Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (Title VI) Policy

City of Clinton

Municipal Transit Administration (MTA)

Title VI Program

This policy was adopted at a regular meeting of the City of Clinton's City Council on

April 22, 2014

Title VI Assurances

The City of Clinton, Municipal Transit Administration (MTA) (hereinafter referred to as the "Recipient"), HEREBY AGREES THAT as a condition to receiving any Federal financial assistance from the United States Department of Transportation, it will comply with Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (hereinafter referred to as the "ACT"), and all requirements imposed by or pursuant to Title 49, Code of Federal Regulations, Department of Transportation Subtitle A, Office of the Secretary Part 21, Nondiscrimination in Federally Assisted Programs of the Department of Transportation-Effectuation of the Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (hereinafter referred to as the "Regulations"), and other pertinent directives, to the end that in accordance with the Act, Regulations, and other pertinent directives, no person in the United States shall, on the grounds of race, color, sex, or national origin, be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be otherwise subjected to discrimination under any program or activity for which the Recipient received federal financial assistance, and ;

Here Gives Assurance That, it will promptly take any measures necessary to effectuate this agreement. This assurance is required by subsection 21.7(a) of the Regulations.

This assurance is given in consideration of and for the purpose of obtaining any and all federal grants, loans, contracts, property, discounts, or other federal financial assistance extended after the date hereof the Recipient by the Department of Transportation under Federal Highway or Transit Program, and is binding on it, other recipients, sub-grantees, contractors, transferees, successors in interest, and other participants in the Federal Aid Highway or Transit Program. The Person or persons whose signatures appear below are authorized to sign this assurance on behalf of the Recipient.

Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 provides that no person in the United States shall, on the grounds of race, color, national origin, or sex be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be otherwise subjected to discrimination under any program or activity receiving federal assistance (23CFR200.9 and 49 CFR 21).

The Civil Rights Restoration Act of 1987 broadened the scope of Title VI coverage by expanding the definition of terms "programs and activities" of Federal Aid recipients, sub-recipients, and contractors, whether such programs and activities are federally assisted or not (Public Law 100-259 {S.557} March 22, 1988.

1. Public Dissemination
   The City of Clinton, MTA, will disseminate Title VI Program information to city employees, sub-recipients, and contractors, as well as the general public. Public dissemination will include posting of public statements, inclusion of Title VI language in contracts, and announcements of hearings, and meetings in minority newspapers when determined necessary and funding is available.
2. Prevention of Discrimination
   Procedures will be implemented to detect and eliminate discrimination when found to exist, including, but not limited to, issues of accessibility of training to all qualified city employees, utilization of Minority/Women/Disadvantaged Business Enterprises (DBE) contractors, public involvement, and material acquisition.
3. Annual Report
   The Municipal Transit Administration will be responsible for insuring an annual report is prepared by August 1 of each year and submitted to the Iowa Department of Transportation (IDOT) by September 1 of each year. The report will review Title VI accomplishments and goals for the upcoming year.
4. Remedial Action
   The City of Clinton, MTA will actively pursue the prevention of any Title VI deficiencies or violations and will take the necessary steps to ensure compliance through a program review to insure compliance with the program administrative requirements. If irregularities occur in the administration of the program's operation, procedures will be promptly implemented to resolve Title VI issues and Clinton MTA will reduce to writing remedial action agreed to be necessary, all within a period not to exceed 90 days.

The IDOT will be notified of any complaint files at the City of Clinton, MTA, involving Title VI issues, as well as any resolution.

Applicability

The complaint procedures apply to the beneficiaries of the City of Clinton's, MTA's, programs, activities, including but not limited to the public, contractors, sub-contractors, consultants, employees, and other sub-recipients of federal and state funds.

Eligibility

If any individual, group of individuals, or entity believes that they or any other program beneficiaries have been subjected to discrimination prohibited by Title VI non discrimination provisions as a recipient of benefits and /or services, or on the grounds of race, color, national origin, or sex, they may exercise the right to file a complaint with the City of Clinton, MTA. Every effort will be made to resolve complaints informally at the agency, recipient, and/or contractor level.

Time Limitations on Filing Complaints

Title VI complaints may be filed with:

• Clinton Human Rights Commission
  611 S Third Street
  Clinton, IA 52732
• City of Clinton, Municipal Transit Administration (MTA) Title VI Coordinator
  1320 S Second Street
  Clinton, IA 52732
  Phone: 563-242-3721, For Relay Iowa assistance dial 7-1-1
• Iowa Department of Transportation (IDOT)
  Office of Employee Services-Civil Rights
  800 Lincolnway, Ames, IA 50010
  Iowa DOT: 800-262-0003
  Civil Rights Commission Phone: 800-457-4416
• Federal Transit Administration
  Office of Civil Rights- Attention: Title VI Program Coordinator
  400 E 14th Street SW Room 9100
  Washington, DC 20590

In all situations, City of Clinton, MTA, employees must contact the Superintendent of Fleet and Transit immediately upon receipt of a Title VI or related statutes complaint.

Complaints must be filed not later than 180 day after:

• The date of the alleged act of discrimination; or
• The date the person become aware of the alleged discrimination; or
• Where there has been a continuing course of discriminatory conduct, the date on which the conduct was discontinued.

When possible, complaints should be in writing and be signed by the complainant and/or the complainant's representative. If complainant is unable to submit a written complaint, Clinton MTA, will provide alternative modes, including but not limited to oral, electronic, telephonic or other suitable methods for submitting a complaint. The complaint must set forth as fully as possible the facts and circumstances surrounding the claimed discrimination.

A Title VI complaint form is available at the MTA office during normal business hours. The complaint form will be provided in languages other than English for Limited English Proficient (LEP) users.

1. The Superintendent of Fleet and Transit acting as the Title VI Coordinator will review the complaint upon receipt to ensure that all information is provided, the complaint meets the 180 day filing deadline, and falls within the jurisdiction of the city.
2. The Superintendent of Fleet and Transit will then investigate the complaint. Additionally, a copy of the complaint will be forwarded to the City Administrator and the City's Legal Counsel.
3. If the Complaint warrants a full investigation the complainant will be notified in writing by certified mail. This notice will name the investigator and/or investigating agency. The city will also notify the IDOT office of Equal Opportunity of the investigation.
4. The party alleged to have acted in a discriminatory manner will also be notified by certified mail as to the complaint. This letter will also include the investigator's name and will request that this party be available for the interview.
5. Any comments or recommendation from legal counsel will be reviewed by the Title VI Coordinator.
6. Once the City of Clinton, MTA complete its investigation and is notified of the findings of the IDOT Office of Equal Opportunity investigative report, if any, the city will adopt a final resolution.
7. All parties will be properly notified of the outcome of the IDOT office of Equal Opportunity investigation and report, if any.
8. If the complainant is not satisfied with the results of the investigation of the alleged discriminatory practice(s), she/he shall be advised of their right to appeal either the City of Clinton MTA decision or the Iowa DOT's Office of Equal Opportunity decision. Appeals must be filed within 180 days after the City of Clinton, MTA's final resolution. Unless new facts not previously considered are presented, reconsideration of the city's determination will not be available.

The foregoing complaint resolution procedure will be implemented in accordance with the Department of Justice guidance manual entitled, "Investigation Procedures Manual for the Investigation and Resolution of Complaints Alleging Violations of Title VI and Other Nondiscrimination Statues," available online at: http://www.usdoj.gov/crt/cor/Pubs/manuals/complain.html.

The City of Clinton, Municipal Transit Administration (MTA), assures that no person shall, on the grounds of race, color, national origin, or sex as provided by Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, and the Civil Rights Restoration Act of 1987(P.L. 100.259), be excluded from or participation in, be denied the benefits of or be otherwise subjected to discrimination under any program or activity. The City of Clinton, MTA further assures every effort will be made to ensure nondiscrimination in all of its committees, programs, and activities, regardless of the funding source. Furthermore, no person or group of persons shall be discriminated against with regard to routing, scheduling, or quality of transportation service furnished by MTA on the basis of race color, or national origin. Frequency of service, age and quality of vehicles assigned to routes and location of routes may not be determined on the basis of race, color or national origin.

The City of Clinton, MTA, will include Title VI language in all written agreements and bid notices and will monitor compliance.

The City of Clinton, MTA will be responsible for initiating and monitoring Title VI activities and all other responsibilities as required.

The City of Clinton, MTA will post the following Title VI Notification to the Public at transit shelters, in transit vehicles, at transit offices:

Notifying the Public of Rights Under Title VI

City of Clinton, Municipal Transit Administration (MTA)

• The City of Clinton, MTA operates its programs and services without regard to race, color, and national origin in accordance with Title VI of the Civil Rights Act. Any person who believes she or he has been aggrieved by any unlawful discriminatory practice under Title VI may file a complaint with the City of Clinton MTA.
• For more information on the City of Clinton, MTA's civil rights program, and the procedures to file a complaint, contact 563-242-3721; or visit our administrative office at 1320 South Second Street, Clinton, Iowa 52732. 
• A complainant may file a complaint directly with the Federal Transit Administration by filing a complaint with:
  Office of Civil Rights
  Attention: Title VI Program Coordinator
  East Building, 5th Floor-TCR
  1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE
  Washington, DC 20590
• If information is needed in another language, contact 563-242-3721 or Relay Iowa assistance dial 7-1-1.

Fill out the Title VI complaint form (PDF).

Please submit this form in person at the following address, or mail this form to:
City of Clinton, Municipal Transit Administration
Title VI Coordinator
1320 S Second Street
Clinton, IA 52732

System Wide Service Standards

To prevent discriminatory service design or operation, the FTA circular requires transit agencies to adopt system wide service standards and system wide service policies. System wide service standards are required for the following criteria:

• Vehicle Load
• Vehicle Headway
• On-time performance
• Service Availability

Vehicle Load

To ensure MTA transit customers can gain access to public transit services while balancing customer comfort, loading standards must be established and schedules devised that reflect customer volumes. This standard is measured as the ratio of customers on board to the seated bus capacity expressed as a %. Values of 100% or less indicate all riders are provided a seated ride while values above 100% indicate standees. The following loading standard indicates the degree of crowding (i.e., standees) that is acceptable based on bus type and manufacturer's recommendation for safe, maximum loading capacity. These standards reflect standees in the center potion of the bus only, not in the stairwells. For ridership consistently above these standards below, MTA will place a larger bus on the trip.

Standard

Acceptable load factors should never consistently exceed the following (Industry Standard: 125 to 150% in urban areas).

Vehicle Headways

Vehicle headway (the time interval between two vehicles traveling in the same direction on the same route) standards at MTA relate to frequency of service.

1. Operational Headways Monday through Friday
   Main West/North Lines to 30 minutes headway
   13th Avenue North-30 minute headway
   Lincolnway Shuttle-30 minute headway
   Branch Line-30 minute headway-6 am to 9 am, 2:30 pm to 6 pm
   Branch Line-60 minute headway-9 am to 2:30 pm on the half hour
   Hill Line-30 minute headway-6:30 am to 9 am, 3 pm to 5 pm
   Hill Line - 60minute headway-9 am to 3 pm, on the hour
2. Operational Headways-Saturday
   Main West/North Lines to 30 minutes headway
   13th Avenue North-30 minute headway
   Lincolnway Shuttle-30 minute headway
   Branch/Hill Line-60 minute headway-9 am to 1 pm
3. MTA does not currently operate on Sunday.
4. The Central Transfer Point (CTP) and Lincolnway Shuttle Transfer Point (STP) is where the buses connect to allow passengers to transfer to other routes to continue their trip to other areas of the city.

When routes are reviewed, there is a consideration of a number of factors including; ridership productivity, transit friendly streets, density of transit related population and activities, relationship to major transportation developments, land use connectivity, and transportation demand management.

On-time Performance

Published timetables must provide the transit customer with a reasonable guarantee that the scheduled service will operate, and will, additionally, operate on time. On-time performance is also examined in terms of schedule adherence, which means the difference between schedule time and the time the bus actually passes a particular location. The schedule adherence standard consist of two parts: 1) the definition of on time, and 2) the proportion of buses that operate within the on-time range. For purposes of establishing MTA's on-time performance, "on-time" is established at zero minutes early to 5 minutes late. This allows the bus a reasonable latitude for encountering general delays due to traffic, weather or other on-route delays, without unduly inconveniencing customers.

Service Availability

A transit system inevitably receives many requests for service from citizens wanting additional routes or longer operational hours. Since transit resources are limited, it is unlikely that everyone will be accommodated to a satisfactory degree. Therefore, it is necessary to determine how to allocate the available resources to provide the best possible service. In developing measures for MTA service, this standard has a few components that reflect travel concentrations, trip purpose, and the need for bus service.

MTA will apply the following standards when considering service modifications.

• Hospitals, nursing homes and medical clinics-these usually attract a large number of trips and these facilities do however, often serve those who depend on transit.
• Schools, college- are a major segment of the transportation dependent population.
• Shopping areas- constitute a major reason for transit travel.
• Social Service, government offices, public agencies- attract significant numbers of people.

Bus Stop Spacing

MTA transit stops at most intersections, which provides the shortest walking distances to the bus.

System Wide Service Policies

The FTA circular requires system wide service policies for distribution of transit amenities, vehicle assignment and for transit security. Policies differ from standards in that policies are not necessarily based on a quantitative threshold and are actions or procedures as opposed to standards that are rules or principles.

Distribution of Transit Amenities

The new Title VI circular requires that MTA maintain service standards for the distribution of various transit amenities, including bus shelters, benches, and route map/timetable, and trash receptacles owned by MTA. There are some amenities that are placed at bus stops by private entities. These are not governed by these standards. The MTA standard for each of these amenities is described below.

Bus Shelters

A concern for transit riders, especially regarding inclement weather, is the amount of time spent on the street exposed to the elements. The abundance of cold and windy conditions is of particular concern in Iowa. The placement of shelters and the development of a priority location program are based upon the following:

• Number of boarding and/or transferring customers at a specific stop,
• Amount of shelter from the elements or lighting at or near the stop, and
• ADA considerations
• Safety concerns
• Customer comments received

Benches

Benches are currently privately owned and are placed along the bus routes. Locations are approved by MTA. All benches will be placed in accordance to ADA guidelines.

Route Map / Schedules

Policy: MTA printed route maps and time schedules provides information for the general public at the bus shelters, City Hall, Department of Human Services, MTA and on each of the buses.

Vehicle Assignments

Vehicle assignments refers to the process by which vehicles are placed into service on routes throughout the system. The following policy has been established.

Policy

MTA's fleet is rotated and randomly assigned according to the routes ridership statistics. Routes with greater ridership numbers require larger buses to accommodate the passenger load so the bus load factor is adhered to.

Transit Security

Transit systems are required to develop security policies that will protect employees and the public against any intentional act or threat of violence or personal harm, either from criminal activities or terrorist acts. In the response to this requirement, MTA provides the following security policy.

Policy

MTA buses are equipped with two way radios to communicate security concerns and security cameras as a method to after-the-fact review situations that may occur on the bus. Additionally MTA works closely with the Clinton Police Department on situations that occur on the bus.