Bay Area Region

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
February 16, 2010
Contact: Wynn Hausser, 650-619-1032

On Eve of Stimulus Anniversary, Obama Administration Denies Funds Due to Civil Rights Failures $70M taken from BART project, Distributed among Bay Area Transit Agencies

San Francisco, CA – In the first action of its kind, the Obama Administration has
pulled $70 million in federal stimulus funds from a proposed Oakland Airport
Connector (OAC) project due to multiple civil rights violations by the Bay Area
Rapid Transit district (BART). The strong action underscores a recent promise
made in the President’s State of the Union address to continue “prosecuting civil
rights violations.”

By Malia Wollan

SAN FRANCISCO — The Federal Transit Administration pulled $70 million in stimulus money from a planned expansion of the commuter rail service here Tuesday after it found that the local rail agency had not appropriately studied the project’s impact on low-income and minority residents.

Posted on  by Becks

Wow.

After almost exactly a year of trying to make the Oakland Airport Connector (OAC) project equitable and cost-effective, it looks like we’ve finally won the original battle. Back in February 2009, more than a 100 advocates urged the Metropolitan Transportation Commission (MTC) not to provide stimulus funds to the OAC and instead to provide the funds to all the regional transit agencies to prevent service cuts and fare hikes.

By Francisca Porchas

In the first successful action of its kind in the nation, Bay Area members of Transit Riders for Public Transportation (TRPT), Public Advocates and Urban Habitat, filed a civil rights complaint to stop $70M in stimulus funds from being allocated to the $500-billion boondoggle rail project, the Oakland Airport Connector project (OAC).

By Ngoc Nguyen

For the first time since President Obama signed the $787 billion American Recovery and Reinvestment Act a year ago, his administration has threatened to withhold stimulus money from a transit agency because it failed to comply with federal civil rights laws.

The Federal Transit Administration (FTA) threatened to pull $70 million in stimulus funds from Northern California’s Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) system because it failed to comply with Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Title VI prohibits agencies that receive federal funds from discriminatory practices.

Audio/Video:

BART Airport Project Moving Forward Amid Debate
A key regional transit agency voted 11-5 Wednesday to reaffirm its support for using $70 million in federal stimulus funds to help BART build a rail connector between its Coliseum station and the Oakland Airport. Sherry Hu reports.

By Michael Cabanatuan

BART won a heated battle Wednesday to keep alive its Oakland Airport Connector project despite federal threats to withhold $70 million in stimulus funds and a campaign by transit and social equity groups to instead give the money to struggling transit agencies.