Sponsored by: TREC, CUS, BIPOC Planners Club
Dr. Adonia E. Lugo, Staff Researcher, UCLA Institute of Transportation Studies
In active transportation planning and scholarship, we typically talk about workforce in terms of commute mode share. Yet "jobs created" is a common indicator of success in transportation infrastructure investment. How could we estimate jobs created through active transportation investment? Could an active transportation workforce lens build political support for multimodal transportation in landscapes where the bulk of transportation dollars flow into highway construction? Lugo will share research in progress analyzing the workforce effects of California state and regional funding for active transportation non-infrastructure programs such as open streets and Safe Routes to School. This research applies "just transition" and "high road" frameworks to active transportation education and encouragement programs and seeks to identify employers, workers, and training institutions that make up existing job pipelines. These programs are often facilitated by community-based organizations with deep roots in their service areas but operating on shoestring budgets. The transportation transition away from fossil fuels and vehicular violence will take much more investment in cultural and social programs to support multimodal travel behavior; what if that investment went into building sustainable careers for keepers of community mobility knowledge?
Adonia E. Lugo, PhD, is a cultural anthropologist and transportation researcher based in Tongva territory (Los Angeles). She has helped to define the concepts of "mobility justice" and "human infrastructure" as strategies for shifting communities toward sustainable mobility. Adonia is a staff researcher at the UCLA Institute of Transportation Studies, a senior advisor with Equivolve Consulting, an appointee to the California Transportation Commission, and a board member of Los Angeles Walks