Student Transportation Equity Map

The Student Transportation Equity Coalition facilitated PhotoVoice workshops with youth from St. Stephens youth organizers and Madison High School Student Council, focusing on student transportation equity. In Boston, students in 7^th grade and above do not have access to a school bus. Of these students, those who live more than two miles (for high schoolers) or more than 1.5 miles (for 7th and 8th grade students) from their school receive a free city-wide bus pass (the m7). With these photos, high school students recorded their experience getting to and from school, whether or not they had access to an m7. On the map, the photos are arranged according to where they were taken. The students also met together to discuss their photos according to the PhotoVoice SHOWED method (what is literally seen in the photo, how the situation came to be, how the photo impacts our lives, why the situation exists, and what we could potentially do about it). The students identified common themes including the importance of policy-level change, community safety, inequity and privilege, exhaustion involved in just getting to school, and the burden of transportation expenses. The students also recorded videos, reflecting on three questions: the story behind one of their photos, the story of their experience getting to and from school and why it mattered, and if they believed all students should receive an m7 and why. 

 

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