Better road conditions for everyone can be a co-benefit of road maintenance

Pavement management decisions shape how road quality is distributed across communities, yet equity is rarely evaluated as an outcome of standard prioritization practices. This study introduces a framework for assessing whether equity improvements can be a co-benefit of routine pavement maintenance without requiring equity-specific optimization. We propose two methodological advances. First, a community-based Gini coefficient computed at the census block group level, rather than at individual road segments, to meaningfully capture horizontal equity. Second, the Wasserstein distance to quantify vertical equity through distributional comparisons between Environmental Justice and non-Environmental Justice communities rather than relying on centrality measures. Four prioritization strategies combining pavement condition, traffic volume, and nearby population exposure are evaluated using Massachusetts Highway District 3 data (3000 lane-miles, 905 block groups). All strategies improve both equity metrics compared to baseline conditions, achieving up to 75% reduction in vertical disparity and 30% in horizontal inequality under a 150 lane-mile scenario. Crucially, for this case study, sensitivity analysis reveals that population-weighted strategies can widen rural-urban gaps at higher budget levels, while condition-only prioritization may sustain equity gains. These findings demonstrate that better road conditions for all communities can be achieved as a co-benefit of maintenance through careful selection of prioritization factors.