Press Release: DDOT Opens Public Comment Period for Proposed Changes to Title VI Plan for DC Circulator and DC Streetcar

News Release — District Department of Transportation

September 19, 2019

Media Contacts

Lauren Stephens

(Washington, DC) – Today, the District Department of Transportation (DDOT) released its proposed revised policies for the DC Circulator and DC Streetcar Title VI Major Service Change, Disparate Impact, and Disproportionate Burden. The public comment period for these policies begins today and will end on Friday, October 19 at 5:00 p.m.

Federal Transit Administration regulations in support of Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 require that DDOT create policies to ensure that major service changes and/or fare changes do not disproportionally or disparately impact minority and low-income riders as compared to other populations. Draft versions of these policies are now available for public comment here.

Residents should submit comments on these draft policies via email to David.Koch@dc.gov or in person at the following public meetings:

• September 19, 6:30 pm – 8:30 pm
  Benning Road Reconstruction and Streetcar Extension Public Meeting
  DOES (Community Room 1)
  4058 Minnesota Ave NE
  Washington, DC 20019
• September 21, 9:00 am – 7:00 pm
  H Street Festival
  DDOT Tent
  H Street and 8th Street NE
  Washington, DC 20002

The proposed Title VI policies are as follows:

Draft Major Service Change Policy

A major service change is defined as:

• Changing frequency of the buses/streetcars (how often they arrive) on a route by more than five minutes.
• Altering the geographic alignment of more than 25 percent of a bus or streetcar route’s miles.
• Change a route’s span of service (start of service or end of service) by more than three hours in a day.
• Creation or elimination of a route or line.
• Elimination of a bus stop or streetcar stop along a portion of a route or line that would force a 0.5 mile or more increase in walking to access the same route or line.

Draft Disparate Impact Policy

A disparate impact occurs when the difference between the systemwide percentage of minority riders and the percentage of minority riders affected by a proposed service change or fare change is 5 percent points or greater.

Draft Disproportionate Burden Policy

A disproportionate burden occurs when the difference between the system-wide percentage of low-income riders and the percentage of low-income riders affected by a proposed service change or fare change is five percentage points or greater.

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