We won't know the full impact of COVID-19 for months or even years, but it's already clear the pandemic is further exposing gaping inequities in our society. Our team is working to identify who's vulnerable to the secondary COVID-19 impacts like homelessness or loss of income, and how we can navigate the coming rent crisis, preserve access to open space, and rescue our public transit systems.
Social Vulnerabilities in the Region
Led by our Senior Planner Marcel Negret, we've been overlaying COVID-19 case data with the Center for Disease Control’s Social Vulnerability Index and other data to assess who's vulnerable not only to health risks but also to secondary impacts like homelessness, loss of income, and isolation. It’s difficult to provide conclusive findings while the COVID-19 curve is still evolving and tracking methods are still being refined. Still, it’s becoming clear that the pandemic has further exposed the systemic inequalities of our society, many of which are manifested in the form of a segregated and spatially divided region.
New Rochelle Offers Glimpse at Recovery
One of the first clusters of coronavirus in New York appeared in the city of New Rochelle in Westchester County. The city and the state took comprehensive measures to contain the spread, and new data show those measures have been effective. Mayor Bramson joined RXR Realty CEO and RPA Chairman Scott Rechler and RPA President Tom Wright for a conversation about the city’s experience with coronavirus and what recovery could look like, presented by Crain’s New York Business. “If we learn the lessons that are playing out right now,” said Bramson, “we can use that to create a more just society.”
Where's the Rent?
An estimated 30% of Americans didn't pay rent April 1st. Some states have moratoriums on evictions, but what happens when those expire? The rent burden can't just fall on tenants who don’t have the means to make rent, nor just on landlords who need to pay workers, banks, utilities, and taxes. Creditors and banks - the people the landlord pays money to - need to step up, according to Vice President for Housing and Neighborhood Planning Moses Gates in RPA Lab .
Keep the Parks Open
To slow the spread of COVID-19, all three states in the region have rightly closed playgrounds, ball courts, and open space where there’s shoulder-to-shoulder contact. But we must keep our parks open, especially wilderness areas and passive parks that we can use while being spread apart. Fresh air and exercise are key for mental health and parks are essential for those isolated at home, writes RPA Senior Fellow for Parks and Open Space Rose Harvey in City & State NY . Access to parks can also reduce the risk of hypertension, diabetes, and respiratory illnesses, pre-existing conditions which make people more vulnerable to COVID-19.
NYC COVID-19 FAQs , from THE CITY NYC
CT COVID-19 resources from Hartford Courant
Regional Collaboration
The governors of Connecticut, Delaware, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, and Rhode Island announced that their states would work together on a unified plan to re-open their economies in the wake of COVID-19. RPA praised the governors for recognizing that COVID-19 knows no political boundaries, especially in the Washington-to-Boston corridor where 17% of the nation’s population is concentrated on just 2% of the land. We also offered basic principles for a common strategy, emphasizing that protecting public health and restarting the economy are complementary – not conflicting – goals. (Photo: WABC)
Centering Racial and Health Equity in Regional Planning
Earlier this year, 30 representatives from 11 regions across the US specializing in planning, public health, advocacy, and community development met in New Orleans for the second convening of RPA's Healthy Regions Planning Exchange . Cohorts from each region shared how they’ve been working to incorporate health and equity into regional planning in their area, from Multnomah County, Oregon to the Twin Cities to Western New York, and strategized about new challenges ahead. We're continuing these conversations online to better understand the impact of COVID-19 on planning across the country.
How Will New Jersey Spend New Toll Revenue?
Our New Jersey Director Nat Bottigheimer wrote to the New Jersey Turnpike Authority (NJTA) expressing RPA’s concerns about the timing and implementation of the Authority’s proposed toll increases. Before committing to new spending, the NJ Department of Transportation should work with NJTA and NJ Transit to release a broad transportation vision and identify how this new revenue will help achieve that vision. This plan should prioritize funding for NJ Transit, reconsider investments that don’t conform to the state’s climate change goals, and recognize what the COVID crisis means for NJ’s travel patterns and fiscal situation.
Marking 50 Years of Earth Day During a Pandemic
For Earth Day, our VP for Energy and Environment Rob Freudenberg takes us back to 1972 when the ‘blue marble’ photo had a paradigm-shifting effect on the generation that saw it. Fast forward about 50 years, and we find ourselves in unfortunately familiar territory to the years leading up to the environmental advances of the early 1970’s. Against this backdrop comes COVID-19. This moment is teaching us, with alarming clarity, what we already knew: environmental health and human health are inextricably linked.
Kate Slevin
Senior Vice President, State Programs and Advocacy
Congress recently allocated $25 billion in rescue funding to transit agencies nationwide. Was that enough? 
It was a good start, especially considering the initial proposal had no funding for emergency transit aid. Yet the needs of the MTA, NJ Transit, and the Port Authority are much greater than what they received. Consider the numbers for the MTA. Ridership is down 93%-97% on subways and commuter trains. Toll revenue is down 62%. Billions have been lost in state dedicated aid. The MTA is saying that the total financial hit on the agency due COVID-19 will be $7-8.5 billion. I’m not sure if people realize how scary this is for our public transit system and our city’s future, so we’re working with a big coalition to get more emergency aid for the MTA into the next recovery bill.

What can both transit agencies and riders do to better protect transit employees against COVID-19? 
Subway, bus and train operators, and all the transit agency staff working right now are some of the many heroes of this crisis. MTA and NJTransit tell us they’ve given Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) to all the employees who need it. CT Transit was still distributing PPE as of about two weeks ago. Distribution has been inconsistent across the country, and many labor and justice groups locally and nationally have asked for a more coordinated response from federal government. In the meantime, the Federal Transit Administration issued a full list of guidance .

Looking forward to the recovery, we have to ensure buses keep moving swiftly through streets, and don’t get stuck in traffic. There will be a period of time when more people are getting around, and traffic is growing, but many essential workers will still be on the front lines dealing with this. We have a responsibility to get them to their jobs on time and in a safe, uncrowded way.

On a personal note, you just got a puppy and are tackling online learning for your two kids. Can you share some of the challenges (and joys) of parenting during this time? 
I won’t lie, our house is chaos! This has been a hard time for everyone, and extra caregiving and remote school certainly puts more pressure on many of us. It’s so hard to grasp that every family in the region is managing right now without school, and there are so many families also dealing with food or housing insecurity, sickness, the mental pressure of working on the front lines, and lack of internet access. 
 
For me, I’ve been thankful to keep doing the work I love to build support for cleaner transportation options, and for a boss and colleagues who understand that everyone is in a different situation and we all need extra support right now. Also, getting into nature has always been healing for us as a family, and has been especially important during this time.

What else have you been working on?
For the past year we’ve been working a lot on the interconnection of urban planning and health equity through the Healthy Regions Planning Exchange. We’ve focused on policies to address the racial inequality that underscores so much urban planning. Together, we talked about how mistakes have repeated themselves over generations, and how to heal from this trauma and recover.

COVID-19 is yet another terrible event affecting vulnerable populations and people of color the hardest, and illustrating the trauma of an unequal society. I hope this crisis gives us enough energy and momentum to fix these underlying issues. Everyone at RPA is trying to map out a path to do that.

Are there potential positive developments for transportation that you can see coming out of this crisis? 
The future is daunting, and we are all living day-to-day. Here’s what I hope - NYC gets billions more in immediate federal transit aid within the next few weeks to stave off a worst case scenario, a big infrastructure package is passed later in 2020, congestion pricing goes into effect sometime in 2021, and within a few years the recovery is well underway and transit starts to regain itself.  

I don’t know what the future will bring, but I do know many of us lived through 9/11, the 2008 financial crisis, and Superstorm Sandy. NYC recovered. We all became stronger because of those experiences. People came together and fixed the city. This is a different situation, but I have no doubt in this region’s ability to restore and renew.