The role of nonprofit organizations in the expansion of inclusive transportation in Los Angeles

Abstract

ABSTRACT In this research, we examined the efforts of nonprofit organizations (NPOs) involved in the expansion of transportation services to socially disadvantaged groups in Los Angeles—the disabled, low income, new immigrants, and racially minoritized groups. To better understand their efforts and the organizational and structural factors affecting their involvement, 10 NPOs were interviewed between March and July 2020. Those interviews were transcribed and qualitatively analyzed. The qualitative data analysis revealed that partnering with disinvested communities requires a focus on language equity where information should be available in a language that members of the disadvantaged community understand. Moreover, NPOs agreed that diversity and the city size complicate transportation equity. NPOs’ perception of the City of Los Angeles’s role in advancing all-inclusive transportation is mixed. Even though nonprofit organizations acknowledge the City’s commitment to developing robust transit systems, most are critical of the City’s strategies and sense of urgency to provide a transportation system tailored to the transportation-disadvantaged.