The Temple University Master of Public Policy and Master of City and Regional Planning programs worked together to conduct a study assessing the impact of major transportation projects on minority and low-income communities in Southeastern Pennsylvania and Southern New Jersey at the invitation of the Delaware Valley Regional Planning Commission (DVRPC).

The DVRPC partnered with ULI Philadelphia and the Curtis Infrastructure Initiative to advise the graduate students from Temple as they worked to measure impacts of previous transit investments and provide suggestions to obtain more equitable outcomes in transportation planning in the future.

The study examined eight projects: the Vine Street Expressway, the Blue Route, the reconstruction of the Market-Frankford Line, Route 29, the Port Authority Transit Corporation Transit Line, the Direct Connection in New Jersey, Route 422, and the Schuylkill Valley Trail. The study group found that although these projects generally benefitted the regional overall, they often came at the cost of disproportionate burdens on minority communities.

The full report, including recommended steps to mitigate the burdens of past projects and create better outcomes in the future presented to DVRPC, can be read here and the a panel discussion with the students can be found here.