Fiscal redistribution must be progressive

Few public initiatives in surface transportation are crafted and promoted mainly to further equity objectives. Once they are in the political arena, however, equity claims are generally prominent in debates about them. The most successful equity claims, historically, have been principally those in the second set (benefits should be proportional to payments) rather than the first (government should tilt in favor of the poor and weak). Two caveats, however. Redistribution is a significant if secondary theme of urban mass transit policy. And the defensive redistributive concept here labeled Do No Harm serves as an important constraint on initiatives in the overall surface transportation arena, ranging from construction proposals entailing displacement of residents to fiscal proposals that would accentuate current disparities between advantaged and disadvantaged groups.

TABLE 1 Equity Concepts