PROJECT DESCRIPTION

Conventional urban planning and community engagement practices often unintentionally leave out those who are most directly affected by planning decisions. The young, the old, and people with disabilities are the most vulnerable to traffic violence. They are also groups who are not likely to show up at a conventional engagement pop-up or event. 

In 2023, LA Metro asked Public Matters to join its community engagement efforts through these standard means. The engagements were to inform planning of the Eastside Transit Corridor Phase 2 First/Last Mile (FLM) and the two stations being built on Atlantic Boulevard in East LA—one at Pomona, the other at Whittier. 

Public Matters declined. 

Instead, it proposed an alternative strategy: work with five key East LA groups—runners, skaters, youth, seniors, women, and those with mobility impairments who would have failed to participate otherwise—to lead Community-led Video Tours to provide input on LA Metro’s expansion and future East LA stations. This would not only ensure participation of the groups in planning efforts, but more importantly, representation of their unique experiences traveling through the area. Public Matters also ensured that its specific planning and programmatic recommendations were highlighted and easy for LA Metro’s planners to find. 

From September 2023 to March 2024, Public Matters, equipped with video and audio gear, followed, recorded, and interviewed these local experts as they walked, cycled, skated, or rolled, at times with their pets, through their neighborhood stomping ground. As they guided Public Matters through streets, stations, bus stops, businesses, parks, and more, they shared stories, insight, excitement, safety concerns, and a wishlist for improving their streets and making commutes safer and more enjoyable—particularly in anticipation of LA Metro’s future plans.

Public Matters created five video “tours” of the area, providing LA Metro with specific, actionable recommendations and an example of how meaningful and effective community engagement in their planning process can be achieved.

The insights and suggestions of these groups, who otherwise would have been excluded,  are now featured in LA Metro’s plans. More so, the strategy has been lauded and promoted by LA Metro. 

CONTEXT

Atlantic Boulevard serves as a major thoroughfare running through East LA. To describe it as bustling with frenetic energy barely scratches the surface. This is especially evident at Pomona and on Whittier boulevards, where LA Metro plans to build two new Metro stations.

Currently, at and around these intersections, students, parents, runners, and commuters engage in a daily scramble, navigating a sea of cars, trucks, and buses vying for space. Skateboarders and cyclists seek refuge on sidewalks already overcrowded with pedestrians and vendors. The lack of bike lanes and the constant press of humanity can make even a simple walk unnerving and unsafe. 

Street safety concerns loom large in East LA, with the area having one of the highest rates of collision concentration corridors in LA County. The LA County Vision Zero Action Plan identifies at least 15 collision concentration corridors across 11 streets, including iconic Whittier Boulevard, which ranks among the top 20 least safe streets in the County. 

Easy access to forms of transportation without a car within a half-mile radius of transit is the most critical factor in whether or not people are likely to use public transit. Known as the “first/last mile connection,” LA Metro’s goal is to make it easier to walk, bike or roll to and from their nearest station or bus stop. 

The expansion of the Metro E line and the addition of the two Metro stations at these critical junctions offer a glimpse of relief, but they also present complex planning challenges, much like navigating Atlantic Boulevard at the peak of rush hour. Crosswalks offer limited visibility and insufficient time to cross, while inadequate tree canopy and sparse bus shelters do little to protect the many who rely on public transportation. For parents, the thought of their children walking alone to and from the six schools in the area is a constant source of anxiety. 

Read First/Last Mile | Next stop: vibrant communities. to learn more.

ENGAGEMENT

Public Matters worked closely with each group to craft a series of questions and a route map that would best introduce the groups, how they get around the areas, the mobility challenges they face, and their suggestions for improving street safety and accessibility. 

Public Matters fostered a sense of shared ownership, a true stake, in LA Metro’s planning process for groups that had no connection to LA Metro. They engaged as true partners, which built trust and ensured that LA Metro’s planning aligned with the community’s real needs and aspirations. Additionally, the video footage was carefully edited and produced with intentional language and guidance about planning recommendations that were shown through maps, graphics, captions and messages for LA Metro’s planners.

For LA Metro, effectively engaging these particular community members in planning issues increased the likelihood of successful implementation of their projects. If the experiences of those who are the most vulnerable are incorporated into plans, the safety of others will follow. Stakeholders provide insights about their neighborhoods that LA Metro might overlook or not fully understand without the lived experiences of these groups guiding them. Finally, when people feel heard and valued, they are more likely to support and maintain projects over the long term. This is critical to LA Metro’s need to build community trust and relationships.

MOVING CON SAFOS INTERNS

Video

Moving Con Safos (MCS) was a paid summer internship for high school students run by Public Matters for East LA Moves/El Este Se Mueve, a three-year undertaking with LA County Public Works to promote active transportation in East LA by celebrating local culture. Grounded in transportation planning concepts, interns were trained to be active transportation advocates and ambassadors. Drawing from their personal experiences getting around East LA and knowledge of transportation planning, they offered informed perspectives on street safety improvements. Three MCS interns, who study or work within the first/last mile area of the two proposed stations, led the video tour. 

Recommendations

• Signalized Crossing
• Underpass Improvements
• Safer Public Transit Access 
• Complete Streets
• High-Visibility Crosswalks

IMPACT 

Public Matters made LA Metro’s planning process more inclusive and representative of key users of East LA’s streets and sidewalks. These will make plans not only more effective, they set a tone for how LA Metro can conduct future community engagements. Public Matters, leaning on its long-standing work in street safety and transportation, along with its networks in East LA, made this possible. 

As always, Public Matters invested heavily in time and community building to make sure community perspectives were clear and well understood.

Public Matters Impact: 

• Ensured that LA Metro had the necessary local knowledge about the most important locations and interventions to prioritize in their planning
• Generated goodwill between the community stakeholders and LA Metro, creating a foundation for future transportation and street safety projects with a supportive network for public agencies
• Brought visibility to voices that are often left out of planning conversations and allowed different types of individuals to envision themselves participating in discussions and activities to shape the future of their communities
• Created a platform that truly values community stakeholders by giving time and respect to their stories, opinions, experiences, and ideas—an approach that stands in stark contrast to many outreach efforts that often limit stakeholders to 60 seconds of commentary or require them to condense their contribution into a form or survey

To its credit, LA Metro not only embraced a new concept and format for its planning processes and engagements but also celebrated this.

• It held a community screening and celebration that was attended by close to 100 representatives of the groups, and followed Public Matters’ suggestion by giving each individual an award for their participation. 
• LA Metro and Public Matters presented the project at the MPact transportation conference in Philadelphia. 
• LA Metro’s board screened the videos and raved about them. 
• The Community-Led Video Tours now live on LA Metro’s YouTube platform, with nearly 27,000 subscribers, expanding community reach and serving as a reminder to continue to stay involved.
• Most importantly, the community’s voices were heard, and their messages resonated. LA Metro listened and incorporated the groups’ suggestions, concerns, and hopes into their plans.