TITLE VI COMPLIANCE REVIEW
OF THE
ALAMEDA-CONTRA COSTA TRANSIT DISTRICT
(AC TRANSIT)
Oakland, California
Final Report
November 2004
Prepared For
U.S. DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORATION
FEDERAL TRANSIT ADMINISTRATION
OFFICE OF CIVIL RIGHTS
Prepared By
THE DMP GROUP, INC.
Subcontractor to
MILLIGAN & CO., LLC
Table of Contents
I. GENERAL INFORMATION 1
II. JURISDICTION AND AUTHORITIES 2
III. PURPOSE AND OBJECTIVES 3
IV. BACKGROUND INFORMATION 5
V. SCOPE AND METHODOLOGY 10
VI. FINDINGS AND RECOMMENDATIONS 17
1. List of Active Complaints and Lawsuits 17
2. Pending Applications for Financial Assistance 18
3. Summary of Civil Rights Compliance Reviews 18
4. FTA Civil Rights Assurance 19
5. DOT Title VI Assurance 20
6. Fixed-Facility (Environmental Justice) Impact Analysis 20
7. Demographic and Service Profile Maps, Overlays and Charts 21
8. Service Standards and Policies 22
9. Assessment of Compliance by Grantees 24
10. Other Areas of Title VI Considerations 26
11. Internal Monitoring Procedures 29
12. Title VI Complaints 30
VII. SUMMARY OF FINDINGS AND CORRECTIVE ACTIONS 32
VIII. ATTENDEES 34
34
I. GENERAL INFORMATION
Grant Recipient: Alameda-Contra Costa Transit District
1600 Franklin Street
Oakland, California 94612
City/State: Oakland, California
Grantee No: 1632
Executive Official: Mr. Richard C. Fernandez
General Manager
Alameda-Contra Costa Transit District
1600 Franklin Street
Oakland, California 94612
Report Prepared By: MILLIGAN & CO., LLC
105-107 N. 22nd Street, 2nd Floor,
Mulberry Atrium North
Philadelphia, PA 19103
THE DMP GROUP, INC.
2423 Killdeer Street
New Orleans, LA 70122
Site Visit Dates: May 6, 2003 – May 8, 2003
Compliance Review
Team Members: John Potts Royal Spurlark
Lead Reviewer Reviewer
The DMP Group, Inc. The DMP Group, Inc
II. JURISDICTION AND AUTHORITIES
The Federal Transit Administration (FTA) Office of Civil Rights is authorized by the Secretary of Transportation to conduct civil rights compliance reviews. Reviews are undertaken to ensure compliance of applicants, recipients, and subrecipients with Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, as amended (42 U.S.C. 2000d); Section 22 of the Master Agreement, Federal Transit Administration C.A. (3), October 1, 1996; and 49 U.S.C. 5332, “Non-Discrimination”.
The Alameda-Contra Costa Transit District (AC Transit) is a recipient of FTA funding assistance and is therefore subject to the Title VI compliance conditions associated with the use of these funds pursuant to FTA Circular 4704.1, “Title VI Program Guidelines for Grant Recipients,” dated July 26, 1988; Part II, Section 117(a) of the FTA Agreement; and FTA Circular 4702.1, “Title VI Program Guidelines for Federal Transit Administration Recipients,” dated May 26, 1988. The program guidelines of FTA Circular 4702.1 define the components that must be addressed and incorporated in AC Transit’s Title VI Program and were the basis for the selection of compliance elements that were reviewed in this document.
PURPOSE AND OBJECTIVES
Purpose
The Federal Transit Administration (FTA) Office of Civil Rights periodically conducts discretionary reviews of grant recipients and subrecipients to determine whether they are honoring their commitments, as represented by certification, to comply with the requirements of 49 U.S.C. 5332. In keeping with its regulations and guidelines, FTA determined that a Compliance Review of the Alameda-Contra Costa Transit District (AC Transit) Title VI Program was necessary.
The Office of Civil Rights authorized Milligan & Co., LLC to conduct the Title VI Compliance Review of AC Transit. The primary purpose of this Compliance Review was to determine the extent to which AC Transit has met its General Reporting and Program-Specific requirements, in accordance with FTA Circular 4702.1, Program Guidelines for Federal Transit Administration Recipients, as represented to FTA. The Compliance Review had a further purpose to provide technical assistance and to make recommendations regarding corrective actions, as deemed necessary and appropriate. The Compliance Review was not an investigation to determine the merit of any specific discrimination complaints filed against AC Transit.
Objectives
The objectives of FTA’s Title VI Program, as set forth in FTA Circular 4702.1, “Title VI Program Guidelines for Federal Transit Administration Recipients”, are:
· To ensure that FTA-assisted benefits and related services are made available and are equitably distributed without regard to race, color, or national origin;
· To ensure that the level and quality of FTA-assisted transit services are sufficient to provide equal access and mobility for any person without regard to race, color, or national origin;
· To ensure that opportunities to participate in the transit planning and decision-making process are provided to persons without regard to race, color, or national origin;
· To ensure that decisions on the location of transit services and facilities are made without regard to race, color, or national origin; and
· To ensure that corrective and remedial action is taken by all applicants and recipients of FTA assistance to prevent discriminatory treatment of any beneficiary based on race, color, or national origin.
III. BACKGROUND INFORMATION
Alameda-Contra Costa Transit District (AC Transit)
The citizens of Alameda and Contra Costa Counties voted to establish the Alameda-Contra Costa Transit District (AC Transit) in November of 1956 to acquire and replace the bankrupted Key System, a private company that had been regulated by the California Public Utilities Commission. AC Transit is a publicly owned fixed route public transit system serving communities in the East Bay. By 1974, AC Transit’s service area stretched from the western Contra Costa County cities of San Pablo and Richmond to the southern cities of Fremont and Newark. Today, AC Transit serves thirteen cities in Alameda and Contra Costa Counties, including Alameda, Albany, Berkeley, El Cerrito, Emeryville, Fremont, Hayward, Newark, Oakland, Piedmont, Richmond, San Leandro, and San Pablo. AC Transit also provides service to nine unincorporated areas, including Ashland, Castro Valley, Cherryland, El Sobrante, Fairview, Kensington, Irvington, North Richmond, and San Lorenzo.
An elected seven member Board of Directors that represents the member jurisdictions aligned into five wards governs AC Transit. One board member is elected from each ward and two additional members are elected “at large” from the service area. The General Manager, General Counsel, and District Secretary report to the Board. Staff reporting to the General Manager includes the Deputy General Manager, Chief Operating Officer, Deputy General Manager of Service Development, and Chief Financial Officer.
AC Transit’s Board of Directors and staff appear to be committed to the principals and goals of Title VI. In November of 2000, AC Transit hosted a forum on Environmental Justice in transportation for the San Francisco Bay Area, the first such conference in the Region. On December 13, 2001, the Board adopted Resolution No. 2033 affirming the commitment of the Alameda-Contra Costa Transit District to social and environmental justice and to involvement of the people of Alameda and Contra Costa Counties in making decisions pertaining to transit policy, service design and operations. Further, a review of AC Transit documents such as its FY 2001 – 2010 Short Range Transit Plan (SRTP), dated March 2002, showed frequent references to Title VI and Environmental Justice requirements as important considerations in the development of service plans, vehicle assignments and other service delivery elements.
AC Transit directly operates fixed route bus service within its service area. Paratransit service in the East Bay is provided through a consortium program developed by BART and AC Transit. AC Transit is one of the operators of the system and MV Transportation, a private company, is the other. AC Transit operates from four bus divisions; Richmond (Division 3-fixed route), Emeryville (Division 2-fixed route), East Oakland (Division 4-fixed route and paratransit) and Hayward (Division 6-fixed route) with a fleet of 767 vehicles that include:
· 1984 40-foot Gillig buses (97)
· 1989/1996 60-foot New Flyer articulated buses (60)
· 1988 35-foot New Flyer buses (29)
· 1988 40-foot New Flyer buses (79)
· 1990/1992 40-foot Gillig buses (109)
· 1991 30-foot Gillig buses (61)
· 1997/1998 40-foot NABI buses (203)
· 2000 40-foot NABI low floor buses (44)
· 2000 45-foot MCI coaches (52)
· 2003 40-foot Van Hool low floor buses (1)
· 2003 60-foot Van Hool low floor articulated bus (1)
· 1996 28-foot El Dorado paratransit vehicles (31)
At the time of the site visit, AC Transit was expecting the arrival of additional 40-foot low floor buses and 60-foot low floor articulated buses from Van Hool.
In early 2004, the AC Transit Board announced that it was considering service cuts for the third time in two years to reduce a $17 million budget deficit that is the result of recent economic conditions. AC Transit is attempting to sell the new Van Hool buses to another transit operator to recover the costs.
AC Transit’s central dispatch is located at the Emeryville Division, while Central Maintenance & Stores (CMF) is located at a separate facility in East Oakland. AC Transit maintains the Transbay Transit Terminal in downtown San Francisco. In March 2001, the Eastmont TownCenter Transit Center was completed. This facility, located next to a police station, is a major transfer station that makes it easier and safer for passengers to transfer and provides off-street parking for layovers. The system’s administrative offices are located in downtown Oakland at 1600 Franklin Street.
AC Transit reported the following statistics in its 2001 submission to the National Transportation Database (NTD). AC Transit traveled over 218 million passenger miles providing over 70 million unlinked trips. AC Transit reported an operating budget of approximately $197 million, and operating revenues to cover expenses of 23 percent from the fare box, three percent in state funding, 70 percent in local funds, and four percent from miscellaneous revenue sources. AC Transit also reported over $31 million in capital requirements in 2001, which represented 75 percent federal assistance and 25 percent local match.
AC Transit’s typical fare for a one-way trip is $1.50. Half fare ($0.75) is available to the elderly and persons with disabilities during all service hours. AC Transit service coordinates with the region’s rail system, the San Francisco Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART), and provides multi-modal transfers at numerous BART stations.
AC Transit reported that no Title VI complaints were filed against it in the past three years. The AC Transit Title VI Program Update submittal was due to FTA in 2003. In order to take the necessary corrective actions and to benefit from the technical assistance of this Title VI Compliance Review, AC Transit requested a 90-day extension to submit the Program Update. The FTA Region IX Civil Rights Officer concurred in the extension.
According to the 2000 Census, the population for the nine-county San Francisco Bay Area is 6.783 million persons. The AC Transit service area includes 13 cities in Alameda and Contra Costa counties and nine unincorporated areas in the Bay region. According to AC Transit’s NTD report, the population of the service area is 1.4 million persons, 21 percent of the total region.
The following table shows the racial/ethic breakdown of the San Francisco Bay Area and the city of Oakland, and counties of Alameda and Contra Costa.
Racial/ Ethnic Breakdown of San Francisco Bay Area and
The AC Transit Service Area
2000 Census
Racial/ Ethnic Group /San Francisco Bay Area Total/
Percent[1]
/AC Transit Service Area
Total/
Percent[2]
White
/3,941,700
58% /607,600
44%Black
/511,100
8% /255,000
18%American Indian and Alaska Native
/ 43,5001% /
9,200
1%Asian, Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander
/ 1,326,20020% / 288,000
21%
Some Other Race
/ 627,000 9% / 138,60010%
Two or More Races
/334,300
5% /79,300
6%Hispanic Origin*
Includes Hispanics of some other race or two or more races /1,315,200
19% /284,000
21%Total Population
/6,783,800
/ 1,381,100As shown above, minorities represent 56% of the AC Transit service area as compared to 42% of the entire region.
IV. SCOPE AND METHODOLOGY
Scope
The Title VI Compliance Review of AC Transit examined the following requirements as specified in FTA Circular 4702.1:
1. General Reporting Requirements - all applicants, recipients and subrecipients shall maintain and submit the following:
a. A list of active Title VI lawsuits or complaints;
b. A description of pending applications for financial assistance;
c. A summary of recent civil rights compliance review activities;
d. A signed FTA Civil Rights Assurance;
e. A signed standard DOT Title VI Assurance; and
f. A fixed-facility impact assessment analysis, if applicable, for construction projects.
2. Program-Specific Requirements - all applicants, recipients and subrecipients that provide public mass transit service in areas with populations over 200,000 shall also submit the following:
a. demographic and service profile maps, overlays and charts;
b. service standards and policies;
c. assessment of compliance by grantees;
d. Other areas of Title VI considerations.
3. Monitoring Procedures for Transit Providers – all applicants, recipients and subrecipients that provide public transit service are required to develop and implement procedures to monitor their level and quality of transit service to determine compliance with Title VI.
4. Complaint Process for Title VI – all applicants, recipients, and subrecipients shall have a procedure in place for the filing of Title VI discrimination complaints. The procedure shall be made available to participants, beneficiaries, and other interested parties.
Methodology
An initial interview was conducted in the Region IX Civil Rights Officer to discuss specific Title VI issues and concerns regarding AC Transit. Documents regarding Title VI issues previously submitted to FTA were examined. Following the desk review, a detailed letter was sent to AC Transit advising it of the site visit and indicating additional information that would be needed and issues that would be discussed.
In the letter, AC Transit was requested to provide the following Background Information:
· AC Transit’s most recent Title VI Update that was submitted to FTA
· Description of AC Transit’s service area, including general population and other demographic information using Census 2000 data.
· Current description of AC Transit’s fixed route services, including system maps, public timetables, transit service brochures, etc.