Centering Equity at the U.S. Department of Transportation

For the first time, the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) has centered Equity as a Department-wide strategic goal via its FY 2022-2026 Strategic Plan. This is a critical step to institutionalizing equity across the Department’s policies and programs, with the aim of reducing inequities across our transportation systems and the communities they affect. 

The objectives and strategies laid out in the DOT Strategic Plan will help support and engage people and communities to promote safe, affordable, accessible, and multimodal access to opportunities and services while reducing transportation-related disparities, adverse community impacts, and health effects. They will also help promote DOT as a model of diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility.

As part of this process, the Department has committed to several key performance indicators to measure progress toward our equity objectives, including a target to increase DOT’s direct contract dollars to small disadvantaged businesses from 18.2% in FY 2021 to 22% by FY 2026. The Department has also published an Equity Action Plan that highlights key actions we will undertake across four focus areas – wealth creation, power of community, interventions, and expanding access – to expand access and opportunity to all communities while focusing on underserved, overburdened, and disadvantaged communities.
 

Have an idea to help advance transportation equity? Want to partner on one of these actions? Email us at equity@dot.gov to share your thoughts.

Interested in hearing the latest on our equity work?