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Title VI 

 

Arlington County prohibits discrimination in all its programs and services based on race, color or national origin. Arlington Transit is committed to providing non-discriminatory transportation services to all its passengers and potential passengers, and ART and STAR operate their programs and services without regard to race, color and national origin in accordance with Title VI of the Civil Rights Act.

The responsibility for day-to-day operations of the Title VI program, including the investigation of Title VI complaints, has been assigned to the Title VI Compliance Officer. However, all ART and STAR employees share in the responsibility for implementing this program.

For more information on the Title VI program or if you have comments, please contact the Title VI Compliance Officer at (703) 228-3444. Comments can be also mailed to:

Title VI Compliance Office
Arlington County Transit Bureau
2100 Clarendon Boulevard, Suite 900
Arlington, VA 22201

Any person who believes they have, individually or as a member of any specific class of persons, been subjected to discrimination on the basis of race, color or national origin may file a complaint with Arlington County. A written complaint must be filed within 180 days after the date of the alleged discrimination. All complaints should be signed and include contact information.

Complaint Form – English   

Complaint Form – Spanish

Title VI Complaint and Investigation Procedures

These procedures cover all complaints under Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, Executive Order 12898 “Federal Actions to Address Environmental Justice in Minority Populations and Low-Income Populations” (1994), and Executive Order 13166 “Improving Access to Services for Person with Limited English Proficiency” (2000), for alleged discrimination in any program or activity administered by Arlington Transit.

The following is a summary of the procedures that Arlington Transit uses for investigation and resolution of Title VI customer complaints.

  • Any person who believes she or he has been discriminated against on the basis of race, color, or national origin by Arlington Transit (also known as ART or STAR) may file a Title VI complaint by completing and submitting the agency’s Title VI Complaint Form. Complaints must be received within 180 days of the alleged incident and must be complete.
  • Once the complaint is received, the investigator will review it to determine if our office has jurisdiction. The complainant will receive an acknowledgment letter informing her/him whether the complaint will be investigated by our office.
  • Arlington Transit has 90 days to investigate the complaint. If more information is needed to resolve the case, the Title VI Coordinator may contact the complainant. The complainant has 30 business days from the date of the letter to send requested information to the investigator assigned to the case. If the investigator is not contacted by the complainant or does not receive the additional information within 30 business days, Arlington Transit can administratively close the case. A case can be administratively closed also if the complainant no longer wishes to pursue their case.
  • After the investigator reviews the complaint, she/he will issue one of two letters to the complainant:
    • (a) a closure letter that summarizes the allegations and states that there was not a violation of Title VI and that the case is closed; or
    • (b) a letter of findings that summarizes the allegations, the interviews regarding the alleged incident and explains whether disciplinary actions were taken such as additional training of the staff member or other corrective actions that may occur.
  • If the Complainant wants to appeal the decision, they may appeal to the Arlington County Transit Bureau of the Department of Transportation Office within 10 business days. This appeal will be provided to the Arlington County’s Assistant County Manager. The Assistant County Manager’s decision will be upheld unless the County Manager finds that it constituted an abuse of discretion.

A person may also file a complaint directly with the Federal Transit Administration at:

Federal Transit Administration
Office of Civil Rights
Attention: Complaint Team
East Building, 5th Floor – TCR
1200 New Jersey Avenue SE
Washington, DC 20590