Sustainable Cities And Communities
  • 11.1.1 Proportion of urban population living in slums, informal settlements or inadequate housing
  • 11.2.1 Proportion of population that has convenient access to public transport, by sex, age and persons with disabilities
  • 11.3.1 Ratio of land consumption rate to population growth rate
  • 11.3.2 Proportion of cities with a direct participation structure of civil society in urban planning and management that operate regularly and democratically
  • 11.4.1 Total per capita expenditure on the preservation, protection and conservation of all cultural and natural heritage, by source of funding (public, private), type of heritage (cultural, natural) and level of government (national, regional, and local/municipal)
  • 11.5.1 Number of deaths, missing persons and directly affected persons attributed to disasters per 100,000 population
  • 11.5.2 Direct economic loss in relation to global GDP, damage to critical infrastructure and number of disruptions to basic services, attributed to disasters
  • 11.6.1 Proportion of municipal solid waste collected and managed in controlled facilities out of total municipal waste generated, by cities
  • 11.6.2 Annual mean levels of fine particulate matter (e.g. PM2.5 and PM10) in cities (population weighted)
  • 11.7.1 Average share of the built-up area of cities that is open space for public use for all, by sex, age and persons with disabilities
  • 11.7.2 Proportion of persons victim of physical or sexual harassment, by sex, age, disability status and place of occurrence, in the previous 12 months
  • 11.a.1 Number of countries that have national urban policies or regional development plans that (a) respond to population dynamics; (b) ensure balanced territorial development; and (c) increase local fiscal space
  • 11.b.1 Number of countries that adopt and implement national disaster risk reduction strategies in line with the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction 2015–2030
  • 11.b.2 Proportion of local governments that adopt and implement local disaster risk reduction strategies in line with national disaster risk reduction strategies
  • No suitable replacement indicator was proposed. The global statistical community is encouraged to work to develop an indicator that could be proposed for the 2025 comprehensive review. See E/CN.3/2020/2, paragraph 23.

    • 11.2.1 Proportion of population that has convenient access to public transport, by sex, age and persons with disabilities

    Washington DC has a history of limited public transportation access for many of its residents. According to analyses conducted by the Washington Post and the Arlington County Community Services’ research and development branch, known as MobilityLab, a lack of metro stations and bus service in the eastern and southern parts of the city has resulted in longer commutes for residents in that area than those who live in northwest DC, or beyond the border into the wealthy suburbs of Maryland. Additionally, according to the Transit Center, metro access to key public services such as hospitals, universities, and grocery stores can take up to three times as long as travel by car. Overall, only 30% of DC residents are within walking distance (half a mile) to a metro rail station. 

    The distribution of public transportation stations and access has been fueled by structural racism discrimination over the past few decades, and has resulted in significantly longer transportation times for residents living in wards 5, 7, and 8, all of which are comprised of a people of color majority, in addition to having poverty rates above 15% (the worst of which being Ward 8, with a poverty rate of almost 37%). According to the Transit Center, the average Black resident can reach 160,893 jobs in a 45 minute commute by public transportation, while the average white resident can reach 256,140 in the same amount of time. Other minority groups also have less access to jobs, with Hispanic residents having access to 157,040 jobs and Asian residents having access to 184,018. By car, the average resident in general can reach 1,931,451 jobs, regardless of their origin point. This difference was particularly exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic, in which the average commute to a hospital on a weekday by transit was 40 minutes for all residents, compared to an average of 10 minutes by car. 

    Due to disproportionate poverty rates for people of color as a result of structural racism and financial discrimination, they are more likely to depend on public transportation due to lack of affordability for owning a car and using ride share services in the city. During the COVID-19 pandemic, this meant that, despite curtailed transportation services, these residents still relied on them as their primary form of transportation, compared to car-owning residents who were able to use alternative transportation methods. Further, approximately 2,600 residents working late-night shifts, such as janitors and food service employees had less access to transportation during the pandemic, in which rail services ended at 11:30pm, as opposed to midnight on weekdays. 

    DC’s government has several initiatives to expand public transportation access within the District. DC’s Sustainable DC 2.0 Program, which aims at improving development across the city in general, includes transportation as a focus area. The plan calls for consistent, expanded funding to improve transit systems, specifically for connecting low-income neighborhoods to metro rail and improving services in high congestion areas. Further, the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA) has several goals to be completed by 2025, including expanding the metrobus fleet by 400 vehicles and increasing the number of line transfer points on high-use metro routes, such as the Blue Line. However, there have yet to be plans to construct new metro stops to underserved communities, largely due to high costs and lack of widespread support for public transportation systems in favor of interstate travel. Overall, significant funding requirements to improve the DC public transportation system remain a key barrier to achieving many of the goals touted in the Sustainability Plan and WMATA’s 2025 initiatives. 

    On a related note, in an attempt to decrease congestion and car use in the District, a priority for DC remains to boost ridership on public transportation services in general. This includes a history of proposals to provide a discounted fare for low-income residents to increase accessibility to the service, and, most recently, a DC Budget Office proposal to provide every DC adult resident and young child  $100 a month for metro use. While expanding access to public transit on a financial level does not solve the issue of a lack of infrastructure in underserved communities, it will ease the burden of low-income families who dedicate significant portions of their income to their commute.