A civil rights advocacy group has alleged that the MBTA didn’t take the steps required by legislation to close down the Orange Line for 30 days, and is looking for federal intervention right into a “major service change” that it says disproportionately impacts immigrants and other people of shade.
“As a federally-funded entity, MBTA is prohibited from conduct that has an unjustified impact based on race, color or national origin,” Lawyers for Civil Rights Executive Director Ivan Espinoza wrote in a Wednesday letter to MBTA General Manager Steve Poftak and MassDOT Secretary and CEO Jamey Tesler.
“To effectuate this mandate, the Federal Transit Administration has directed federal funding to recipients such as MBTA to conduct a ‘service equity analysis’ whenever a major service change is proposed,” the letter stated.
The objective of the fairness evaluation, which it stated should be submitted in writing and communicated on to the supplier’s governing board previous to implementation, is to find out whether or not the service change can have a disproportionate impression on communities of shade and low-income communities.
“Unfortunately, it does not appear that the MBTA has followed these policies in closing down the Orange Line,” the letter stated. “The result is that problems and issues that could have been flagged and prevented have now arisen and are being addressed — if at all — in a haphazard, last-minute fashion.”
Lawyers for Civil Rights additionally wrote to U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, FTA Administrator Nuria Fernandez and U.S. Attorney Rachael Rollins, requesting that the federal authorities conduct “an immediate Title IV compliance review” of the MBTA.
However, MBTA spokesperson Joe Pesaturo stated, “Per FTA regulations, an equity analysis is not required where, as here, the service change is temporary and will not be longer than 12 months.”
In its letter, LCR stated there was “inadequate” communication about service adjustments to individuals who converse restricted to no English, and the MBTA failed to supply correct various transportation to Chinatown, a closely immigrant neighborhood.
The MBTA disputed these claims, saying that it has taken various steps to mitigate the impacts of the closure, equivalent to offering another transit plan in 9 languages, translating signage into a number of languages, and staffing key stations with multilingual customer support workers.
Source: www.bostonherald.com”