UCLA Urban Planning and UCLA Institute of Transportation Studies Perloff Lecture Series on Race in Transportation
Safe for Whom? Transportation Safety in the Context of Planning and Infrastructure Inequities
While cyclists and pedestrians are vulnerable road users and face significant safety threats on roadways, environmental conditions in historically marginalized communities compound such vulnerability for people of color. In this lecture, professor Barajas will take a mobility justice perspective to contextualize street safety for cyclists and pedestrians. He will share findings from his research that shows how identity shapes the way cyclists experience the streetscape, how safety has multiple meanings particularly for people of color, and how inequity in the distribution of infrastructure compounds police injustice in Black communities. The work calls upon planners to be attentive to the intersections of identity and mobility to ensure equitable transportation systems.
About Jesus Barajas
Jesus M. Barajas is an assistant professor of Environmental Science and Policy and affiliated faculty at the UC Davis Institute of Transportation Studies. His research at the intersection of transportation planning and environmental justice addresses how systems of inequities influence travel behavior and how policymakers can and should respond. He has led projects on topics including travel behavior, transportation safety, and the implications of policing on transportation planning.
