Equity and Development in Transportation Planning: The FHWA’s Reconnecting Communities Pilot Program

On President Biden’s first day in office, he issued Executive Order 13985 directing federal agencies to revise their policies to address historical inequities. One such effort is the Reconnecting Communities Pilot (RCP) program. The program’s goal was to reconnect communities separated by transportation infrastructure by removing, retrofitting, or mitigating divisive transportation facilities. This was part of an equity agenda for the US Department of Transportation which is currently inactive. This article examines the program’s 17 construction grants which attempted to achieve equity goals in local transportation development. This multiple case study approach identifies how RCP construction grants operationalized equity through local development, access, community participation, and procedural and workforce strategies. One of the program’s most significant innovations is the attempt to merge equity goals with local development plans. This study finds that the program’s most significant innovation was its effort to weave equity into local development plans, although several cases show tensions over community participation, environmental review, and the distribution of benefits.