{"515921":{"#nid":"515921","#data":{"type":"external_news","title":"SCaRP assistant professor Karner finds shortcomings in FTA equity analysis","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EWhen the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority\u2019s governing board\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.boston.com\/news\/local\/massachusetts\/2016\/02\/29\/mbta-cancels-late-night-weekend-service\/dUvNpu5XAMnc3I79CWLDZM\/story.html\u0022\u003Evoted to suspend the Boston area\u2019s late night transit service\u003C\/a\u003E\u0026nbsp;in late February\u2014still technically a pilot program even after two years\u2014Boston seemed far from surprised. Local newspapers had been speculating about the demise of\u0026nbsp;late-night service, which ran for an extra 90 minutes on Fridays and Saturdays, since the summer. (The\u0026nbsp;\u003Cem\u003EBoston\u003C\/em\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003Cem\u003EGlobe\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/em\u003Epublished a post-mortem\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.bostonglobe.com\/opinion\/2015\/12\/23\/who-killed-late-night\/IvnxAM16phSArh7M4xFIvI\/story.html\u0022\u003Ein December\u003C\/a\u003E, more than two months before the decision became final.)\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EAnd yet, just days later, the Federal Transit Administration approached the agency with an issue that, for all its preparation, the MBTA had avoided. In a letter to MBTA counsel John Englander, the FTA Office of Civil Rights\u2019 associate administrator Linda Ford wrote the Boston agency had failed to prove that its cuts wouldn\u2019t disproportionately affect low-income and minority residents. The MBTA had\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.bostonglobe.com\/metro\/2016\/03\/04\/mbta-failed-consider-impact-cutting-late-service-minorities-and-low-income-residents-says-federal-agency\/psMKdn0RCwO8mi6ajAMr6N\/story.html\u0022\u003Esimply skipped\u003C\/a\u003E\u0026nbsp;filling out an \u201cequity analysis,\u201d she said, which is required under Title VI of the Civil Rights Act.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe equity analysis process has its shortcomings. Alexander Karner, an assistant professor at Georgia Tech College of Architecture,\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.ssti.us\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/02\/2013-karner-civil+rights+guidance+critical+review.pdf\u0022\u003Ehas reviewed\u003C\/a\u003E\u0026nbsp;a number of equity analyses and found a few problems. First, planning agencies often decide what services they want to cut or add\u0026nbsp;\u003Cem\u003Ebefore\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/em\u003Eperforming the equity analysis, so the requirements of the area\u2019s most needy residents are only considered afterwards. \u201cIt\u2019s a bit of a box-checking exercise,\u201d Karner says.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ERead the full story on the Atlantic\u0027s\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.citylab.com\/cityfixer\/2016\/03\/why-bostons-last-night-service-cuts-could-be-a-civil-rights-violation\/474321\/?utm_source=SFTwitter\u0022\u003ECityLab site\u003C\/a\u003E.\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":"","field_summary_sentence":"","uid":"28044","created_gmt":"2016-03-21 14:57:51","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 02:28:04","author":"Jessie Brandon","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","publication_url":"http:\/\/www.citylab.com\/cityfixer\/2016\/03\/why-bostons-last-night-service-cuts-could-be-a-civil-rights-violation\/474321\/?utm_source=SFTwitter","dateline":{"date":"2016-03-18T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2016-03-18T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"458301":{"id":"458301","type":"image","title":"alex karner","body":null,"created":"1449256347","gmt_created":"2015-12-04 19:12:27","changed":"1475895202","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:53:22","alt":"alex karner","file":{"fid":"203538","name":"karner_3_web.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/karner_3_web_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/karner_3_web_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":591362,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/karner_3_web_0.jpg?itok=GAc-SLop"}}},"media_ids":["458301"],"groups":[{"id":"1224","name":"School of City \u0026 Regional Planning"}],"categories":[],"keywords":[],"core_research_areas":[],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[],"email":[],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}}}