Explore Case Studies, Reports and Tools
A vast array of supplementary resources exist to help transportation planners and decision-makers better understand the complex relationship between land use, environmental justice, community health and neighborhood resilience.
Reference select case studies and reports related to resilient neighborhoods, inclusive economies and healthy communities to better understand these topics in Los Angeles.
Case Studies
A case study examining how Metro is operationalizing equity through structured partnerships with community-based organizations, offering a practical model for embedding co-governance, trust-building and community expertise into transportation planning and agency decision-making.
UCLA Luskin School / UCLA ITS / cityLAB – Exposing Freeway Inequalities in the Suburbs: The Cases of Pasadena and Pacoima (2024)
A case study exploring how freeway routing decisions in Pasadena and Pacoima disproportionately burdened communities of color, illustrating how transportation infrastructure has reinforced displacement, segregation and long-term inequities in Los Angeles County.
UCLA Lewis Center for Regional Policy Studies – Advancing Shade and Lighting Equity at Bus Stops in Los Angeles (2024)
A project that assesses shade and lighting adequacy across Los Angeles bus stops, as well as the site constraints that render bus shelter installation complicated.
UCLA Luskin / UCLA ITS / UC Davis ITS – Four Case Studies on the Effects of Freeway Siting on Neighborhoods of Color (2023)
A research brief analyzing how freeway siting decisions displaced communities of color across California, documenting the lasting transportation, land use and equity impacts of highway development on historically marginalized neighborhoods.
Reports
The Greenlining Institute – Investing in Community Power: Insights from a Decade of California Climate Investments (2024)
A report that evaluates 10 years of Climate Clean Energy (CCI) investments in California, including who they have served, their strengths and weaknesses and best practices for the future.
Congress for the New Urbanism (CNU) – Freeways Without Futures (2025)
A national report highlighting freeway corridors targeted for removal or redesign, illustrating how highway infrastructure has driven displacement and environmental burdens while offering equity-focused strategies to reconnect communities through land use and transportation reinvestment.
Alliance for Community Transit – Los Angeles (ACT-LA), American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Southern California, CoDesign @ Harvard Graduate School of Design, Public Counsel – Statewide Education Rights Project, Tamika L. Butler Consulting – Metro as a Sanctuary – Reimagining Safety on Public Transit (2021)
A community-led report outlining care-based alternatives to traditional transit policing, offering recommendations for improving safety on Metro through rider support, outreach and community-centered public safety strategies.
Othering & Belonging Institute – Meaningful Measurements of Mobility: Metrics for Equitable Transportation Planning (2025)
A report that discusses operationalizing equity in transportation planning, with a focus on meaningful and effective equity frameworks and metrics.
A report that provides an overview of the structural racism embedded in California’s land use policies, as well as accompanying exemplary case studies and suggested legislative recommendations to combat future siting of harmful land uses.
UCLA Luskin Center for Innovation – Making Justice40 a Reality for Frontline Communities: Lessons from State Approaches to Climate and Clean Energy Investments (2021)
A report that assesses lessons learned from approaches to climate and clean energy investments in the State of California.
Strategic Actions for a Just Economy (SAJE) – The Road To Transit Equity: The Case for Universal Fareless Transit in Los Angeles (2023)
A report examining how universal fareless transit in Los Angeles could reduce financial barriers, improve access and support a more equitable and rider-centered public transit system.
Urban Edge – What transit agencies get wrong about equity, and how to get it right (2020)
An article describing multidimensional approaches transit agencies can take to ensure an equitable transportation system.
Urban Institute – Infrastructure Equity in Motion (2024)
A national report analyzing how federal transportation investments are distributed across communities, highlighting disparities in infrastructure funding access and offering insight into more equitable transportation investment strategies.
American Public Transportation Association (APTA) – The Transit Equity Report (2024)
A national report documenting how transit agencies are embedding equity into planning, service and operations through agency-wide strategies, community partnerships and measurable implementation practices.
Southern California Association of Governments (SCAG) – Connect SoCal 2024 – Equity Analysis Technical Report (2024)
A regional equity analysis report examining how transportation and land use decisions shape access to opportunity across Southern California, using accessibility and demographic data to evaluate equity outcomes and inform more inclusive planning.
Tools / Resources
Angel City Advisors – Los Angeles Equity Mapbook: A Regional Visualization of Injustice and Exclusion (2020, updated 2025)
A collection of maps that visualize exclusion and injustice across Los Angeles County, using a bespoke index with structural and socioeconomic criteria.
SoCal Earth – Built Environment (2020, ongoing platform)
A website with mapping resources, data and topical investigations related to the built environment and land use decisions.
Southern California Association of Governments (SCAG) – Equity Resources for Action (ERA) Toolbox (2024)
A regional planning toolkit providing strategies, case studies and implementation resources to help practitioners integrate equity into transportation, land use and broader planning decisions across Southern California.
TransitCenter – Defining an Equity Strategy: Guidelines for Public Agencies (2021)
A collection of guidelines and core pillars for transit agencies to optimize their service to support people who have been marginalized thrive.
Race Forward – Co-Governance Tool for a Multiracial Democracy (2025)
A collection of tools and case studies outlining how public agencies can share decision-making power with communities, offering practical frameworks for building co-governance into planning, policy and community engagement processes.
A transportation planning framework outlining how equity can be embedded into project development, prioritization and investment decisions through clear goals, priority populations and agency-wide decision-making criteria.
Marin County Office of Equity – County of Marin (2024-2026)
A budget equity toolkit designed to help the agency evaluate how funding decisions affect equity outcomes, with practical guidance for prioritizing investments that reduce disparities and better serve historically under-resourced communities.
Minnesota Department of Transportation – Advancing Equity in Capital Investment Decision-Making (2025)
A research-based framework for integrating equity into capital investment decisions, with tools for evaluating how transportation projects are scored, prioritized and funded using equity-focused criteria.
Southern California Association of Governments (SCAG) – Equity Resource Guide (2022)
A regional resource guide compiling tools, frameworks and best practices to help agencies integrate equity into transportation planning, policy development and project implementation.
Videos
A brief video designed to help teachers, students and professionals clarify their understanding of different types of racism, spur discussion and provide ideas for future research.
A panel discussion featuring transportation leaders exploring how cities can prioritize equity in transportation planning, funding and long-term investment decisions.