Engaging Vulnerable Populations Using Participatory Mapping: Lessons Learned and Guidelines for Community Advocates and Transportation Planners

INTRODUCTION AND SCOPE Individual travel behavior shapes every aspect of transportation planning, ranging from the development and maintenance of key infrastructure to the routine management of transportation operations. The research that frames this paper takes the position that contemporary transportation planning models and decision frameworks do not directly address the travel needs of low-income people for two main reasons; first, because the travel behaviors of low-income people are not well understood; and second, the exclusive focus on the journey-to-work does not effectively capture the lived transportation experience of many vulnerable populations.