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Transportation Decision Making Principles of Project Evaluation and Programming

Chapter 17Social and Cultural Impacts of

Transportation Systems

Kumares C. Sinha and Samuel Labi

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Outline

Definitions

Impact Mechanisms

Performance Measures

Equity and Environmental Justice

Procedure for Social and Cultural Impact Assessment

Assessment Tools

Mitigation Measures

Legislation

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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.

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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.

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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.”

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Legislation

1970 Federal Highway Act

1970 National Environmental Policy Act

1990’s Executives Orders

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Developing Countries

Social Impact Assessments required by World Bank

socioculturalinstitutionalhistoricalpolitical effects

Emphasis on Poverty Alleviation

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Distributive Effects

Across community groups, population groups, ethnic groups

Spatial and temporal

Should be considered whenurban 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

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Impact Mechanisms

DirectRelocationBarriersIntegrative features

Indirect

Cumulative

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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

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BarriersRoads and rail tracks can affect the structure, function and social pattern of surrounding neighborhoodsPhysical and psychological barriersElderly, young, and residents who travel on foot or bicycleIsolation of community facilities, services, and institutions

Integrative FeaturesPedestrian walkways, bikeways, trails and other facilities.Beneficial sociocultural impacts.

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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

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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.

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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

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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

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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

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Table 17.1

Performance Measures for Social Impacts

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Performance Measures for Cultural Impacts

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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 measure.

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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.

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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

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Impacts Related to Environmental Justice*

*Table 17.2

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Distribution of Costs and Benefits of Transportation Projects*

Set 2:Persons who incur some costs due to

Populationof entire region

Set 1: All persons who accrue some benefitsfrom the project

Set 3:Population of

low incomepersons the project

minority or

*Figure 17.1

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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

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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

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figure 17.2

Repeat for Other Transportation

Alternatives

Identify all Potentially Affected Individuals and Groups

Identify Social and Cultural Resources and Profiles

Develop a Public Involvement Plan

Determine the Social and Cultural Impacts of the Proposed Action

Identify Data Requirements

Identify social and cultural performance measures

Define the Region of Influence or Area of Potential Effects

Field Visits, GIS, Questionnaire Surveys, Focus Groups, etc.

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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

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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

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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.

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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

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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 howscale, severity, and extentpotential for mitigationduration of the impact over time and its reversibilityassociated economic costsinstitutional barriers

Consideration of relevant standards and criteriafrom professional groups and government institutions

Comparison with spatial (regional/national) and temporal averages (growth rates).

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Example 17.1

Metro-Rail versus BRTExpert 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. Duringconstruction, 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.

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Ratings of Various Levels of Socio Cultural Impacts*

*Table E17.1.1

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Sociocultural Impacts of Rail and BRT*

-5

-4

-2

-1

-3.00 -2.75

Table E17.1.2

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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.

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Assessment of Community Cohesion

Table E17.2

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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

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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.

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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.

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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

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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

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Mitigation

Preemptive

Minimization

Mitigation

Enhancement