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    Social and Cultural Impacts of Transportation Systems

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    Badr Kazi
    This chapter discusses the social and cultural impacts of transportation systems. It defines social and cultural impacts and outlines relevant legislation. It discusses impact mechanisms like relocation, barriers, and integration. Key issues addressed include equity, environmental justice, and effects on vulnerable groups. Performance measures are identified to assess impacts on community cohesion, stability, and culture. Guidelines are provided for conducting social and cultural impact assessments.

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    Social and Cultural Impacts of Transportation Systems

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    This chapter discusses the social and cultural impacts of transportation systems. It defines social and cultural impacts and outlines relevant legislation. It discusses impact mechanisms like relocation, barriers, and integration. Key issues addressed include equity, environmental justice, and effects on vulnerable groups. Performance measures are identified to assess impacts on community cohesion, stability, and culture. Guidelines are provided for conducting social and cultural impact assessments.

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    17. Social and Cultural Impacts of Transportation Systems

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    This chapter discusses the social and cultural impacts of transportation systems. It defines social and cultural impacts and outlines relevant legislation. It discusses impact mechanisms like relocation, barriers, and integration. Key issues addressed include equity, environmental justice, and effects on vulnerable groups. Performance measures are identified to assess impacts on community cohesion, stability, and culture. Guidelines are provided for conducting social and cultural impact assessments.

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    100 views43 pages

    Social and Cultural Impacts of Transportation Systems

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    This chapter discusses the social and cultural impacts of transportation systems. It defines social and cultural impacts and outlines relevant legislation. It discusses impact mechanisms like relocation, barriers, and integration. Key issues addressed include equity, environmental justice, and effects on vulnerable groups. Performance measures are identified to assess impacts on community cohesion, stability, and culture. Guidelines are provided for conducting social and cultural impact assessments.

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    Transportation Decision Making

    Principles of Project Evaluation and Programming

    Chapter 17
    Social and Cultural Impacts of
    Transportation Systems

    Kumares C. Sinha and Samuel Labi


    1
    Outline

    „ Definitions
    „ Impact Mechanisms
    „ Performance Measures
    „ Equity and Environmental Justice
    „ Procedure for Social and Cultural Impact Assessment
    „ Assessment Tools
    „ Mitigation Measures
    „ Legislation
    2
    Social Impacts

    According to FHWA (1982), social impacts are:

    „ destruction or disruption of human-made resources,


    „ social values,
    „ community cohesion,
    „ availability of public facilities or services,
    „ displacement of people, businesses and farms; and
    „ disruption of desirable community and regional growth.

    3
    Social Impacts
    „ IOCGP (2003) defines social impacts as “the
    consequences to human populations of any public or
    private actions that alter the ways in which people live,
    work, play, relate to one another, organize to meet
    their needs and generally cope as members of
    society.”

    „ FTA (2005) describes social effects as the changes in


    physical layouts, demographics, and sense of
    neighborhood in local communities.

    4
    Cultural Impacts

    „ According to National Historic Preservation Act of


    1966, a project is considered to have adverse effects
    on cultural environment if it causes direct or indirect
    alteration of “any characteristics of a historic property
    in a manner that would diminish the integrity of the
    property’s location, design, setting, materials,
    workmanship, feeling, or association.”

    5
    Legislation

    1970 Federal Highway Act

    1970 National Environmental Policy Act

    1990’s Executives Orders

    6
    Developing Countries

    „ Social Impact Assessments required by


    World Bank
    „ sociocultural
    „ institutional
    „ historical
    „ political effects

    „ Emphasis on Poverty Alleviation

    7
    Distributive Effects

    „ Across community groups, population groups, ethnic groups

    „ Spatial and temporal

    „ Should be considered when


    „ urban ROW requirement is large
    „ Large displacement of households, businesses, community
    amenities, historic districts and landmarks
    „ conflicts with local plans
    „ significant change in traffic characteristics
    „ adverse effects on vulnerable segments of population

    8
    Impact Mechanisms

    „ Direct
    „ Relocation
    „ Barriers
    „ Integrative features

    „ Indirect

    „ Cumulative

    9
    Relocation Effects
    „ Physical, emotional and financial stresses
    „ Removal of formal and informal social networks
    „ Vulnerable businesses include grocery shops, banks, and
    shopping centers, gas stations, hotels, motels and
    restaurants
    „ Community facilities such as schools, churches, and
    recreation areas
    „ Vulnerable population segments are the elderly, low-income
    families, long-time residents, handicapped persons, and
    minority and ethnic group members. Also, families with
    school-age children
    10
    Barriers
    „ Roads and rail tracks can affect the structure, function and
    social pattern of surrounding neighborhoods
    „ Physical and psychological barriers
    „ Elderly, young, and residents who travel on foot or bicycle
    „ Isolation of community facilities, services, and institutions

    Integrative Features
    „ Pedestrian walkways, bikeways, trails and other facilities.
    „ Beneficial sociocultural impacts.

    11
    Indirect Impacts
    „ Increased traffic can lead to psychological
    encumbrances that reduce the extent and quality of
    social interaction in the community

    „ Noise, dust, and debris, and reduced safety

    „ Loss of parking affecting operation of businesses and


    community facilities

    „ Opening of new areas, introduction of settlers and


    external intrusions, rural to urban migration
    12
    Cumulative Impacts

    „ Combined effects of past, present and future


    actions

    „ Seemingly minor projects considered together


    can have significant impacts

    „ Counterbalancing effects of beneficial and


    adverse impacts.
    13
    Target Facilities
    „ Schools
    „ Religious institutions
    „ Playgrounds, parks, and recreational areas
    „ Hospitals, clinics and other medical facilities
    „ Residential and social facilities for the elderly
    „ Social service agencies
    „ Libraries

    14
    Target Groups
    „ All persons in the impact area

    „ Elderly, handicapped, non-drivers and transit-dependent


    persons,

    „ Minority groups

    „ Low-income or poverty-stricken individuals

    „ Groups vulnerable to conflict, violence, or economic


    shocks
    15
    Performance Measures
    „ Community Cohesion – the social network and actions that
    provide satisfaction, security, camaraderie, and identity to
    members of a community or neighborhood

    „ Stability Index – to measure levels of community cohesion –


    the longer the bength of time that residents lived in a
    community

    „ Cultural Impact – the possibility and extent of encroachment


    of archeological sites, areas of historic schools, Amish and
    Mennonite communities, and establishments registered with
    the National Register of Historic places

    16
    Table 17.1

    Performance
    Measures
    for Social
    Impacts

    17
    Performance Measures for Cultural Impacts

    18
    The Issue of Poverty Alleviation in Developing Countries

    „ Transportation plays a critical role in developing the economy and


    strengthening the sociocultural fabric and is also critical for day-to-day
    subsistence

    „ Improved transportation systems facilitate the participation of low-


    income residents in social, cultural and political processes and thereby
    help such people to accumulate adequate physical, financial and social
    assets to get out of poverty

    „ Investments that reduce the distance of time to school contribute to


    increased female enrollment rates

    „ Increased access to local health care facilities reduces the time that
    women and girls need to spend on in-home care for sick or aging family
    members

    „ Refer to A Sourcebook for Poverty Reduction Strategies (World Bank,


    2002) for guidelines for using poverty reduction as a performance 19
    measure.
    Equity and Environmental Justice

    „ Equitable distribution of both positive and negative


    ecological, economic, and social impacts across
    racial, ethnic, and income groups

    „ Rawl’s Theory of Justice:


    „ All social primary goods, such as liberty,
    opportunity, income, and wealth, are to be
    distributed equally, and
    „ If such goods are not distributed equally, they are
    to be distributed to favor the disadvantaged.

    20
    „ Environmental justice principles and issues may differ
    from country to country

    „ World Bank describes social sustainability as a


    provision of equitable economic opportunity for the
    diverse social groups

    „ The attainment of environmental justice is a key


    equity-related performance measure

    „ Analysis of distributive effects helps to identify and


    address the issue of environmental justice
    21
    Impacts Related to Environmental Justice*

    22

    *Table 17.2
    Distribution of Costs and Benefits of
    Transportation Projects*

    Set 1:All persons who Population


    accruesome of entire
    benefitsfromthe region
    project

    Set 2: Set 3:
    Persons who Populationof
    incur some minority or
    costsdueto low income
    theproject persons
    23

    *Figure 17.1
    „ The overlap of Sets 1 and 2 are those who incur both
    costs and benefits

    „ The overlap of Sets 3 and 2 refers to minority and low-


    income people who are made worse off by the project

    „ The overlap of Sets 3 and 1 refers to minority and low-


    income people who benefit from the project

    „ The overlap of all 3 sets represents minority or low-


    income people who receive some benefits and also
    incur some costs
    24
    Distribution of Project Costs and Benefits

    „ Example of Atlanta Metro Using Income


    Groups

    „ Medium-income zones were estimated to


    receive less net benefits than lower-and
    higher-income zones

    25
    26
    figure 17.2

    Define the Region of Influence or


    Area of Potential Effects
    Identify Data Requirements

    Field Visits, GIS, Identify social and cultural


    Questionnaire Surveys, performance measures
    Focus Groups, etc.

    Identify all Potentially Affected


    Individuals and Groups

    Identify Social and Cultural Develop a Public


    Resources and Profiles Involvement Plan
    Repeat for Other
    Transportation
    Alternatives

    Determine the Social and Cultural


    Impacts of the Proposed Action

    27
    Impact Area

    „ Influenced by the available level of


    aggregation of socioeconomic data

    „ Should generally include communities within


    and immediately surrounding the project area

    „ Consultation with state local organizations

    28
    Potentially Affected Groups

    „ Public hearings, interviews, and surveys

    „ Cluster analysis using Census data on ethnic


    composition, income, car-and home-ownership rates,
    etc. to identify distinct communities

    „ Local government and neighborhood organizations

    29
    Community Profiles and Inventory of
    Sociocultural Resources

    „ Existing conditions and trends

    „ Census data and MPO’s

    „ Interviews and surveys

    „ Cultural resources inventory

    „ Visual maps, tables, graphs, and narrative texts.

    30
    Prediction of Sociocultural Impacts

    „ Determination of expected levels of social and cultural


    capital after implementation and assessing these
    levels vis-à-vis the projected conditions

    „ Judgements of expects through Delphi process

    „ Response of affected public using comparable areas


    or interviews

    31
    Evaluation of Social Impacts

    Should include the following:


    „ Application of screening criteria
    „ if the impact is likely to occur, who will be affected, and where
    and how
    „ scale, severity, and extent
    „ potential for mitigation
    „ duration of the impact over time and its reversibility
    „ associated economic costs
    „ institutional barriers
    „ Consideration of relevant standards and criteria
    „ from professional groups and government institutions
    „ Comparison with spatial (regional/national) and
    temporal averages (growth rates).
    32
    Example 17.1

    Metro-Rail versus BRT


    Expert consultations, field inspections and aerial photos.
    BRT provides better access to community facilities and parks;
    adverse impact on community cohesion is less for Metro;
    displacement of households and businesses is more for metro
    due to increased ROW needs; no impact on minority or low-
    income segments.
    Metro will have more accessibility problem for disabled. During
    construction, pedestrians, transit users, and bicyclists
    experience increased inconvenience and safety risks.
    Some archeological sites will be affected by metro, and BRT has
    adverse effects on a historic cathedral.

    33
    Ratings of Various Levels of Socio Cultural Impacts*

    *Table E17.1.1
    34
    Sociocultural Impacts of Rail and BRT*

    -5 -2

    -4 -1

    -3.00 -2.75

    Table E17.1.2
    35
    Example 17.2

    A new highway section to serve a planned


    BRT to link LBD to the suburbs. GIS analysis
    of two most affected neighborhoods. Assess
    the social impact in terms of community
    cohesion.

    36
    Assessment of Community Cohesion

    Table E17.2

    37
    Example 17.3

    Use of sociocultural impact checklist

    Alt 1 yields 10 adverse impacts with 5


    permanent

    Alt 2 yields 9 adverse impacts with 4


    permanent

    Therefore, Alt 2 is somewhat more desirable


    38
    Example 17.4

    Airport runway expansion will require acquisition


    of additional nearby land from an old,
    established neighborhood.
    Will involve significant relocation.
    Identify the social groups that are most likely to
    be affected and discuss the nature of their
    difficulties.

    39
    Solution: Using census data:

    a. Groups: elderly, handicapped, low-income,


    households with school-age children, non-English
    speaking ethnic and racial minority, and long-term
    residents

    b. Businesses: Small businesses that cater to local


    clientele, typically family-owned, ethnic or minority-
    owned.

    Specific difficulties can be identified through field


    surveys and interviews.
    40
    Tools for Sociocultural Impact Assessment: Qualitative

    a. Expert consultation through roundtable and brainstorming


    sessions, focus groups, and Delphi techniques for consensus building

    b. Field solicitations (neighborhood surveys, interviews and


    questionnaires)

    c. Field solicitations for organized involvement of public bodies


    - Citizen advisory groups, public meetings, community events,
    special workshops.

    d. Field solicitations (on-site analysis)


    - Walking through common routes, recreational areas, and
    places of social gathering, such as malls, barbershops, and so on.

    e. Comparative analysis
    41
    Quantitative Tools

    a. Visual tools for image or data analysis


    - Superimposed maps to identify social and
    cultural impacts
    - Aerial photographs and GIs tools
    - Overlay analysis
    - Use of GIs tools to analyze the impact on
    historic sites for 12 alternative projects for the
    I-69 corridor

    b. Statistical Analysis

    c. Computer modeling 42
    Mitigation

    „ Preemptive

    „ Minimization

    „ Mitigation

    „ Enhancement

    43

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