The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights

Building Toward Equitable Transportation

Lexer Quamie

In June 2012, Congress finally reauthorized the federal surface transportation law. The previous law, which technically expired nearly three years earlier, had been extended temporarily eight times while Congress struggled to reach agreement. The final legislation, Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21st Century Act (MAP-21), provides roughly $118 billion over 27 months.

The law provides funding for research into the disparities of transportation access. It funds grants to enhance the mobility of seniors and people with disabilities. And it maintains resources for on-the-job training. But advocates were dismayed that the law lacks important provisions that would have staved off transit fare increases and service cuts in communities facing high unemployment. Advocates also believe the law could have done more to provide disadvantaged workers with pathways to employment in the transportation sector. The law also fails to help state and local decision-makers choose transportation projects that would bring benefits to distressed communities and low-income neighborhoods. 

Nonetheless, there can be no question that the civil and human rights coalition’s efforts to raise awareness about the need for greater transportation equity have laid a foundation for progress when MAP-21 is up for reauthorization in 2014.
The civil and human rights coalition will continue to educate policymakers and the public about the need for the next reauthorization to contain adequate protections from transit service cuts, provide disadvantaged workers with robust career pathways into employment in the transportation sector, ensure the involvement of disadvantaged communities in local decisionmaking, and guard against lapses in civil rights safeguards.

Lexer Quamie is counsel for The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights and The Leadership Conference Education Fund and specializes in criminal justice and workers’ rights issues.

Previous: Disability Rights Convention Rejected by U.S. Senate | Civil RIghts Monitor March 2013 | Next: Congress, Obama Continue Fierce Debates over “Fiscal Cliff”