Environmental justice in transportation planning

Environmental justice is a public policy goal of ensuring that the adverse human health or environmental effects of government activities do not fall disproportionately upon minority populations or low-income populations. Thi s article presents a practical approach to measure the extent to which the air quality or noise consequences of a transportation system change would d isproportionately affect those populations. The approach applies a geograph ic information system (CIS) to blend U.S. Census data with the results from emission and dispersion models of vehicle-generated pollutants, and from n oise propagation models. Air pollution and noise contours can thus be overl aid upon data representing race and income levels, to discern whether dispr oportionate effects would occur.