PETE BUTTIGIEG WANTS TO MAKE TRANSIT ACCESSIBLE — AND PAY FOR IT, TOO

THE SECRETARY OF TRANSPORTATION TALKS MOBILITY JUSTICE, MISSING SIDEWALKS AND ELEVATORS, AND BILLIONS IN FEDERAL GRANTS CURRENTLY UP FOR GRABS

WRIGHT: A buckled, broken, or missing sidewalk on the way to the most accessible commuter train ever could still make that transit off limits for someone who uses mobility aids. 

How is the DOT working to create a seamless accessible transportation network?

BUTTIGIEG: This is where it really comes down to the influence we can have with state and local leaders, and it's considerable what we fund under our control. 

We are doing as much in partnership with states and cities that we can. We advance accessibility through our grant making. 

When we do something like Safe Streets and Roads for All, which is a new program funding [projects in many] communities, we truly are envisioning safer roads and streets for people with disabilities. 

Creating safe wheelchair accessibility at all intersections is a good example of what they ought to be thinking about when they design for pedestrians.

PETE BUTTIGIEG WANTS TO MAKE TRANSIT ACCESSIBLE — AND PAY FOR IT, TOO

THE SECRETARY OF TRANSPORTATION TALKS MOBILITY JUSTICE, MISSING SIDEWALKS AND ELEVATORS, AND BILLIONS IN FEDERAL GRANTS CURRENTLY UP FOR GRABS

BUTTIGIEG: 

The biggest obstacle has been funding. 

Many transit agency leaders who very sincerely want to do the right thing have been forced into impossible decisions with their backs against the wall financially because of that lack of funding. 

Frankly, the $1.75 billion won't be enough on its own to resolve [the lack of wheelchair access] at every station, but it's a major investment in progress.

It's going to mean that many more commuters are able to benefit and, again, be able to contribute where maybe they couldn't have before.

It even changes where people have the option to live. 

If you [have accessible rail stations connecting your home to work and necessities], it changes all of your possibilities in life.

PETE BUTTIGIEG WANTS TO MAKE TRANSIT ACCESSIBLE — AND PAY FOR IT, TOO

THE SECRETARY OF TRANSPORTATION TALKS MOBILITY JUSTICE, MISSING SIDEWALKS AND ELEVATORS, AND BILLIONS IN FEDERAL GRANTS CURRENTLY UP FOR GRABS

BUTTIGIEG: 

New York is a good example. 

It should be a transit planner's dream in the sense that even people with access to a luxury vehicle might choose to take the subway because it's just more efficient and convenient, right? So it could be the gold standard — but not everybody has access.

There are two layers of what we've got to do. 

The first is the threshold condition of just making sure that everybody has access. 

We need to also pay attention to whether it's convenient and comfortable for everyone. 

And that's another level that we need to build towards.

HYPOCRISY EXPOSED

BEACH WHEELCHAIR ACCESS DENIED

City of Miami Beach and Miami-Dade County officials will not allow wheelchair accessible mats over the sand anywhere near the water.

Environmental impact is the excuse. 

But when millions are to be made from boat and food shows, giant buildings pollute the sand.

The MobiMat that provides access over the sand for people with disabilities — ends at the sand dunes.

This is up to 100 feet from the water’s edge and where families picnic.

They are segregated from the public beach they have every right to.

Construction for fat cat VIP tents introduces heavy trucks and a litany of environmental hazards that hurt avian and marine life.

But a little wheelchair access is the enemy?

PETE BUTTIGIEG WANTS TO MAKE TRANSIT ACCESSIBLE — AND PAY FOR IT, TOO

THE SECRETARY OF TRANSPORTATION TALKS MOBILITY JUSTICE, MISSING SIDEWALKS AND ELEVATORS, AND BILLIONS IN FEDERAL GRANTS CURRENTLY UP FOR GRABS

WRIGHT: Let's talk about legacy public transit systems. 

Take New York City, for example. All buses are wheelchair accessible, but only a fraction of subway lines are, while elevators at stations, which are already rare, are often broken.

BUTTIGIEG: Largely thanks to the leadership of Senator Tammy Duckworth, an important provision in the infrastructure package is $1.75 billion dollars for making transit stations and rail stations accessible.

PETE BUTTIGIEG WANTS TO MAKE TRANSIT ACCESSIBLE — AND PAY FOR IT, TOO

THE SECRETARY OF TRANSPORTATION TALKS MOBILITY JUSTICE, MISSING SIDEWALKS AND ELEVATORS, AND BILLIONS IN FEDERAL GRANTS CURRENTLY UP FOR GRABS

BUTTIGIEG: 

That's not always true for Americans with disabilities — and that's particularly something we see for wheelchair users.

For the great number of different Americans experiencing disabilities, if we fail to provide the right kind of transportation connectivity, that means not only that they miss out on opportunity, but that our country and our communities miss out on what they have to contribute.

One thing that I saw early and often in my time as mayor was the importance of setting up our community so that everybody could contribute and participate.

That could be a question of whether a sidewalk was designed so that it was navigable by wheelchair, or whether you had the right kind of paratransit services to get people to work.

PETE BUTTIGIEG WANTS TO MAKE TRANSIT ACCESSIBLE — AND PAY FOR IT, TOO

THE SECRETARY OF TRANSPORTATION TALKS MOBILITY JUSTICE, MISSING SIDEWALKS AND ELEVATORS, AND BILLIONS IN FEDERAL GRANTS CURRENTLY UP FOR GRABS

WRIGHT: Accessible travel options can be the difference between making it to employment, health care, and daily needs — or not. 

What are your overall thoughts on the USDOT's role in removing barriers and creating inclusion for people with disabilities?

BUTTIGIEG: One of the most basic things you need in order to thrive is the ability to get to where you need to be. 

That is everything from educational opportunity to health care to a job. 

There are gaps for everybody in our transportation system, but most people can more or less assume that there's at least one way to get to where they need to go.

PETE BUTTIGIEG WANTS TO MAKE TRANSIT ACCESSIBLE — AND PAY FOR IT, TOO

THE SECRETARY OF TRANSPORTATION TALKS MOBILITY JUSTICE, MISSING SIDEWALKS AND ELEVATORS, AND BILLIONS IN FEDERAL GRANTS CURRENTLY UP FOR GRABS

In 2020, $27 million from the USDOT was dedicated to four projects that will incorporate innovative business partnerships, technologies, and practices to promote independent mobility.

Steve Wright, Planning's expert on universal design and planning for people with disabilities, recently caught up with U.S. Department of Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg to learn more about what the USDOT is doing to create more accessible transportation networks. 

The following interview has been edited for length and clarity.

PETE BUTTIGIEG WANTS TO MAKE TRANSIT ACCESSIBLE — AND PAY FOR IT, TOO

THE SECRETARY OF TRANSPORTATION TALKS MOBILITY JUSTICE, MISSING SIDEWALKS AND ELEVATORS, AND BILLIONS IN FEDERAL GRANTS CURRENTLY UP FOR GRABS

According to New York City's Metropolitan Transportation Authority, only 24 percent of New York City's train stations are considered accessible by the Metropolitan Transportation Authority — and that's not an isolated statistic. 

With these legacy train systems concentrated in dense urban areas like New York and Chicago, millions of people across the country lack accessible public transportation.

As secretary, Pete Buttigieg has led the U.S. Department of Transportation with powerful positive language about mobility justice and designing for people with disabilities.

Recently, that's also been backed by bipartisan funding. 

The $1.75 billion All Stations Accessibility (ASAP) was created by the Infrastructure and Investment Jobs Act in 2020 to increase transportation access for people with disabilities by retrofitting transit stations with elevators and better accessibility.

PETE BUTTIGIEG WANTS TO MAKE TRANSIT ACCESSIBLE — AND PAY FOR IT, TOO

THE SECRETARY OF TRANSPORTATION TALKS MOBILITY JUSTICE, MISSING SIDEWALKS AND ELEVATORS, AND BILLIONS IN FEDERAL GRANTS CURRENTLY UP FOR GRABS

Planners know that mobility impacts our jobs, education, recreation, healthcare, shopping — virtually everything we do. 

But for many, transportation creates barriers to those opportunities, not access.

One in four U.S. adults have a disability that affects major life activities, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports. 

Yet transportation networks, from missing stretches of sidewalk to legacy train systems built long before the 1990 Americans with Disabilities Act, often lack features like elevators that are necessary for people who use wheelchairs, crutches, and other mobility aids.

NO VALENTINE'S WEEK LOVE FOR PEDESTRIANS

FROM FLORIDA DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

This is how little we think of human beings.

Tiny sidewalk space, barely wheelchair width and choked with utility vault tripping hazards forced against dangerous traffic.

Giant pole farther from traffic — to protect out of control drivers from hitting it. 
The barely navigable pedestrian space is on Miami Beach at Collins Avenue and 26 Street.

It has a walk score of 87 — meaning thousands of pedestrians are endangered by this automobile first design.

INEQUITY REVEALED

HOMEOWNERSHIP AND HEALTHY LIVING GAPS ONCE IDENTIFIED BY ANECDOTAL EVIDENCE PROVEN THROUGH FINE-GRADE DATA

Ben McAdams, who served as Mayor of Salt Lake County and in the U.S. House of Representatives, said the housing crisis could be greatly addressed if a combination of affordable and market rate housing were developed on city sites.

He said revenue from other development – where the city would continue to own the land and get a share of the profit plus enjoy revenue from land now on the tax rolls – could fund social services and infrastructure that also could be targeted for closing the wealth and homeownership gap found in cities throughout America.

“Understanding data that can help communities see what they have and how they can use it to solve some of their greatest challenges,” he said.

INEQUITY REVEALED

HOMEOWNERSHIP AND HEALTHY LIVING GAPS ONCE IDENTIFIED BY ANECDOTAL EVIDENCE PROVEN THROUGH FINE-GRADE DATA

Ben McAdams, who served as Mayor of Salt Lake County and in the U.S. House of Representatives, a Senior Fellow at the Sorenson Impact Center, housed at the David Eccles School of Business at the University of Utah. 

The center, with partners, is Putting Assets to Work Incubator to identify, map, and plan uses for underutilized government owned assets in various cities.

While mayor, McAdams worked with Urban3 to identify $13 billion in underutilized assets, such as city parking lots and obsolete properties, that could be worth up to $45 billion if co-developed with the private sector and Salt Lake City. 

INEQUITY REVEALED

HOMEOWNERSHIP AND HEALTHY LIVING GAPS ONCE IDENTIFIED BY ANECDOTAL EVIDENCE PROVEN THROUGH FINE-GRADE DATA

To address the inequity, South Bend revamped its zoning ordinance to allow more Missing Middle -- include duplexes, triplexes, and fourplexes, courtyard apartments, bungalow courts, townhouses, multiplexes, and live/work units – housing that tends to be more affordable and better at serving diverse communities. 

South Bend won, in 2021, the 15th annual Richard H. Driehaus Award from the Form-Based Codes Institute at Smart Growth America for its new code aimed at addressing housing and investment inequity.

To further repair areas damaged by redlining and lack of private investment dating back to the 1960s, South Bend will grant $20,000 to cover the cost of connecting a property to the main sewer line – for homes built in urban infill areas.

Another ordinance prohibits extending new sewer lines into the County, to prevent subsidizing sprawl development into the fringe.

INEQUITY REVEALED

HOMEOWNERSHIP AND HEALTHY LIVING GAPS ONCE IDENTIFIED BY ANECDOTAL EVIDENCE PROVEN THROUGH FINE-GRADE DATA

“The output of the data showed suburban development doesn’t pay – it’s a potential revenue looser,” Tim Corcoran, city of South Bend, said. 

“Our urban areas were generating tremendously more value than suburban areas.

“Redlining devalued some urban areas, but the numbers prove that even some of our poorer neighborhoods were generating more value per acre than some of the wealthy areas.”

Corcoran said too many cities believe sprawled growth will help rather than deplete their budgets.

Cities create inequity by spending less on core areas viewed as decaying or too poor to spur investment.

INEQUITY REVEALED

HOMEOWNERSHIP AND HEALTHY LIVING GAPS ONCE IDENTIFIED BY ANECDOTAL EVIDENCE PROVEN THROUGH FINE-GRADE DATA

Tim Corcoran is the Director of Planning & Community Resources in the Department of Community Investment for the City of South Bend, IN.

And yes, for the record, he was hired by former mayor/presidential candidate turned U.S. Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg.

South Bend hired Urban3 to explore the disparity that happens when cities spend heavily on sprawl-based development rather than focusing on urban infill and supporting the more valuable existing and potential development in the urban core.

INEQUITY REVEALED

HOMEOWNERSHIP AND HEALTHY LIVING GAPS ONCE IDENTIFIED BY ANECDOTAL EVIDENCE PROVEN THROUGH FINE-GRADE DATA

Steve O’Connor, MBA’s Senior Vice President for Affordable Housing Initiatives, said data proves out vast inequity and data will be used to produce quantitative and qualitative measures of Convergence Columbus’ success.

 

“Part of what we’re trying to do is raise awareness around tools in the marketplace now -- programs for lenders to advance affordiblity,” he said.

Think of it like college scholarships that go unused.

There are down payment assistance and other programs that consumers aren’t aware of, that even some real estate pros aren’t aware of.”

WHY WE LOVE EMPLOYEES WITH DISABILITIES AND YOU SHOULD TOO

 IN HONOR OF VALENTINE’S DAY, 

THOUGHTS ON THE OUTSTANDING ASSETS OF PWDs

I love this St. Valentine-themed blog by Global Disability Inclusion.

It features engaging, entertaining and compelling writing about the outstanding assets that people with disabilities bring to the workplace.

I love collaborating on messaging with Meg O’Connell.

Her entire blog, sharing human resources expertise and more, is at:

https://www.globaldisabilityinclusion.com/post/why-we-love-employees-with-disabilities-and-you-should-too

INEQUITY REVEALED

HOMEOWNERSHIP AND HEALTHY LIVING GAPS ONCE IDENTIFIED BY ANECDOTAL EVIDENCE PROVEN THROUGH FINE-GRADE DATA

The Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) represents more than 2,200 member companies and is the national association representing all facets of the real estate finance MBA’s Home for All Pledge represents the “industry's long-term commitment on a sustained and holistic approach to address racial inequities in housing.”

The effort to ensure fair, equitable and responsible lending and affordable rental housing for minorities includes place-based Convergence programs. Converge started in Memphis in 2020 and added Columbus in 2021.

 “These initiatives are about getting direct stakeholder input into the design and solutions.

These are pilots, we are experimenting with place-based solutions that come from the community. 

We know what’s been tried hasn’t worked well enough.

There’s a 30-point gap in home ownership between white and black/Hispanic households,” Steve O’Connor, MBA’s Senior Vice President for Affordable Housing Initiatives, said of Convergence’s role in narrowing that gap.

INEQUITY REVEALED

HOMEOWNERSHIP AND HEALTHY LIVING GAPS ONCE IDENTIFIED BY ANECDOTAL EVIDENCE PROVEN THROUGH FINE-GRADE DATA

Starting in 2019, the federal government began sharing mortgage data used to measure how well applicants manage their debt and how much of the property’s overall value is being financed. Those are two of the biggest factors lenders use before making a home loan. 

The Markup used the data to show continuing inequity even a half century after The Fair Housing Act of 1968 made it illegal to deny someone housing based on race or other protected categories.

“We found 89 metropolitan areas, spanning every region of the country, where lenders were more likely to deny people of color conventional mortgages than White people with similar financial characteristics,” The Markup reported, when it analyzed local data along with national numbers. 

“Of the biggest metropolitan areas, Chicago, had one of the widest disparities: Black applicants there were 150 percent more likely to be denied than White applicants.”

Despite exhaustive reporting backed by independent expert data analysts, much of the lending industry has disputed The Markup’s findings.

INEQUITY REVEALED

HOMEOWNERSHIP AND HEALTHY LIVING GAPS ONCE IDENTIFIED BY ANECDOTAL EVIDENCE PROVEN THROUGH FINE-GRADE DATA

The Fair Housing Act of 1968 made it illegal to deny someone housing based on race or other protected categories. 

Despite the law, The Markup found, people of color continue to be denied mortgages at higher rates than their white counterparts.

“We found that nationwide, Black applicants are nearly twice as likely to be denied conventional mortgages as similarly qualified White applicants,” the report stated.

“Latino, Asian/Pacific Islander, and Native American applicants are also more likely to be denied mortgages at higher rates than White ones, even when they have the same financial characteristics.”

INEQUITY REVEALED

HOMEOWNERSHIP AND HEALTHY LIVING GAPS ONCE IDENTIFIED BY ANECDOTAL EVIDENCE PROVEN THROUGH FINE-GRADE DATA 

“All of those things add up over the course of a person’s lifetime and give us this massive wealth inequality,” Crislip, now Executive Director at The Richmond Forum, told the Mercury.

The Mercury underscored inequality by sharing U.S. Census Bureau stats that non-Hispanic White households had a median wealth of more than $139,000. 

“That compared with less than $13,000 for Black households and $20,000 for Hispanic households. 

A key factor, the report said, is that most non-Hispanic White households owned their homes,” the Mercury stated.

The Markup is a nonprofit newsroom of quantitative journalists that pursue meaningful, data-driven investigations.

In 2021, the team researched racial disparities in federal mortgage data.

INEQUITY REVEALED

HOMEOWNERSHIP AND HEALTHY LIVING GAPS ONCE IDENTIFIED BY ANECDOTAL EVIDENCE PROVEN THROUGH FINE-GRADE DATA

The Virginia Mercury, an independent, nonprofit online news organization, covered the generational negatives impacts that African American families are subject to because of inequity in lending.

The Mercury reported: “Because homeownership is central to creating wealth, the racial disparities in homeownership represent `the bedrock of wealth inequality in America and in Richmond,’ said Heather Mullins Crislip, then president of HOME, which provides classes and counseling for prospective homebuyers.”

The 2020 Mercury report shared painfully unjust data-proven facts shared by Crislip, noting  African Americans:

• Are far less likely than Whites to ever own a home.

• Buy their first home on average nine years later in life than Whites (and thus enjoy less appreciation in value).

• Are more likely to buy a home in a racially segregated area that won’t appreciate as much.

• Often pay more interest or other costs for their home loan.

INEQUITY REVEALED

HOMEOWNERSHIP AND HEALTHY LIVING GAPS ONCE IDENTIFIED BY ANECDOTAL EVIDENCE PROVEN THROUGH FINE-GRADE DATA

“We have to put density in our city because of the light rail station. Around the station, along the freeway that the rail line will hug – we have to make it all multifamily,” said Kyoko Matsumoto Wright, a REALTOR with Coldwell Banker Bain and mayor of Mountlake Terrace, reminding that density does not equal skyscraper height.

“I’d love to allow all single family to allow duplexes and ADUs (Accessory Dwelling Units) at least. 

The issue is the older people, who have been here 40-50 years, they like the bedroom community. 

They vote. 

The younger, newer people who support a diverse housing inventory, they don’t (vote).”

TRAFFIC SIGNS ARE THE ENEMY OF PEDESTRIANS

THEY BLOCK THE WHEELCHAIR-ACCESSIBLE PATHWAY

The road is not closed.

But the public works department that left the sign there effectively blocked two curb ramps in one swipe.

This is NOT the way to welcome people with disabilities or any pedestrians to your city.

The location? A little out of the way, never traversed world famous Main Street known as Duvall Street on the heart of walkable Key West.

Signs like this often linger for months after construction, making a blockade to inclusive access. 

Please share so your city, county and state DOTs learn from this.

INEQUITY REVEALED

HOMEOWNERSHIP AND HEALTHY LIVING GAPS ONCE IDENTIFIED BY ANECDOTAL EVIDENCE PROVEN THROUGH FINE-GRADE DATA

“I’m going to be the voice telling cities you’re going to have to rezone this and add density.  

Cities are fighting a lot of this stuff, but otherwise, nothing will be available to the majority of families,” said Kyoko Matsumoto Wright, a REALTOR with Coldwell Banker Bain and mayor of Mountlake Terrace. 

“I’d love to get rid of single-family housing (zoning), but I also know that politically, that is difficult.”

 

Mountlake Terrace is getting a light rail station and while that is raising prices, it also can create opportunity, in the vision of Matsumoto Wright – who serves or has served on local, regional and statewide affordable housing boards.