Justice40 Initiative
Department of Transportation's Justice40 Informational Video
Department of Transportation's Justice40 Informational Video (Spanish)
What is the Justice40 Initiative?
The Biden-Harris Administration created the Justice40 Initiative to confront and address decades of underinvestment in disadvantaged communities. The initiative will bring resources to communities most impacted by climate change, pollution, and environmental hazards.
Here at the U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT), Justice40 (J40) is an opportunity to address gaps in transportation infrastructure and public services by working toward the goal that at least 40% of the benefits from many of our grants, programs, and initiatives flow to disadvantaged communities.
Justice40 is not a one-time investment, nor is it a single pot of money. Rather it is a government wide initiative that makes a series of changes to ensure benefits reach communities most in need. Through Justice40, USDOT will work to increase affordable transportation options, that connect Americans to good-paying jobs, fight climate change, and improve access to resources and quality of life in communities in every state and territory in the country.
The initiative allows USDOT to identify and prioritize projects that benefit rural, suburban, tribal, and urban communities facing barriers to affordable, equitable, reliable, and safe transportation. Through Justice40, USDOT will also assess the negative impacts of transportation projects and systems on disadvantaged communities and will consider if local community leaders have been consulted in a meaningful way during the project’s development.
Updated USDOT Disadvantage Community Tool and Methodology – Request for Information
The U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT) has announced a Request for Information (RFI) to receive public input about the updates to the agency’s Equitable Transportation Community Explorer and Methodology that supports the Biden-Harris Administration’s Justice40 Initiative. USDOT's Equitable Transportation Community Explorer (Explorer) is an interactive web application that explores the disadvantage communities experience, resulting from underinvestment in transportation, in the areas of Transportation Insecurity, Climate and Disaster Risk Burden, Environmental Burden, Health Vulnerability, and Social Vulnerability.
The Explorer uses newly available 2020 Census Tracts and data, adds additional indicators reflective of disadvantage and updates the methodology used to calculate disadvantage. In the Explorer individual indicators and datasets are combined to create a score for each component. The scores from each component are combined to create an overall index score. Under this methodology, a census tract will be considered burdened if the overall index score places it in the 65th percentile (or higher) of all US census tracts.
The Equitable Transportation Community Explorer and Methodology are available at US DOT Equitable Transportation Community Explorer (arcgis.com).
The Biden-Harris Administration created the Justice40 Initiative to confront and address decades of underinvestment in burdened communities. Applicants to USDOT’s discretionary programs have the option of using this tool when developing funding applications; State DOT’s and Metropolitan Planning Organizations can also use the tool in developing their Statewide Transportation Improvement Programs (STIPs)/Transportation Improvement Programs (TIPs); and USDOT, as appropriate, will use the tool as a consideration in making funding decisions and setting policy.
The RFI is open for a 30-day public comment period beginning February 17, 2023. Comments must be received by March 18, 2023 to be considered. For more information about the USDOT Request for Information on Equitable Transportation Community Explorer and Methodology, please visit the RFI.
Want more information on J40?
Department of Transportation's Justice40 Fact Sheet
Questions or comments on USDOT's Justice40 work please email: Justice40@dot.gov
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