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    1. Management

    SamTrans Board adopts 2019 Title VI Program update

    Dec. 6, 2019
    The program update focuses on serving historically marginalized communities and providing the right service to the right people at the right time.
    Related To: San Mateo County Transit District (SamTrans)
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    The SamTrans Board has adopted the 2019 update to its Title VI Program at its monthly meeting in December.

    The program update lays out the existing framework for how SamTrans provides equitable transportation services for communities who live and work in San Mateo County.

    The 2019 update sets goals and strategies for how SamTrans can continue to serve historically marginalized communities and prioritize equity by providing the right service to the right people at the right time. Recommendations include continued collaboration and outreach with local government and community-based organizations in neighborhoods identified as minority and/or low-income.

    Review of the agency’s Title VI Program informed by the latest American Community Survey data and the SamTrans Triennial Survey revealed key findings about the communities who utilize the agency’s services:

    • While 18 percent of San Mateo County residents primarily speak a language other than English, those same communities account for nearly half of all SamTrans riders

                            - English: 55.21 percent of SamTrans ridership

                            - Spanish: 20.74 percent of SamTrans ridership

                            - Tagalog: 13.72 percent of SamTrans ridership

                            - Cantonese: 2.82 percent of SamTrans ridership

                            - Mandarin: 2.18 percent of SamTrans ridership

    • SamTrans identified 11 language groups that fall within the federally mandated Safe Harbor compliance for translations.
    • As of 2018, San Mateo County’s median household income is roughly $116,653, while the mean household income of SamTrans riders is $49,435.89.
    • Approximately 51 percent of SamTrans riders that do not speak English very well also do not own cars, thus demonstrating a reliance on public transit.

    Additionally, SamTrans says its Title VI Program update shows that the district offers equitable access to transit services with regards to route designs and fleet distribution as well as customer information, opportunities for public comment and including in-language content. Title VI compliance will also be an integral piece of the service recommendations being developed as part of the Reimagine SamTrans project.

    Title VI program updates are mandated by the Federal Transit Administration (FTA) every three years in order to demonstrate compliance with the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which allows the agency to continue qualifying for federal funding. SamTrans will formally submit this year’s program update to the FTA’s Office of Civil Rights in January 2020 for final approval.