach Opportunities
DVRPC’s Public Participation Task Force
Learn more about Equitable Development.
As a planner
General Resources
Grant application support materials
DVRPC Planning Assistance Center
Public Involvement and Engagement Resources
Engaging underserved communities
City of Philadelphia Equitable Community Engagement Toolkit
Promising Practices for Meaningful Public Involvement in Transportation Decision-Making | DOT