Richmond Connects: Needs Analysis

A StoryMap documenting the process to determine the needs for making transportation in Richmond more equitable.

Introduction

“Richmond prioritizes the movement of people over the movement of vehicles through a safe, reliable, equitable, and sustainable transportation network.” - Vision for Equitable Transportation from Richmond 300, the City’s Master Plan, adopted in 2020.

 Richmond Connects  is the City’s plan to work towards the vision for equitable transportation set out in the City’s master plan, Richmond 300. It’s a plan to make transportation in Richmond work for everyone. It’s a process to identify and prioritize multimodal transportation projects and programs in the City of Richmond. It’s focused on equity and will work towards healing injustices by elevating the voices of people harmed in the past and those who experience injustices today. The City of Richmond’s Office of Equitable Transit and Mobility is developing the Richmond Connects plan.

Equity in transportation means removing barriers and increasing access to opportunities, so that no group faces more barriers to accessing opportunities than any other.

Equity Factors

Richmond Connects is guided by 10 Equity Factors - statements within the adopted  Path to Equity policy guide  that articulate what future transportation investments will do to create a more equitable future for all Richmonders.

What are Needs?

The first step in developing the Richmond Connects plan is identifying what needs to be improved to make transportation in Richmond more equitable.

A need describes something that is wrong, lacking, or needs to be fixed. A need is not a solution or a project. Identifying needs before developing projects or solutions allows us to fully understand the interconnected complexities of how the transportation system is inequitable.

How were the Needs identified?

Needs were identified through a combination of data-driven analysis and public input. This StoryMap describes the data-driven analysis and how the results from the public engagement were incorporated. More information on how the public input was gathered is available  www.RVAconnects.com .

The process to analyze the data is centered around 11 Investment Need Categories. The 11 Investment Need Categories (INCs) are defined in the Path to Equity policy guide. They represent the vision, goals, and objectives related to transportation in the Richmond 300 master plan.

The Richmond Connects team analyzed the needs for each Investment Need Category first based on transportation infrastructure and services. The team then applied additional weights to the analysis to reflect equity needs - identifying places and people who have experienced past injustices and present-day disparities.

Public input was also incorporated in the needs analysis. Areas with a cluster of comments pertaining to that Investment Need Category were bumped up to the next need level. This is an enhancement from the draft weighted needs maps that were shared in early February 2023.

Needs Maps

The map series below shows the results of the needs analysis. The Needs Maps are shown for each Investment Need Category.

Each map shows the need areas with four levels of need.

Every area of the City falls into one of these four need levels. High need areas have the highest needs for that Investment Need Category, and will be examined closely for recommendations.

The Needs Maps for Pedestrian, Bicycle, and Transit Investment Need Categories have two side-by-side maps, separated by a slider bar.

  • The map of need areas shows the areas of the City that have transportation-related infrastructure and service needs, weighted to reflect the 10 Equity Factors described above, with public input incorporated.
  • The map of need areas and networks also shows an additional layer, where some streets are shown in purple or blue. These are the streets that people who live in high need areas use to get to their destinations.

The text to the left of each map describes how the needs for that Investment Need Category were calculated.

A list of non-mappable (programmatic and citywide) needs for that Investment Need Category is also provided. These were developed from the public comments, refined by the steering committee, and evaluated.

The non-mappable needs listed in this StoryMap are the top non-mappable needs. These needs were common themes in the community outreach, and either directly impact Communities of Concern or align with a “Super” need.

Other non-mappable needs that represent infrastructure improvement projects or align with a mappable need were removed from the list because they will be addressed by other recommendations.

Public Input

The Needs Maps series above showed the combined results of the data-driven analysis and the public input.

The map series below shows how the public input modified the data-driven analysis results. These maps do not include the network segment needs, as that part of the analysis was conducted after incorporating the public input.

The map series includes all Investment Need Categories, except the following. These Investment Need Categories had few relevant public comments, and the data-driven need scores were not further adjusted.

  • Investment Need Category 3: Freight
  • Investment Need Category 9: Technology
  • Investment Need Category 10: Sustainability

"Super" Needs

In addition to public input being used to bump up the need levels in areas where there were clusters of comments, the public input was also incorporated another way. The top issues from public comments in Communities of Concern (1)  were identified, and vetted back to the public through in-person outreach in communities of concern. These top issues were also noted in the Phase 2 focus groups. Issues that were raised consistently as top issues are considered to be “super” needs. These are the needs that communities of concern consistently raised as needing to be addressed first.

 (1) Communities of Concern are areas with relatively high concentrations of at least three communities of concern populations:

  • BIPOC
  • Low-income
  • Old age
  • Renters
  • Non-English primary language
  • At-risk youth
  • BIPOC renter
  • Limited mobility

These “Super” Needs will be given priority during the development of recommendations.

“Super” Needs in Communities of Concern in East End

“Super” Needs in Communities of Concern in Northside

“Super” Needs in Communities of Concern in Southside - Manchester

“Super” Needs in Communities of Concern in Southside – Midlothian/Swansboro

“Super” Needs in Communities of Concern in Southside – Walmsley/Davee Gardens

Needs Analysis Data

Download the dataset below to access the data that powers the Richmond Connects Needs Analysis.

Final Needs Scores Geodatabase:  popups.gdb