Sidewalk Accessibility, Sidewalk Justice Conceptions of Equity in Cities' Prioritization of Pedestrian Accessibility Improvements

The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) requires that pedestrian public rights-of-way, where provided, be accessible to people with disabilities. Yet the cost of making the existing pedestrian network accessible is too high to undertake all at once. Local governments must prioritize their efforts, which necessarily involves decisions about what distribution of resources is equitable and fair. Various traditions of thinking about disability and the sidewalk influence decisions by providing preconceived ideas of equity. I propose a taxonomy of equity conceptions that are relevant to prioritizing accessibility in the pedestrian network, which I use to analyze the results of a survey given to officials in cities and counties throughout the United States. I find that local governments' prioritization strategies are most strongly influenced by the principle of adequacy, by the principles of proportionality to population, advocacy, and preferences, and to a slightly lesser extent by the principle of equal opportunity.