Intentional collaboration between artists and transportation professionals elevates the virtues of remembering, healing, and co-powering.

The Biden-Harris administration just appointed what is arguably one of the most diverse and talented United States Department of Transportation (USDOT) teams in modern history. They are a dynamic group of appointees with federal, state, regional, and municipal experience who have committed themselves, personally and professionally, to equity and inclusion in transportation and mobility. They are as close to a “justice league” as one could expect in the USDOT, and their arrival could not have come at a better time. Nationwide, communities of color—particularly Black and Brown communities—have been bearing the full force of Trump’s anti-environmental agenda, along with police violence and discrimination. And as if that were not enough, while they struggle with the racial and health equity implications of COVID-19, they’re also battling gentrification and displacement, underinvestment and disinvestment in infrastructure, and gross disparities in transportation-related injuries and fatalities.

Recently, many USDOT staff members have worked extensively with local artists to advance racial equity and inclusion in the creation of healthier, safer, and more livable communities. It’s this willingness to work with local artists that ultimately gives me hope and joy, because I believe intentional collaboration between artists and transportation professionals will ultimately lead to a new practice that rejects seeing equity and inclusion as mere aesthetics and pageantry, and instead elevates the virtues of remembering, healing, and co-powering.

Here’s why:

Artists evoke and advance the communal power of remembering. Many transportation professionals feel burdened by, and ashamed of, past institutional and organizational decisions (e.g., highway widening and the destruction of BIPOC communities). So they prefer to avoid conversations about the past and to focus solely on the present or the future. Artists, on the other hand, recover important moments in the past and make connections between them and present times. This is most often achieved through their strategic use and placement of murals, statues, historic markers, and other creations. Murals, for instance, can be located on buildings to showcase social unity and local culture, history, and talent; or they can be installed at roadway intersections to reduce vehicular speeding, create unique pedestrian experiences, and improve the overall safety and security of residents and visitors. Similarly, statues and historic markers may be used to promote tourism and other contributors to economic vitality, and to support cycling and walking tours.

These efforts have broad implications for health. Not only do they improve the physical health and well-being of a community by encouraging outdoor activity, but they can also boost mental health by creating public gathering places where social connection defeats painful and unhealthy isolation. Unfortunately, while transportation professionals generally support these art-connected efforts, too often the projects are not prioritized and are categorized as “additional enhancements.” Artists dedicate their skills, talents, and imaginations to the pursuit of collective healing, whereas transportation professionals have often prioritized technical issues—what types of vehicles to emphasize or employ, how often trains or trams run, and so on—over broader and deeper community needs.

Artists have come to recognize the importance of co-powering with communities through intentional and meaningful engagement and involvement, while transportation professionals often struggle to work in these ways. The artists’ efforts can take the form of arts-based civic engagement, individual and community-level activism, or tactical urbanism.

Not long ago I was honored to partner with city officials, the Trenton Health Team, Street Plans Collaborative, residents, and a local artist on the installation of a roadway mural at an intersection near a local elementary school in Trenton, New Jersey. The overall purpose of the project was to improve personal and traffic safety along the corridor, as well as to highlight the importance of unity, community pride, and social cohesion. The bottom-up process brought together the grassroots (i.e., residents) and the grasstops (i.e., institutions and businesses) and resulted in a positive outcome for all parties involved. As one participant noted, “Art projects like this instill pride in the neighborhoods and are important for rejuvenating those who have been beaten down by the harsh realities that can come with living in cities.”

Given the all-star USDOT team working under the leadership of President Biden and Vice President Harris, there is no time like right now for better collaboration and synergy between transportation professionals and artists. It’s absolutely essential that racial equity and inclusion be at the center of transportation and mobility. Of course, the path forward will not be easy, but the necessary work can be done, if artists and transportation professionals join hands, heads, and hearts.