EQUITY
VISION 2050 identified significant education and income disparities between people of color and the white population in Southeastern Wisconsin. In the Milwaukee metro area, these disparities are more pronounced than almost any other metro area in the United States. Reducing these systemic disparities will require significant action on many fronts.
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Improving equitable access to opportunity for all of the Region's residents is one of four overarching themes that guided VISION 2050’s recommendations. To ensure the plan achieves these objectives, the equity analysis evaluates the benefits and impacts of the plan on traditionally underserved populations—people of color, low-income populations, and people with disabilities. The analysis looks at the Region’s transportation system –broken out by roadways and transit—across five environmental justice evaluations. Each evaluation provides insight into how well the system serves the people who use it. Together, they provide a picture of how well the transportation system will meet the needs of the Region in 2050.
​For the 2024 Review and Update, the equity analysis summarizes its findings using an interactive map directory that allows users to view findings for each of the elements of the analysis, zoom into areas of interest, and compare the Fiscally Constrained Transportation System (FCTS) and VISION 2050 transportation system.
SUMMARY OF CONCLUSIONS ​
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LAND USE
While VISION 2050 land use recommendations would have a positive impact on everyone in the Region, many recommendations would have a particularly positive impact on people of color, low-income populations, and people with disabilities. None would have an adverse impact on these population groups.​
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TRANSPORTATION
No part of the Region would disproportionately bear the impact of planned freeway and surface arterial capacity improvements. VISION 2050 would significantly increase transportation access and quality to traditionally underserved groups, but a substantial funding gap impedes the Region’s ability to implement the plan. The FCTS, which includes a 30% transit service decline relative to current levels, is the projected transportation system in 2050 if this funding gap is not addressed. Under the FCTS, traditionally underserved populations are likely to be disproportionately affected by transit service reductions.
SELECTED FINDINGS
Key findings from three of the five evaluations are listed in radar charts below. Each uses quantitative measures of how well the transit system works for its users. In these evaluations, Commission staff analyzed the percentage of each demographic group residing in Southeastern Wisconsin who are well served under that measure. The chart lists those percentages under the existing 2023 transit system and the two possible scenarios in 2050: the FCTS and the VISION 2050 system.
For example, over 50% of the regional population with disabilities resides within the existing transit service area in 2023. That percentage is not estimated to change much under the FCTS. But if VISION 2050’s recommended transit system is implemented, over 60% of the regional population with disabilities is projected to live within the transit service area.
Percent of Populations Within Transit Service Area
TRANSIT SERVICE AREA
Commission staff analyzed how much of the Region’s population resides within a walkable distance to transit (the transit service area), which is generally defined as the area within 0.25 to 0.5 miles of a transit line or stop. The size of the transit service area varies depending on the type and frequency of the service.
The transit expansion envisioned in VISION 2050 would significantly increase the number of people in every group with walkable access to transit. Transit service would remain roughly the same under the FCTS.