Equity

Goal: Prioritize diversity, equity and inclusion by identifying and addressing systemic barriers to ensure all Oregonians benefit from transportation services and investments.

Last updated: 07/24/24

Transportation decisions have unequally impacted some communities and populations. This has led to an unequal and less safe experience with transportation systems for these communities. These decisions have also affected neighborhoods, economic development, and air quality for generations.

We are working to address current transportation inequalities. That means giving users a say in decisions that affect them, especially groups that have been historically underserved and excluded from the process.

Tools like the Social Equity Index Map help us integrate equity into our investment decisions

The social equity index map identifies overlaps among Oregon's vulnerable populations and ODOT programs and projects. The map shows how many people are in a community, and adds together people who:

• Are 65 and older.

• Live in poverty.

• Have limited English proficiency.

• Have a disability.

The map also identifies people's Race/Ethnicity (non-white and Hispanic populations).

The Social Equity Index Map shows areas where social vulnerability factors overlap, indicating potential levels of inequity.

Putting this information together gives us a better understanding of communities that have been historically marginalized and how our work impacts these populations.

For example:

The Safe Routes to School Education and Construction programs are using the map to score how proposed projects address transportation disparities.

The Oregon Community Paths Program uses the map to identify areas where multiuse paths are needed the most.

We're creating new, inclusive ways to hear from more people in the communities we serve

We're reviewing our internal policies to ensure they foster equitable community outcomes.
The Equitable Engagement Compensation Program pays people in Oregon who provide feedback about ODOT projects or initiatives.
Community Engagement Contracts (CEC) build capacity with Community Based Organizations to serve as prime contractors for community engagement services.

Expanding our workforce diversity to reflect the communities we serve across Oregon

Diversifying how we look, listen and act helps us to be more culturally responsive and helps us achieve equitable outcomes.

2023 ODOT workforce compared to Oregon 2022 cencus data Source: US Census Data, ODOT Workforce Choice Index

We are expanding workforce development efforts

Women and people of color face unique challenges to entering the construction industry. Financial barriers are a factor for many communities, too. We have partnered with the Oregon Bureau of Labor and Industries to add more diversity in hiring, increase apprenticeship numbers and provide resources for training.

Services includes:

Classes to prepare workers for apprenticeship.
Resources to pay for childcare and travel costs.
Training for respectful and inclusive workplaces.

Source: ODOT Office of Equity and Civil Rights, BOLI

We also work with the Oregon Department of Corrections to train adults who are incarcerated. Two of our DMV customer assistance call centers are staffed by adults in custody who receive extensive training as phone agents.
We are also testing a program that certifies female inmates as equipment operators or laborers. After their release from prison, they can use these certifications to directly transition into our highway appenticeships and workforce. So far, the new program has proven popular:

Application numbers are 5 times what we can accept for each cohort.

Our programs are increasing contracting opportunities for DBEs

Disadvantaged Business Enterprises (DBE) are businesses owned and controlled by socially and economically disadvantaged individuals. ODOT offers supportive services like professional training, mentoring, and consulting services which help develop a firm’s ability to perform successfully on ODOT contracts. While we are making progress, there is still work to do to reduce or eliminate barriers and we are commited to ensuring DBEs are successful in doing business with us.

From 2021 to 2023:

$240 million awarded to disadvantage business enterprises

ODOT awarded approximately $1.87 billion in contracts for 244 projects.
12.87 % of ODOT awarded contracts value, $240.46 million, went to Disadvantaged Business Enterprises. This includes both prime and subcontractors.

Visit our Equity and Civil Rights websites to learn more

2024-2028 Strategic Actions

Annual - Utilize local community census data to better understand where to invest in recruitment outreach that better aligns our workforce with the communities our positions serve.

2024 - Expand programs to inform and engage historically underutilized businesses to increase contracting opportunities with ODOT.

2025 - Implement Equity Engagement Toolkit on ODOT projects and programs to ensure Oregonians influence agency decisions and local communities are involved in infrastructure development.

2026 - Create and build upon current workforce development, employee engagement, and belonging efforts to enhance workforce diversity, remove barriers to employment for underrepresented populations and retain employees.

2026 - Secure three statewide Community Engagement Contracts (CEC) to build capacity with Community Based Organizations to serve as prime contractors for community engagement services now and in the future.

2026 - Apply an equity lens to ODOT investment decisions, increasing more equitable outcomes.

2028 - Establish, review and update policies that have an impact on the communities that we serve and those doing business with ODOT to ensure equitable outcomes.

2024-2028 Strategic Action Plan Outcome Area

2024 Efforts Underway

Strategic Action Plan
Reporting to the governor about our efforts to improve equity in procurement and contracting. Improving data collection. Evaluating equity outcomes in state construction projects to inform investment decisions.	Building a data metric for tracking equitable community engagement on ODOT programs and projects that make is to construction. Developing framework and updating approach for policy reviews.
Other Ongoing Efforts
Using data and maps of crashes, social eqity indices, multimodal networks, and environmental risks to prioritze investmes and solutions. Establishing equity targets for the Oregon Transporation Plan by mid-2025. Reducing contracting burdens for Oregon BIPOCS-,Tribal-,and women owned businesses. Evaluating and improving aspirational contracting goals for Oregon BIPOC-, Tribal-, and women-owned businesses. Using our Workforce Choice Index tool to track and compare workforce demographics to the communities we serve, to set goals and become better aligned.	Using census data to inform the recruitment outreach and advertising plans for agency job openings. Delivering live employee training on inclusion, self-paced modules are being developed. Using the Labor Equity program to invest in the labor needs of the heavy highway construction industry and building a diverse workforce. Developing a transportation job program though the 504 E grant aimed at building skills in people from underrepresented employee populations. Embedding equity and removing exclusionary language in position descriptions.