Equity

Promoting opportunity for all community members regardless of race, income, or background

Inequity occurs when the location of someone’s home, their race or ethnicity, or socioeconomic status determines their economic success, health, and overall quality of life. These patterns are strongly related to race, and often can be traced to racially discriminatory policies and practices such as redlining, exclusionary zoning, school segregation, and predatory lending, spawning decades of disinvestment. Residents also experience health disparities depending on where they live and work. 

One of the guiding principles of ON TO 2050, the region’s long-range plan, is promoting inclusive growth, which can disrupt these patterns and help the region become stronger and more successful. The plan emphasizes investing in communities that historically have been left behind. This involves connecting residents with the skills and opportunities they need to thrive in the regional economy of the future. The plan also recommends taking deliberate steps to dismantle systems of exclusion to build a more inclusive region.

Disparities in race and income mean that parts of our region lack access to jobs, healthcare, education, transportation, public safety, and other elements of a thriving community. As an agency, CMAP will prioritize equity thought all of its work, to be more equitable and inclusive of communities that are traditionally excluded from the planning process. Planning decisions and investments must prioritize equity and improving the lives of residents of all backgrounds, in every part of our region.

Community Alliance for Regional Equity

The Community Alliance for Regional Equity (CARE) builds partnerships between CMAP and community-based organizations. It’s part of CMAP’s multiyear investment to make engagement more equitable and inclusive for communities that are traditionally excluded from the planning process. A group of community organizations are selected each year to work with CMAP on projects related to transportation and safety. Each organization receives a $10,000 honorarium for their time and expertise.

Equitable and inclusive engagement

Decisions affecting communities and residents should be informed by meaningful collaboration and public participation that involves all ages, genders, incomes, races, ethnicities, cultures, languages, religious beliefs, sexual orientations, and disability statuses. CMAP’s Public participation plan outlines the methods and priorities that inform our community engagement.

Equity in transportation fees, fines, and fares

Our roads and transit systems connect residents to jobs, education, and services, yet there are significant transportation inequities for residents with low income, communities of color, and people with disabilities. CMAP’s Improving equity in transportation fees, fines, and fares report shows that households with low income are disproportionately impacted and recommends strategies to improve equity and mobility in our regional transportation system.

Flood equity

Prioritizing communities that face disproportionate flood impacts is crucial and can help ensure that residents have access to the resources they need to thrive. CMAP’s new guide, Integrating Equity into Flood Resilience Investments, shows engineers, planners, and decision makers why investments must be made equitably, outlines key considerations for integrating equity, and highlights successful examples. CMAP developed this guide with support from community-based organizations that provided their expertise on public health, economic and workforce development, housing, and environmental justice — grounding this work in the needs of the communities they represent.

Plan of Action for Regional Transit

Public transit is a literal pathway to opportunity that millions of residents rely on to access jobs, education, healthcare, and other services. The transit system is facing a $730 budget shortfall in 2026, and the negative effects of this potential loss would be felt most by the groups least able to afford it — seniors, residents in households with low income, people who are unable to drive due to a disability, and residents from communities of color. CMAP and regional leaders created the Plan of Action for Regional Transit, which outlines solutions for leveraging the transportation network to promote resiliency and inclusive growth.