ABSTRACT
Transportation is vital. The Supreme Court has recognized the right to travel as one of the fundamental rights guaranteed by the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution. Surface transportation policies at the local, regional, state, and national levels have a direct impact on urban land-use and development patterns. Transportation mobility is a hallmark of full membership in American society. Nationwide, community organizations are also conscious of the impact that transportation investments have on metropolitan growth patterns, particularly transportation's relationship to sprawl. In a broader sense, transportation equity is also about environmental justice, metropolitan equity, and the just distribution of resources. Civil rights and transportation have long been linked in the United States, beginning with the involuntary transportation of slaves to the American colonies. Environmental justice is an effective framework for showing how low-income and minority communities face the brunt of negative impacts from transportation investment. The chapter also presents an overview on the key concepts discussed in this book.
