Responding to BRU complaint, Federal government conducts civil rights review of MTA

In response to a civil rights complaint submitted by the BRU and its allies last year, the Federal Transit Administration (FTA) Office of Civil Rights decided to launch a comprehensive civil rights review of the MTA.

The review, which began in July of this year and is still under way, will investigate charges that deep cuts in bus service (941,000 hours in four years) and steep fare increases (40% in four years) violate the civil rights of MTA’s overwhelmingly Black, Latino, Asian Pacific Islander, and low income transit riders.

LA County MTA was one of only two transit agencies in the entire country selected for a civil rights review in 2011. The BRU and a broad coalition of civil rights, labor, environmental justice, and public health allies are now calling for a strong intervention by the FTA to restore bus service  and protect civil rights.    

Background

Oct 26 2011

In new report, coalition indicts LA County MTA civil rights practices, calls for strong federal intervention Civil rights, labor, environmental, public health, and housing organizations argue bus service and fare increases result in civil rights harms for transit-dependent people and obstruct economic recovery for low-income transit-dependent Angelenos.

August 24, 2011

Capacity crowd, expert panel unmask transit crisis at Town Hall With a federal review of MTA's civil rights record still in progress, a standing room only-crowd of over 200 and an all-star panel exposed LA MTA's civil rights crisis at the Transit Justice Town Hall meeting Saturday. Overo 100 bus riders people gave three hours of testimony on the harms caused by deep cuts in bus service, inadequate bus service, increases in fares - all of which will be used for a report on the crisis to be released in September. The event was organized by the Bus Riders Union and sponsored by a city-wide multi-racial coalition of 35 organizations.

August 17, 2011

Transit Justice Town Hall this Saturday will put LA’s transit crisis in the spotlight From bus benches to bus lines, transit-dependent Angelenos are being left stranded. Facing the scrutiny of a federal civil rights review for disappearing bus service and an exploding controversy over disappearing bus benches, LA's political leaders are straining to convince the federal government and the public that the region's transit policies genuinely protect the needs of vulnerable transit-dependent people

August 2, 2011

New BRU report highlights LA Metro's transit civil rights crisis With the MTA subject of a civil rights compliance review by the Federal Transit Administrations, a new pamphlet report from the Bus Riders Union exposes the policy and human sides of the crisis created by MTA slashing bus service and raising fares

June 24, 2011

Domestic workers, security guards and bus riders demand action from federal investigation. Friday, June 24th the Bus Riders Union, Unite Service Workers West representative Marx Guitterez, and Xiomara Corpeño, Organizer Director with CHIRLA, gathered on the steps of the Los Angeles regional office for the Federal Transit Administration