Click here to read the Final Transportation Equity Study
Estudio de Equidad en el Transporte
TRPA completed the first ever Transportation Equity Study for the Lake Tahoe Region in 2023. The Equity Study and TRPA’s environmental justice initiatives seek to identify the needs, concerns, and vulnerabilities of all those living, working, and visiting the Tahoe Basin and to ensure transportation programs, policies, and activities do not disproportionately and adversely affect identified priority communities. Equity-centered transportation policies seek to equitably distribute transportation benefits and burdens for Tahoe residents, visitors, and commuters with a focus on improving mobility for priority communities:
- Persons without private transportation (zero vehicle households): Lack of a personal vehicle is a significant factor for transit need. In 2022, 80 percent of Tahoe transit riders did not have access to a personal vehicle.
- Seniors (individuals 65 years and older): Elderly individuals may choose not to drive or can no longer drive due to age.
- Persons living below the poverty line: Purchasing and maintaining a personal vehicle might be difficult for households with limited income.
- Individuals with a disability: Disability status may impact an individual’s ability to live independently, including driving a personal vehicle.
- Youth (individuals under 18 years old): Most people under 18 do not drive and even those with driver’s licenses often do not have the means to purchase or maintain a personal vehicle.
- BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, and People of Color): People of color are more likely to live in densely populated areas, are less likely to have access to a car, and are more likely to bike, walk, and use public transportation to commute to work.
The Equity Study was awarded the 2023 Rosa Parks Diversity Leadership Award from Women’s Transportation Seminar International.
View the project website to learn more.