Shining light on inequality, inequity, & social injustice.

tamika l. butler (she/her or they/them) is a doctoral student in Urban Planning at UCLA’s Luskin School of Public Affairs. Her research employs a critical race, historical, legal, and policy-based approach to examine how transportation policy and infrastructure have been used to segregate, isolate, and prevent the mobility of Black and other historically oppressed groups of people.

Prior to pursuing her PhD, tamika consulted, wrote, and spoke as a national expert on issues related to public policy, the built environment, equity, anti-racism, diversity and inclusion, organizational behavior, and change management. She transitioned to policy work after litigating for three years as an employment lawyer at Legal Aid Society-Employment Law Center. tamika has a diverse background in law, community organizing and nonprofit leadership.

tamika received her J.D. from Stanford Law School, and received her B.A. in Psychology and B.S. in Sociology from Creighton University in her hometown of Omaha, Nebraska.

 

Current Projects

 
 

Photo by Chris Henry on Unsplash

reparative Transportation Planning

I explore how transportation decisions, policies, funding, and infrastructure have negatively impacted Black and Indigenous communities. I seek to understand how the relatively new field of reparative planning can be applied to the transportation planning context. In particular, I utilize Mimi Sheller’s (2018) “five types of justice” paradigm to evaluate if different transportation planning interventions are just. I then employ the recent framework put forth by Williams and Steil (2023) to investigate rather reparative planning can center transportation in the pursuit of anti-racist futures.

This research seeks to bridge the gap in understanding if various levels of government have the ability to facilitate or hinder reparations to Black and Indigenous communities in the context of transportation planning decisions, programs, or policies.  It centers on the following overarching research question: What is reparative transportation planning and to what extent do government institutions facilitate or prevent reparative transportation planning?

universal basic mobility

Universal basic mobility is an emerging transportation concept predicated on the belief that all people should have the ability to get to where they need and want to go in a way that best suits them and their households. People with adequate transportation access are provided with a greater ability to live a high-quality life. Transportation barriers most acutely affect low-income travelers of color who, relative to higher-income white travelers, often struggle to afford transportation costs and so are less likely to own cars and more likely to rely on public transit. In 2023, Los Angeles joined a small but growing number of cities in piloting a Mobility Wallet program.

As a researcher with the UCLA Lewis Center for Regional Policy Studies, tamika is part of a team completing a comprehensive mixed-methods evaluation examining travel trends, experiences, and spending for L.A.’s Mobility Wallet program. The team is analyzing wallet spending, conducting surveys with recipients and non-recipients in the project area, and conducting in-depth interviews with a small group of wallet recipients. The evaluation seeks to understand whether and how receiving the mobility wallet changes people’s transportation patterns, experiences, and short-term outcomes like changes in stress or sense of belonging.

Research for Publication in Progress:

  • tamika l. butler, Madeline Brozen, Madeline Wander, and Evelyn Blumenberg. “Transportation challenges of low-income households with children: A case study in South Los Angeles.”

  • Madeline Wander, tamika l. butler, Evelyn Blumenberg, and Madeline Brozen. “The Potential Promise of Universal Basic Mobility: A Literature Review.”

Conference Participation:

  • tamika l. butler (presenter), Madeline Brozen, Madeline Wander, and Evelyn Blumenberg. “The Effects of Transportation Subsidies on Stress and Quality of Life for Low-Income Households.” March 25, 2025. The American Association of Geographers 2025 Annual Meeting. Detroit, MI.

  • Madeline Wander (presenter), tamika l. butler, Madeline Brozen, Evelyn Blumenberg, and Alejandra Rios Gutierrez. “Transportation Challenges Facing Low-Income Households with Children: A Case Study in South Los Angeles.” March 11-12, 2024. The University Transportation Center's Pacific Southwest Region Annual Congress – Moving Forward: Improving Transportation in Region 9. Las Vegas, NV.

  • Madeline Wander (presenter), tamika l. butler, Madeline Brozen, and Evelyn Blumenberg. “Transportation Challenges Facing Low-Income Households with Children: A Case Study in South Los Angeles.” January 8, 2024. Presentation in the 2024 Dwight D. Eisenhower Transportation Fellowship Program Research Showcase at the Transportation Research Board Annual Meeting. Washington, D.C.

  • Madeline Wander, Madeline Brozen (presenter), tamika l. butler, and Evelyn Blumenberg. “Deepening the Understanding of Households with Children and Their Transportation Challenges: A Case Study in South Los Angeles.” October 20, 2023. Presentation at the Annual Association of Collegiate Schools of Planning Conference. Chicago, IL.

photo by tamika l.butler

Photo by Chris Henry on Unsplash

Lawsuits, Consent Decrees, and Critical Theory: Tools for Mobility Justice?

This research looks at the history of transportation-based civil rights cases and the way that legal remedies are proving increasingly difficult to access with a politicized Supreme Court and changing civil rights case law. I explore the historical context for centering racial equity and civil rights in transportation planning policy and case law. Legal research and semi-structured interviews with technical transportation planning experts, legal experts, civil rights lawsuits’ plaintiffs, and current transportation justice advocates will be employed to determine if legal mechanisms are effective tools for successfully effectuating long-term movement building and creating more equitable public transit. The purpose of the proposed research is to better understand legal avenues for fighting transit injustices and to offer guidance to transit agencies and advocates as they look to advance reparative, racial justice-centered transportation solutions.

Publications

  • Madeline Brozen, Silvia R. González, and tamika l. butler. METRANS Transportation Center (Calif.), & Pacific Southwest Region 9 UTC, U. of S. C. (2022). Measuring Equity in Public Transit Service: LA Metro and the Post-Decree Era (PSR-21-51TO054). https://rosap.ntl.bts.gov/view/dot/67539

Research for Publication in Progress:

  • tamika l. butler. “Lawsuits for Mobility Justice: An Examination of Legally Codified Racism in Transportation and a Roadmap for Reparations.”

Conference Participation:

  • tamika l. butler (presenter), Maddie Brozen, and Silvia R. González “Lawsuits and Consent Decrees: Tools for Transit Equity?” January 9, 2023. Presentation in the 2023 Dwight D. Eisenhower Transportation Fellowship Program Research Showcase at the Transportation Research Board Annual Meeting. Washington, D.C.

 
 

Curriculum Vitae

To see my full CV, click below.