TOOL 12 Strategies for Centering and Prioritizing Equity in Transportation A s I reflect on the past decade and prepare myself for the months and years ahead, I feel a real sense of professional and personal responsibility to share with my peers and colleagues in transportation effective strategies I have learned as a street-level researcher/urban planner in centering and prioritizing equity in transportation. These strategies are consistent with my belief that effectively centering equity requires an unwavering and unselfish commitment to the fact that equity cannot be achieved without 1) trying to understand and give people what they need to enjoy full healthy lives; 2) ensuring the presence of justice and fairness within the procedures, processes, and distribution of resources by institutions or systems; 3) understanding the underlying or root causes of inequalities and oppression within our society; and 4) deepening our collective knowledge about the connection between social identities, access, mobility, power, and privilege. 42 Fe bruar y 2020 ite j ou rn al Radachynskyi Serhii /Shutterstock.com By Charles T. Brown, MPA, CPD