UCLA Institute of Transportation Studies

Most DOTs report frequent encampments on their land and encounter operational and legal challenges as a result. On public transit, a comparable transportation setting, those taking shelter tend to be more likely to be chronically unhoused and disadvantaged along other axes than their unhoused peers elsewhere. Freeway environments may offer certain advantages for those seeking shelter, but proximity of encampments and debris to traffic and infrastructure is dangerous to drivers, neighbors, and the unhoused individuals themselves. To investigate the challenges and strategies state DOTs have with regards to homelessness, we reviewed the websites of every state DOT, conducted interviews or received responses from staff at 13 DOTs that are responding to homelessness and/or particularly face it, and interviewed staff at eight relevant nonprofits, service providers, and external stakeholder organizations and partners involved in issues of homelessness.