With support from the Kresge Foundation, and in partnership with Forecast Public Art, Smart Growth America (SGA) is now accepting applications for the second round of the Arts & Transportation Rapid Response, an initiative for transit agencies looking to creatively and quickly address pandemic-related transportation challenges.
West Central Initiative (WCI), a rural regional planning agency in west central Minnesota, worked with artist Naomi RaMona Schliesman to come up with creative, safe ways to engage the community during COVID-19 and better inform their Safe Routes to School planning.
Bay Area Rapid Transit worked with artist Tosha Stimage to pilot an approach to normalize the culture of wearing a mask on transit and deconstruct the racism worsened by COVID-19.
The Regional Transportation Commission of Southern Nevada worked with artist Ashley Hairston Doughty and public art consultant Mark Salinas to design signage that would effectively educate the public about social distancing and safe transit riding practices at their main transit hub, the Bonneville Transit Center.
The City of Detroit worked with Detroit-based designer Ndubisi Okoye to help bridge the first- and last-mile gaps between bus stops and the city’s recreation centers that are providing crucial resources during COVID-19.
The City of Oakland worked with artist Jonathan Brumfield to pilot a solution for more aesthetically pleasing, sturdy Oakland Slow Streets barricades that better reflect East Oakland culture and still support safe distancing while traveling and exercising during the pandemic.
Facing incredible challenges during the pandemic, the creative practices of artists have helped five transportation agencies better respond to the rapidly changing demands related to public space, getting around safely, mask wearing, social distancing, and communicating about rules and regulations changing daily.
There’s a lot happening at SGA this week and next—don’t miss these six chances to learn more, hear some vital discussions, and hopefully help fuel your own local advocacy for building sustainable, equitable communities. It starts tomorrow, Tuesday, October 20:
Smart Growth America is excited to announce the selection of five artists for our Arts & Transportation Rapid Response initiative. These five artists will be working in tandem with five local transportation agencies to design and implement projects that address pandemic-related transportation challenges and systemic inequities.
American transportation is rife with inequality that makes it more difficult for low-income people, people of color, and people with disabilities to get where they need to go, and can put them at greater risk. Today’s inequalities reflect the racism and ableism of the era in which much of today’s network was built, but they also still pervade federal transportation policy. The INVEST Act—a transportation policy proposal in the U.S. House—offers a major first step towards a more equitable transportation system by breaking with many policies of the past.