Environmental health
Access to clean air, a stable climate, a preserved natural environment and adequate water, sanitation and hygiene. Environmental health also requires protection from harmful radiation, unsafe chemical management and unhealthy working conditions. (Source: World Health Organization, Environmental Health, Transportation Research Synthesis)
Environmental justice
Fairness, regardless of race, color, national origin or income, and the meaningful involvement of community in the development of laws and regulations that affect every community’s natural surroundings, and the places people live, work, play and learn. (Source: California Environmental Protection Agency)
Environmental justice gap
Refers to how low-income communities of color systematically experience disproportionately greater adverse environmental risks and impacts, and fewer positive environmental benefits compared to high income communities. (Source: Callahan, DeShazo, and Kenyon, UCLA Luskin School of Public Affairs)
Equality
The idea that law and government should treat people the same irrespective of their identity or status. (Source: Othering & Belonging Institute)
Equality of outcomes
Outcomes where everyone has equal opportunity, access and rights. (Source: LA Metro Office of Equity and Race definition)
Equity
Refers to both an outcome and a process to address racial, socioeconomic, and gender disparities, to ensure fair and just access with respect to where you begin and your capacity to improve from that starting point to opportunities, including jobs, housing, education, mobility options and healthier communities. It is achieved when one’s outcomes in life […]
Equity Focus Community
A Metro-specific term that allows the agency to identify where transportation needs are greatest by considering concentrations of resident and household demographics associated with mobility barriers: (1) low-income households earning less than $75,000 per year, (2) Black, Indigenous or People of Color (BIPOC) population, and (3) households that do not have a car. (Source: LA […]
Equity lens
The practice of being thoughtful and inclusive in all decisions, including policies, practices, programs and budgets. An equity lens can be applied to decisions around how funding is allocated, how programs are planned and implemented and how we prioritize maintenance of existing assets. (Source: Adapted from the Long Beach Office of Equity Long Beach Equity Toolkit for City Leaders and […]
Equity opportunity
A decision that is designed to enhance positive impacts or reduce negative impacts for historically marginalized communities or others facing disparities in access to opportunities. (Source: LA Metro Equity Planning and Evaluation Tool)
Exclusionary/discriminatory zoning
A legal mechanism government entities use to control development on land within their jurisdiction, often by categorizing land for certain uses (“zones”). While “use” zoning can be seen as a way to lessen negative effects of industrial and urban development on residences, local governments have historically used this authority to perpetuate racial and economic segregation […]