There's no justice in transit! : transit equity, land use, and air quality in Boston

Abstract

As a result of air pollution created by the Central Artery/Tunnel Project (CA/T), aka "the Big Dig," transit and other air quality mitigation projects were incorporated into the State Implementation Plan (SIP). The SIP is mandated by the Clean Air Act (CAA) for areas that do not attain or need to maintain air quality above federally mandated levels. Originally, the transit commitments that were made to mitigate the effects of the Big Dig were located :in urban and suburban areas. However, while an urban/suburban balance was arguably intended in the SIP, over the years, the urban SIP commitments have been largely neglected. As a result, transit justice in Greater Boston has been negatively effected. If the SIP is truly meant to improve air quality, its focus should be on making cities more viable and healthy places to live and on curtailing sprawling suburban land use. Furthermore, SIP requirements should change to influence a more equitable distribution of transit investment in Boston and other metropolitan areas.