San Luis Obispo City leaders are holding a pair of meetings Thursday where they plan to recommit to a federal mandate that requires access and prohibits discrimination in public transportation.
Title 6 of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 protects people from discrimination, regardless of nationality or race.
In accordance with federal law, San Luis Obispo City leaders invite the community to a forum Thursday that examines how transport leaders communicate with riders.
From 2017 to 2018, the City reported a 4 percent increase in ridership, followed by an additional 4 percent in 2018 to 2019.
As ridership increases, City leaders want to check in with newcomers and long time riders alike to ensure access to public transportation is equitable. That means reviewing the languages available for transportation information, how that information is delivered, and how it's accessed.
"SLO transit serves a very broad and diverse group of community members and our community is always evolving and changing. we want to make sure our transit system is current and aptly serving our community of all walks of life whether they're here on a short term or long term basis," City of SLO Transit Manager Gamaliel Anguiano said.
The City will release a Title 6 report at the Thursday meeting.
Part of that report will identify public transportation hot spots in San Luis Obispo.
The department notes about one million trips per year on City transportation with a large portion of those rides coming from the Cal Poly area.
"The ridership being the biggest driver and decision maker, we want to serve our ridership base the best we can. so where the stops are more popular or heavily used than others, it's a good indication of where the transit system should be investing its limited funding," Anguiano said.
The twin meetings take place at 4:30 p.m. and 5:30 p.m. in the City Library Community Room on Palm Street.
