Transit Riders for Public Transportation is leading a campaign to restore private enforcement of DOT’s antidiscrimination regulations so that the FSTAA will give local communities a well-proven tool to redress existing transportation disparities while ensuring inclusive treatment and equitable outcomes in future transportation investments.

History  

Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 prohibits racial discrimination by recipients of federal funds. To ensure compliance, all federal agencies have adopted regulations that prohibit two types of racial discrimination:

• activities that discriminate purposefully on the basis of race, color or national origin (intentional discrimination)
• activities that have a discriminatory effect on the basis of race, color, or national origin (disparate impact discrimination).

Sandoval's chilling effect

For over 35 years, civil rights advocates effectively used Title VI regulations to dismantle segregation and uproot discriminatory practices. However, in Alexander v. Sandoval (2001), the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that individuals could no longer bring private lawsuits to enforce disparate impact regulations, reasoning that Congress had never expressly created such a “private right of action.” As a result, federally-funded activities that have harmful and disproportionate effect on people of color can only be challenged in court if one can demonstrate intentional discrimination, which is rarely possible.

The Sandoval decision has had a far reaching effect on civil rights enforcement, leaving communities of color with limited recourses to challenge decisions that have racially inequitable outcomes. This is particularly true in the area of transportation, where billions of dollars in investments are stake, and where communities of color already suffer from a disproportionate share of transportation-related burdens while lacking access to safe, affordable and reliable transit.

TRPT seeks to reverse the damage caused by Sandoval

To ensure non-discrimination in transportation investments, TRPT seeks to include the following Title VI protections in the upcoming Federal Surface Transportation Authorization Act (FSTAA):

• Establish of a "private right of action" in the FSTAA. By restoring private enforcement of DOT's antidiscrimination regulations, Congress will return a tool that was used successfully for over 35 years.

• Strengthen administrative enforcement of Title VI by providing the Secretary of Transportation with an additional $3 million annually for enhanced monitoring, technical assistance and enforcement activities.

• Continue funding for the Transportation Equity Research Program. Established under SAFETEA-LU, TERP provides $1 million in annual grants for research and demonstration activities that focus on the impacts that transportation planning, investment, and operations have on low-income populations and communities of color.

For more information, please contact

• Guillermo Mayer, Public Advocates, at (415) 431-7430 ext. 309 or by email: gmayer@publicadvocates.org
• Francisca Porchas, Labor/Community Strategy Center, at (213) 387- 2800 or by info@transitriders.net.