What do data and broken sidewalks have to do with equity?
How data can help cities like Boston make smart, fair investments in public infrastructure.
What is sidewalk equity?
Human-scaled and humble, sidewalks are the basic transportation infrastructure that connect people to their communities. Equity in infrastructure is about providing people with what they need to participate in their community. We might assume that all city dwellers have access to the same quality of sidewalk. But, as we uncovered in Boston, too often they don’t.
Old strategy: constituent requests
Boston had a half-a-billion-dollars-worth of sidewalks to fix, but an annual budget of $11M for repairs. The City released the BOS:311 app in 2016, which made it easier to file complaints, but they couldn't respond to them all. With an unsustainable number of sidewalk repair requests coming in, Boston needed to know which complaints to prioritize.
Heat map of sidewalk repair requests through BOS:311 app
Actual sidewalk conditions in Boston
Evaluate asset conditions and location
To validate the data provided by the app, we worked with city engineers to visually inspect and map the actual condition of 1,600 miles of Boston’s sidewalks. We saw that, contrary to what the app reported, sidewalks in lower income areas were in significantly worse condition.
High Walk network map of Boston
Where do people walk the most?
We developed a high walk network by looking at trip generation modeling data and interviewing locals. The map shows the city’s most used sidewalks for reaching schools, parks, retail, transit, and recreation.
heat map of annual Income in Boston
Look at per capita income
To learn more about the smartphone app complaints, we cross-referenced them with available data on income and discovered that highest per capita income areas of the city produced the most complaints.
social vulnerability overlaid on high walk network
Where do people need the asset the most?
We created a Social Vulnerability Index with six metrics: low income, minority population, linguistically isolated, high school education or less, elderly or children, and people with disabilities. We overlaid social vulnerability data on the high walk network to produce this high priority target map.
Create target zones
By overlaying the high walk network, the social vulnerability index, and population density data, we identified target zones where the highest walked areas and the most socially vulnerable overlapped.
Now, Boston looks at all capital projects with equity in mind. The City incorporates data analysis to prioritize projects that advance equity and mobility in all its streets infrastructure spending.
Boston has also formed an Equity and Inclusion Cabinet that actively works to advance racial justice and social, economic, and health equity in the city.
Paving the way with equity
Ramandeep Josen:
Senior Asset Management Specialist
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By looking at sidewalks through the lens of equity, Ramandeep Josen, a Stantec asset management specialist, helped Boston Public Works reexamine its sidewalk data and repair practices to spend its dollars more wisely.
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Look at social vulnerability:
Look at usage:
The city needed a better way to prioritize repairs. It needed better data.
By checking the complaints against income and actual conditions, we saw there was little correlation between the data obtained via the app and where repairs were needed. In fact, areas with the most complaints and higher incomes often had good sidewalks.
Collect and layer different data
How could the city focus its repair budget in areas where sidewalk conditions were poor, but highly utilized by Bostonians? In response to the city’s inequitable sidewalk repairs, we helped the City of Boston create the StreetCaster program, an equity-driven investment strategy for infrastructure assets.
sidewalks repaired in 2018-19 relative to social vulnerability
Results
Contact
Regions where full reconstruction would be most beneficial
Read an in-depth interview with Ramandeep Josen in Stantec’s Design Quarterly.
Ramandeep Josen, asset management specialist, explains equity
Ramandeep Josen on the success of Boston’s new sidewalk repair program
In 2018, Boston completely replaced sidewalks in three of the target zones identified by StreetCaster. In 2019, the StreetCaster program justified a 20% increase in sidewalk repair funding and the replacement of 3.5 miles of sidewalks in socially vulnerable areas. Boston has invested $3-5M annually in targeted areas since.
Develop new strategy
Evaluate standard practice
Develop new strategy
Develop new strategy
Develop new strategy
Evaluate standard practice
Evaluate standard practice
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prioritize needs:
Evaluate standard practice
Evaluate standard practice
Evaluate standard practice
develop new strategy
develop new strategy
develop new strategy
To learn more about the smartphone app complaints, we cross-referenced them with available data on income and discovered that highest per capita income areas of the city produced the most complaints.
To validate the data provided by the app, we worked with city engineers to visually inspect and map the actual condition of 1,600 miles of Boston’s sidewalks. We saw that, contrary to what the app reported, sidewalks in lower income areas were in significantly worse condition.
develop new strategy
develop new strategy
develop new strategy
We developed a high walk network by looking at trip generation modeling data and interviewing locals. The map shows the city’s most used sidewalks for reaching schools, parks, retail, transit, and recreation.
We created a Social Vulnerability Index with six metrics: low income, minority population, linguistically isolated, high school education or less, elderly or children, and people with disabilities. We overlaid social vulnerability data on the high walk network to produce this high priority target map.
By overlaying the high walk network, the social vulnerability index, and population density data, we identified target zones where the highest walked areas and the most socially vulnerable overlapped.
In 2018, Boston completely replaced sidewalks in three of the target zones identified by StreetCaster. In 2019, the StreetCaster program justified a 20% increase in sidewalk repair funding and the replacement of 3.5 miles of sidewalks in socially vulnerable areas. Boston has invested $3-5M annually in targeted areas since.