2023-10-26_Zephyr Equity Learning Session_Q&A.xlsx

	A	B	C	D	E
1	Question Report
2	Topic	Zephyr Learning Session: Equity Analysis in Travel Demand Modeling
3	Question Details
4	#	Question	Who asked	Answer	Who answered
5	1	One of the elements of equity analysis is to look at impacts on different races. How do we take race into the equation when we look into the horizon years in models? Do we simply assume the future racial composition to be similar to the baseline?	Louisa Leung	[Answered during the webinar @00:40:18. ]	Willem Klumpenhouwer, Alex Karner, Ziying Ouyang
6	2	How do you forecast where minority and low-income populations will live in future years?	Lisa Zorn	Good question. The PopSym has controls at TAZ level for a few variables to generate synthetic population.	Ziying Ouyang
7	3	To Sandag, are you planning to add a forecasting model on where different racial/ethnical groups will reside (gentrification/housing costs), or immigration/emigration trends which would likely change the comparative analysis of equity you propose?	Amanda Stathopoulos	I will let our land use modelers know and see if that is something they are considering.	Ziying Ouyang
8	4	For SANDAG's example, is the difference Build minus No Build or No Build minus Build?	Mark Moran	The difference is using build minus no build.	Ziying Ouyang
9	5	To SANDAG, the 3 minority groups for emmission analysis, are they mutually exclusive?	Harun Rashid	They are not mutually exclusive, as some minority might be also low-income, or senior	Ziying Ouyang
10	6	For SANDAG's example, are the person- and hoursehold- level analysis conducted based on the ABM skims AND synthetic population?	Anonymous Attendee	yes.	Ziying Ouyang
11	7	What’s your thought about the following 2 ways of assessing equity: equity of outcomes versus equity of investments?	Joe Castiglione	[Answered during the webinar @00:46:06. ]	Alex Karner, Willem Klumpenhouwer
12	8	What was the book mentioned by Willem? Data by Peter Schriver?	Mark Moran	Bad Data by Peter Schryvers (https://bootcamp.uxdesign.cc/book-review-bad-data-5dc8c75c732f)	Willem Klumpenhouwer
13	9	"Does transit access calculation consider park and ride as well? If yes, how is it calculated?" Question for Willem Klumpenhouwer	Aichong Sun	In this measure (StatCan Spatial Access Measures) I don't think P&R is considered, but there are generalized cost approaches and technologies out there that we can use. [Also answered during the webinar @00:49:00. ]	Willem Klumpenhouwer, Alex Karner
14	10	To Alex/Willem: The focus on transportation poverty (as a threshold of satisfying needs) reminds me of Amartya Sen’s framing of poverty as both an absolue and relative concepts, and that we need to focus on both aspects (reaching a minimum level, and leveling the field). Do you think this transfers to transportation? Should absolute levels come before concern with distribution?	Amanda Stathopoulos	[Answered during the webinar @00:52:15. ]	Alex Karner
15	11	To SANDAG. Are the numbers calculated from synthesized population of ABM? In what level are minoroties and low income population are controlled? (TAZ or MAZ)? Does land use model of SANDAG forecast the future year distribution of minorities and low income population?	Xiao Li	The population numbers are from syththetic population and the controls are at TAZ level. Land use model includes PopSim, which forecast future year distribution of minorities and low-income population.	Ziying Ouyang
16	12	UT-Austin: have you also considered the land use/economic development factors in accessibility analysis? If a particular part of the region does not have adequate opportunity destinations, only transportation facilities will not solve the problem...a prime example is the east-west devide in Washington D.C. area	Harun Rashid	This is the main reason to use accessibility/access--if no opportunities are nearby, access scores will not improve/only improve marginally.	Alex Karner
17	13	What's the relationship meant to be between transport poverty and transport equity as it relates to the decision-making process? For example, is a goal to address transport poverty first then equity once poverty is addressed?	Jason Soria	Both should be considered simultaneously but current agency analyses almost never address poverty--they only operationalize inequities.	Alex Karner
18	14	Question for SANDAG: Regarding PM2.5 calculations for smaller equity areas, how do you get around having a robust regional model and providing information for smaller areas for which the model may not have been validated (i.e., low-income areas that may only contain minor arterials)? Is this info always shown in aggregate (e.g., for all low income areas combined, rather than for any individual low-income area)? Thank you!	Dusan Vuksan	The link based approach includes all whole modeling network and it is for the region wide. We could analyze at a subarea with low-income.	Ziying Ouyang
19	14	Question for SANDAG: Regarding PM2.5 calculations for smaller equity areas, how do you get around having a robust regional model and providing information for smaller areas for which the model may not have been validated (i.e., low-income areas that may only contain minor arterials)? Is this info always shown in aggregate (e.g., for all low income areas combined, rather than for any individual low-income area)? Thank you!	Dusan Vuksan	For the transport poverty, it's semi-arbitrary (and admittedly self-referential). This follows a common way of measuring income poverty but calibrating that amount (and sticking with a value) is ongoing work. Looking at transit/car access differences can also be a good approach.	Willem Klumpenhouwer
20	15	How does the granularity of the land use / demographic data change the results? TAZs, Tracts, Blockgroups all can reveal/hide different distributions.	James Bunch	It's a balance - demographic data is usually at the block-group level so that is the basis we typically use - but access can be calculated at any level. I guess I'll quote G.F. Newell and suggest to only use measures that are as precise as the practical conclusions to which they lead	Willem Klumpenhouwer
21	16	To SANDAG: Just have a question regarding "Tier 1" employment centers and the 50k threshold. What's the level of geography for this threshold? Is it TAZ, MGRA, Census Tract?	Steve Hossack	Hi Steve, glad you are in the webinar. It is based on aggregation of MGRA. The Tier 1 EC for downtown link: https://www.sandag.org/-/media/SANDAG/Documents/PDF/data-and-research/socioeconomics/estimates-and-forecasts/employment-centers-in-san-diego-downtown-2019-05-01.pdf	Ziying Ouyang
22	17	How was the threshold of 25% access to jobs chosen? Was there some analysis of the transportation needs of the population, and 25% was a threshold where needs weren't typically being met?	Dennis Farmer	the threshold is 20%, it is based on the so-called “four-fifths” or “80/20” rule because it is only presumed that a case for disparate impact or disproportionate effect is created when there is a substantially different rate of impact for a particular group. The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), Department of Labor, and Department of Justice uses the four-fifths (or 80%) rule when enforcing disparate impact prohibitions in Title VI of the Civil Rights Act.	Ziying Ouyang
23	17	How was the threshold of 25% access to jobs chosen? Was there some analysis of the transportation needs of the population, and 25% was a threshold where needs weren't typically being met?	Dennis Farmer	How have you balanced the model outputs w/information from the public…meaningful public involvement? What if the data doesn’t align w/what people say?	Jocelyn Jones
24	17	How was the threshold of 25% access to jobs chosen? Was there some analysis of the transportation needs of the population, and 25% was a threshold where needs weren't typically being met?	Dennis Farmer	For the transport poverty, it's semi-arbitrary (and admittedly self-referential). This follows a common way of measuring income poverty but calibrating that amount (and sticking with a value) is ongoing work. Looking at transit/car access differences can also be a good approach.	Willem Klumpenhouwer
25	18	How have you balanced the model outputs w/information from the public…meaningful public involvement? What if the data doesn’t align w/what people say?	Jocelyn Jones	One example from previous work is to incoporate feedback from populations on deciding which demographics to measure in the first place. That kind of decision is a values-based one, and public input is very valuable for those decisions.	Willem Klumpenhouwer
26	19	How do transportation planners typically define equity? Is health equity included in this approach?	Jen Farris	[Answered during the webinar @00:54:41. ]	Ziying Ouyang, Alex Karner
27	20	Provocation ;) - I'm not 100% sure that access is a measure of outcome...?	Amy Hofstra	Neither am I ;) But it's not not a measure of outcome.	Willem Klumpenhouwer
28	20	Provocation ;) - I'm not 100% sure that access is a measure of outcome...?	Amy Hofstra	It is a measure of supply	Amy Hofstra
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