The Transit to Trails Act is Essential for Our Environmental Liberation

The Transit to Trails Act aims to provide grants to underserved communities to create mobility to public lands, waters, and parks. The author asserts that this legislation is critical because communities of color are three times more likely than white communities to live in nature-deprived places. The document highlights significant underrepresentation of Black, Hispanic, Asian-American, and Native American populations in national parks, often due to transportation barriers. It specifically notes that urban Latino Americans are twice as likely to rely on public transit than urban White Americans, and that 69% of Bay Area Latinos lack access to a personal vehicle. The act is presented as a means to improve public health, air quality, and environmental liberation.

• The Transit to Trails Act (H.R.3092 and S.1440) proposes providing grants to underserved communities to establish mobility to federal or non-federal public lands, waters, parkland, monuments, and recreational opportunities, as well as providing linguistically appropriate education materials.
• Communities of color and low-income populations in the U.S. face a significant "nature gap," with communities of color being three times more likely than white communities to live in nature-deprived areas, and 70% of low-income communities living in such areas.
• There is a stark disparity in the visitation of national parks by race; a 2011 High Country News report indicated that Hispanics accounted for fewer than 10% of visitors, Black Americans 7%, Asian-Americans 3%, and Native Americans 1%.
• Transportation barriers significantly limit access to nature for Latino and Hispanic communities, with urban Latino Americans being twice as likely to rely on public transit than urban White Americans, and 69% of Latinos in the Bay Area lacking a personal vehicle.
• Disparities in nature access extend to state parks, with evidence from Pennsylvania showing that Black and Latino respondents were less likely to have visited a state park compared to other ethnicities, citing a lack of public transportation as a major factor.

APA

GreenLatinos (2023). The Transit to Trails Act is Essential for Our Environmental Liberation. GreenLatinos. https://www.greenlatinos.org/the-transit-to-trails-act-is-essential-for-our-environmental-liberation/

Chicago

GreenLatinos. The Transit to Trails Act is Essential for Our Environmental Liberation. GreenLatinos, 2023. https://www.greenlatinos.org/the-transit-to-trails-act-is-essential-for-our-environmental-liberation/.

Wikipedia

{{cite press release |last1=GreenLatinos |title=The Transit to Trails Act is Essential for Our Environmental Liberation |publisher=GreenLatinos |date=1 June 2023 |url=https://www.greenlatinos.org/the-transit-to-trails-act-is-essential-for-our-environmental-liberation/ |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@misc{greenlatinos2023transit, author = {GreenLatinos}, title = {{The Transit to Trails Act is Essential for Our Environmental Liberation}}, publisher = {GreenLatinos}, year = {2023}, month = jun, url = {https://www.greenlatinos.org/the-transit-to-trails-act-is-essential-for-our-environmental-liberation/}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }