Fifty years ago – just two years after the 1964 Civil Rights Act was enacted – President Johnson signed the act creating the US Department of Transportation. The two events might seem unconnected, but they are inextricably linked.

Transportation has always been a civil rights issue. Throughout our history, the transportation and civil rights have been intertwined…for good and bad. Just look at three seminal moments in the long spectrum of the fight for civil rights: Plessy v. Ferguson, the Montgomery Bus Boycott, and the Freedom Rides. They all centered on the ability of all people to have equal access to transportation because you cannot exercise your full rights as a citizen or develop your full potential if you cannot move freely.

But while we eventually desegregated the buses and trains, we didn’t do as good a job at making our transportation systems and decision-making truly inclusive. That’s much harder work.

We at DOT have an obligation to do our part to make sure that transportation decisions are inclusive and connect people and communities to opportunity. We take that obligation seriously. That’s why, as we celebrate DOT’s 50^th Anniversary, we’re marking 2016 as the Year of Opportunity.

Transportation determines whether the people can get hired and reach jobs. It determines how long it will take people to get to work and how quickly they can return to their homes and families. It affects the quality of the air they breathe, how they access healthcare, where they can live, and where their children go to school.

But, for decades, we measured the success of our transportation efforts by system performance, structural capacity, and how efficiently we moved people from Point A to Point B. However, we often thought very little about what was going on between Point A and Point B. We paid scant attention to the lives and needs of communities in between affluent suburbs and commercial downtown centers. The people in those communities were all-too-often invisible, and as a result they were left disconnected, struggling to get to work, to school, to the grocery store, to the doctor.

Transportation projects can ensure reliable, safe, and affordable access to jobs, education, and other essential services. But that isn’t happening for everyone. For example, a New York University Rudin Center for Transportation study compared neighborhoods by accessibility to mass transit and the number of jobs within an hour’s commute. It found that areas with some, but insufficient, access to transportation — had the highest rates of unemployment and the lowest incomes. On the other hand, residents of areas well-served by transit or who could rely on personal vehicles had reasonable access to opportunity.

The choices we make regarding transportation infrastructure at the Federal, State, and local levels can revitalize communities, create pathways to work, and connect people to a better quality of life.

Secretary Foxx has made very clear to all of our employees that opportunity, equity, and civil rights are to be instilled into the very DNA of this Department from top to bottom. As the Department’s Chief Opportunities Officer – a first in federal government - it is my job to make sure that all of the Department’s programs and projects do just that.

For example, we have committed to making significant investments to improve the research and state of practice in measuring connectivity. We are also stepping up our civil rights enforcement – including Title VI and the DBE Program - and making sure our oversight is vigorous and conscientious.

The bottom line for us is that, while it’s important to move projects through quickly and efficiently, it is our responsibility to make sure that those projects are done fairly; don’t undermine anyone’s civil rights; and reflect the input and needs of everyone in the communities they impact.

Here are three examples of how we’re doing that:

• In Denver, a workforce development grant from the Federal Transit Administration is supporting the Workforce Initiative Now. This partnership, led by the Regional Transportation District, helps local employers in the transit and construction industries meet hiring and training needs while connecting Denver residents to good career opportunities;
• In Richmond, a DOT TIGER grant is helping the Greater Richmond Transit Company build the city's first Bus Rapid Transit line, a 7.6-mile corridor between the city and Henrico County providing reliable service and access to 77,000 area employment opportunities;
• In Pittsburgh, a TIGER grant is helping the Sports & Exhibition Authority of Pittsburgh and Allegheny County plan a cap over I-579 (known locally as Crosstown Boulevard). The cap will not only restore access to downtown Pittsburgh, but will also create a new public green space and generate private economic development.

So yes, transportation drives opportunity.  And it will continue to do so as long as our transportation stakeholders and decision makers consider the many people “in between.”

This Year of Opportunity is going to be an exciting one here at DOT, and I hope you will take full advantage of our Opportunity website to stay connected and learn more about how we are heeding Secretary Foxx’s call to “ensure that the rungs on the ladder of opportunity aren’t so far apart—and that the American dream is still within reach for those who are willing to work for it.”