Book Talks with Move Redmond:
Inclusive Transportation: A Manifesto For Repairing Divided Communities
Reflections by Kelli Refer & Move Redmond Team
In the beginning of Inclusive Transportation, Veronica O. Davis shares her family’s personal connections to transportation in her book and prompts readers to reflect on their own personal stories as they relate to transportation. I love this reflection question because for so many people transportation is not something they think about regularly.
Like so much work in a functioning government, when it works smoothly the labor it takes to make that happen is invisible. The roads are repaired, the bus driver comes on schedule and you pull the cord to get off at your stop and go along with your day. But behind all of that is a lot of labor, planning, policy and budget decisions that made that happen. As I’ve gotten involved in transportation advocacy, I’ve been able to see that work that is so often invisible in our society. The reality is our transportation is centered around people driving alone and that this system leaves out the many people who cannot drive, don’t have access to a vehicle or want other options.
Davis makes visible the process that goes into designing and engaging communities around transportation. She makes visible the labor of community engagement and the intentionality needed to develop inclusive and equitable solutions that work for the community. Her book provides a great jumping off point to do that work. She isn’t here to give you the answers, but rather a map for you to use to help guide you there.
Now, more than ever, the kind of transportation advocacy work that Move Redmond does is important to building a more inclusive transportation system. As federal level research on transportation safety and innovation is being cut and projects that center safety and sustainability are at risk of losing funding, the local advocacy we do is more important than ever.
At Move Redmond we are deeply committed to inclusive transportation, to constantly improving our outreach efforts to be more equitable and more inclusive. In the face of federal backlash to Diversity, Equity and Inclusion, we resist this push back. We stand firm in our values that transportation is an issue that impacts all people.
We remain grounded in data that a disproportionate number of Black, Brown and Indigenous people are killed or seriously injured in our streets. We remain firm that our transit network is only as strong as our weakest links. We know that all people, especially our immigrant and LGBTQIA+ communities deserve to navigate communities freely and deserve to get where they need to go safely. Budgets are moral documents and in the face of cuts to safer streets funding we work with our elected leaders to ensure safety projects are prioritized in our local budgets.
At the end of the day this work isn’t really just about bike lanes and bus stops. The outcome of this work is a more connected community, one with cleaner air and water, where people can stop and say hello to their neighbors. It is a vision where children can bike to a friend’s house after soccer practice and friends can hop on light rail to see a concert at the park. It is about ensuring that transportation isn’t a barrier for people to live full and joyful lives.
Check out the rest of our team’s reflection on Inclusive Transportation:
Inclusive Transportation reframed how I think about equity. Davis deconstructs the classic-but-flawed analogy of different-height people using boxes to see over a fence, and frames equity as an essential element to understanding and planning transportation in our cities. She stresses the importance of a community’s history and public engagement, rather than assuming everyone shares the same goals. The book offers practical guidance for effectively engaging the public, advocating for projects, and driving systemic improvements. Part guidebook and part manifesto, it’s a must-read for anyone interested in creating better transportation in their community.
Reading Inclusive Transportation by Veronica O. Davis, has been an eye-opening experience. As a community engagement manager, I am always thinking about how transportation impacts people’s everyday lives, but this book has challenged me to go even deeper and to truly center the perspectives and lived experiences of those who are often left out of the decision making process.
One, of many, powerful quotes that Davis writes is:
“When the dominant culture is centered on you, it becomes easy to assume that someone else’s experience is the same as yours.”
It’s easy to default to what we know and assume that our challenges are universal. Moving the bus stop another block down won’t impact an able bodied person as it would someone with a mobility device. Maybe you live in a wealthy area where transit is frequent, reliable and there’s a safe route to your bus stop where a few blocks down, someone is walking on the side of the road to access their nearest bus stop. When the dominant culture is centered around you, it’s easy to ignore other people’s experiences that you never had to deal with. Davis pushes you to think beyond these assumptions and truly center the voices of communities who have been let down by the system. This book has reinforced how I think about equity and community engagement and making sure that those who are the most impacted are given access to partake in the decision making process. It has challenged me to think critically about how we engage our community, and not just listen, but work together to create solutions that reflect the needs and aspirations of all people, not just those that have traditionally had a seat at the table. Inclusive Transportation is a reminder that our streets, transit systems and cities should serve everyone and we all have a role in making that happen.