On behalf of a major U.S. public transit agency, we developed analytical methodologies and performed demographic analysis to determine the impact of proposed service changes on protected customer groups (minority and low-income). At that time, a large package of bus service changes was being considered, including changes in service span, route, frequency—which also resulted in specific impacts in load factors, access distance, and other performance metrics that are monitored under the agency’s own service standard and various regulatory requirements. Changes were also proposed for several rail lines. For each proposed service change action, we determined whether it met the “major service change” threshold. If it did, we determined through demographic analysis of likely users as to whether the change impacted the protected groups disproportionately. From these results, the agency was able to modify proposed service changes to avoid impacting protected groups while achieving the required cost reductions. These results were also provided to relevant authorities for establishing Title VI compliance of the service change process.
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Maintaining Key Services While Retaining National Core Values in Environmental Justice
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