Foursquare ITP evaluated the potential environmental justice impacts and population and job access impacts of various transit options serving LaGuardia Airport. The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey (PANYNJ) convened a multi-disciplinary team of consulting firms at the request of New York Governor Kathy Hochul to conduct a thorough analysis of potential mass transit options to enhance access to LaGuardia Airport.
We developed the methodologies for the equity and environmental justice analyses, including a network-based accessibility analysis using the Conveyal platform, an analysis of existing ADA-accessible subway stations, and a series of maps to depict the presence of environmental justice populations in close proximity to the transit options’ alignments. Foursquare ITP’s equity and environmental justice analyses enabled the expert panel to weigh the benefits and burdens of each transit option and to choose two high-performing options that will benefit nearly five million passengers annually.
The PANYNJ is in the process of identifying funding for the enhanced service. This project received a lot of press.
Solutions and Outcomes
- Enabled panel to choose favorable transit options through equity and environmental justice analyses.
- Improved bus service and new shuttle service to benefit millions of passengers.
- Developed benefits sooner at a lower cost through selected transit options.