http://dc.streetsblog.org/2012/09/04/u-s-dot-wisconsin-dot-in-violation-of-civil-rights-act/

 

U.S. DOT: Wisconsin DOT in Violation of Civil Rights Act

 

by Angie Schmitt

 

Score one for environmental and civil rights groups in Wisconsin in their campaign against the highway-centric Wisconsin Department of Transportation.

 

Wisconsin's Zoo Interchange is going to cost the state's taxpayers $1.7 billion, but it's as good as a hole in the head for people who depend on transit. Civil Rights advocates are suing the state over the project. Photo: OnMilwaukee

 

The U.S. Department of Transportation has found WisDOT to be in violation of federal civil rights statutes, following a complaint by advocates for minority groups in Milwaukee. WisDOT has been found “deficient” and given 90 days to remedy the situation, according to a report from the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.

 

Among the violations cited by U.S. DOT, WisDOT has not updated its Title VI compliance plan since 2004. That document is supposed to explore how the agency’s activities affect minority groups, and an update is required yearly by federal law.

 

Is Ohio next?

Way to go!

Worth posting the article that started the reporting of this important story with national implications....

 

Wisconsin DOT broke civil rights rules, U.S. agency says

Lawsuit proceeds as state says it's now in compliance

By Larry Sandler of the Journal Sentinel

 

The state Department of Transportation did not follow federal civil rights rules for at least seven years, a yearlong investigation has found.

 

An American Civil Liberties Union attorney applauded the decision by the Federal Highway Administration's Office of Civil Rights as a step toward holding state transportation officials accountable for how their actions affect minorities.

 

A Transportation Department spokeswoman, by contrast, had little to say about the ruling, noting its connection to a lawsuit that seeks to halt reconstruction of the Zoo Interchange. Most of the players in that suit were also involved in filing the complaint that triggered the federal investigation.

 

The lawsuit, filed Aug. 6, accuses state officials of discriminating against minorities by refusing to include public transit improvements in the $1.7 billion reconstruction of the crossroads of I-94, I-894 and U.S. Highway 45. The lawsuit asks a federal judge in Madison to order the state to redo its study of the project's environmental impact to address that issue.

 

Part of the legal basis for the litigation is Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which prohibits agencies that receive federal funds from discriminating on the basis of race, color, national origin, gender, age or disability. For years, civil rights groups and transit advocates have argued that state authorities have been discriminating in favor of highways that benefit white suburbanites and against transit projects that would benefit urban minorities without cars.

 

READ MORE AT:

http://www.jsonline.com/news/statepolitics/wisconsin-dot-broke-civil-rights-rules-us-agency-says-gk6mgin-168396106.html

This might have bearing on the RTA vs Beavecreek case here in Dayton.

 

The US DoT is investigating a slightly similar discrimination complaint against Beavecreek due to its excessive requirements for bus infrastructure. 

Consider: the Census says 9 percent of Ohio households have no cars yet ODOT spends only 1 percent of its budget on public transportation. Is ODOT's overall highways-only policy a violation of civil rights?