Bay Trail Equity Strategy
The Bay Trail Equity Strategy looks at how to develop a Bay Trail that is accessible and welcoming to all people in the Bay Area.
Join SVBC for their Free Bike Repair Day on Saturday, June 3, 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Take a ride on the Bay Trail and learn and provide feedback about the Bay Trail Equity Strategy.
Rooted in the Equity Platform
The Bay Trail Equity Strategy was created in response to the 2019 launch of the MTC Equity Platform. The Equity Platform is a process and a practice to advance equity throughout all the work that MTC does. This means centering equity throughout planning, investment, design, engagement, communications, marketing, evaluation and project delivery efforts.
Multi-Phase Strategy
The Bay Trail Equity Strategy is a multi-phase effort to apply the Equity Platform to ongoing Bay Trail work.
Phase I tackles the foundational Equity Platform steps of “listening and learning” and “defining and measuring.” The study team reviewed historic literature, analyzed socio-demographic data, and interviewed community leaders and organizers.
Through this process, the Bay Trail Equity Strategy looks at how history impacts present-day Bay Shoreline communities. This foundational understanding is intended to help Bay Trail decision-makers:
- Understand and address historic inequities,
- Avoid repeating and reinforcing mistakes of the past, and
- Develop an accessible and welcoming Bay Trail for all Bay Area residents and visitors.
The process and findings are compiled in the Bay Trail Equity Strategy Phase I History and Existing Conditions Study.
Findings from this report will be integrated into the Bay Trail work program, and later phases of the Bay Trail Equity Strategy.
Lily Brown, Equitable and Active Transportation
Phone: (415) 778-6721
Email: lbrown@bayareametro.gov
In April 2022, MTC leadership laid out a new vision for the Bay trail with a commitment to operationalize the Equity Platform within the Bay Trail work program. The Bay Trail Equity Strategy emerged as a result of the Equity Platform and this commitment.
Agencies that are partnering on the development of the Bay Trail Equity Strategy partners include:
- Bay Area Outreach and Recreation Program
- Bike East Bay
- San Francisco Bicycle Coalition
- San Francisco Parks Alliance
- Silicon Valley Bicycle Coalition