Reformed planning process for transport justice: The experiment of FlexRide Milwaukee

Transportation planning researchers have been advocating for reformed planning processes that feature meaningful engagement of underrepresented stakeholders. Nevertheless, little research has experimented with a reformed planning process in a scientifically designed way, let alone examining the actual outcomes of such a process. The research team had a rare opportunity to plan, implement, and evaluate a new transportation service called FlexRide Milwaukee, which aims to connect workers from inner-city Milwaukee neighborhoods with suburban jobs. The planning process allowed two stakeholder groups—inner-city labor force participants and suburban employers—to drive two service designs. Pilot outcomes showed that the service preferred by the labor force participants attracted significantly more users than the service initially preferred by suburban employers. The experiment revealed the gap between users’ actual travel demand and factors typically prioritized in conventional transportation decision-making processes. Results have important policy implications by demonstrating the positive impacts of empowering underrepresented stakeholders in the planning process and shedding light on opportunities and challenges of improving transport justice through such a process. • We implemented and evaluated a reformed transportation planning process. • Empowering underrepresented groups in transport planning improves service performance. • Service design preferred by underrepresented groups attracted more users.