Civil Rights Data Dashboard

As a recipient of federal funding, PACTS complies with civil rights mandates intended to ensure that traditionally underserved populations are included in the planning process, benefit equally from investments, and do not experience a disparately negative impact from decisions. Mandates are outlined below.

PACTS is developing tools – including these maps -- to more consistently and comprehensively evaluate its plans and programs for compliance with civil rights mandates. PACTS will use the maps to improve efficiency in the planning process and to assist in evaluating outcomes for the community – especially protected populations.

View the Civil Rights Data Dashboard in a new tab.

Access the data we used to create the Civil Rights Data Dashboard.

See how we use the Civil Rights Data in our Transportation Improvement Plan and in our Brownfields program (coming soon).


Civil Rights Mandates

The civil rights authorities are summarized below:

  • Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 - Title VI states that “no persons in the United States shall, on the grounds of race, color, or national origin, be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any program or activity receiving federal financial assistance.” Title VI requires recipients of federal financial assistance from the U.S. Department of Transportation to assess the nature, extent, and incidence of probable impacts, both negative and positive, from any transportation-related activity on racial and ethnic minority populations.
  • The Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 and the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 - These acts prohibit a public entity from discriminating against qualified persons with disabilities in access to facilities and services that the public entity provides. For PACTS, these services, facilities or activities are related to the planning, design, construction, maintenance, and operations of transportation systems.
  • Environmental Justice Executive Order of 1994 - Executive Order 12898, “Federal Actions to Address Environmental Justice in Minority Populations and Low-income Populations,” issued in 1994, requires federal agencies and recipients of their funding to address environmental justice concerns. The Environmental Justice strengthened the Title VI protections by adding low-income populations.
  • Limited English Proficiency Executive Order of 2000 - Executive Order 13166 , “Improving Access to Services for Persons with Limited English Proficiency (LEP)”, issued in 2000, directs federal agencies and recipients of federal funding to provide meaningful language access to their services. Agencies receiving federal financial assistance have a responsibility to ensure meaningful access to their programs and activities by persons with limited English proficiency.

About this Data

  • Data Source: 2014-2018 ACS 5-yr Estimate by census tract. Margin of error is higher for geographies with smaller populations. Data breaks were determined using standard deviation from the regional average.
  • Birthplace & Citizenship: The Census Bureau defines foreign born as “people who are not U.S. citizens at birth. This includes naturalized U.S. citizens, lawful permanent residents (immigrants), temporary migrants (such as foreign students), humanitarian migrants (such as refugees and asylees), and persons illegally present in the United States...” (source).
  • Race & Ethnicity: The data values for People of Color and/or Hispanic population were calculated by taking the total population minus the white (not Latino, not Hispanic) population.
  • No Vehicle Access: This dataset represents the count of occupied housing units, categorized by the number of vehicles available. There are four vehicle availability categories which are no vehicles, one vehicle, two vehicles, and three or more vehicles. The Census Bureau defines vehicles available as the “number of passenger cars, vans, and pickup or panel trucks of one-ton capacity or less kept at home and available for the use of household members” (source).
  • English Ability: This dataset represents the count of people over age 5 in two groups based on ability to speak English. The first grouping includes people who speak only English along with those who also speak a different language, but speak English very well. The second group are those individuals who speak a language other than English at home and who speak English less than very well.
  • Over Age 65: Census Bureau programs defines age as “the length of time in completed years that a person has lived. For the most recent decennial census, age was the length of time in completed years that a person had lived as of Census Day--April 1, 2010. The Census Bureau’s national surveys compute age as of the interview date...” (source).
  • Poverty: The ACS defines poverty as adhering to “the standards specified by the Office of Management and Budget in Statistical Policy Directive 14, the Census Bureau uses a set of money income thresholds that vary by family size and composition to determine who is in poverty. If the total income for a family or unrelated individual falls below the relevant threshold, then the family (and every individual in it) or unrelated individual is considered in poverty” (source).
  • People with Disabilities: The Census Bureau defines disability as “a long-lasting physical, mental, or emotional condition. This condition can make it difficult for a person to do activities such as walking, climbing stairs, dressing, bathing, learning, or remembering. This condition can also impede a person from being able to go outside the home alone or to work at a job or
    business...” (source).
  • Equitable Target Areas for the Portland Area Comprehensive Transportation System (PACTS) region are calculated using quantiles of the above demographic data. To learn more about PACTS click here.