A planner asked me last week: do we still have to run a Title VI equity analysis for our fall service change?
It depends. Let me explain.
What changed
On June 11, 2026, the U.S. Department of Transportation published a final rule, 91 FR 35424, that removes the disparate-impact provisions from DOT's Title VI regulations in 49 CFR Part 21. It took effect the same day.
Those provisions barred practices that have a discriminatory effect, even without discriminatory intent. FTA's service equity analysis, including the four-fifths threshold many agencies adopted, rests on them.
What stays the same
- Title VI itself. The statute still prohibits intentional discrimination in any program that receives federal funds.
- The circular, for now. The rule describes what FTA Circular 4702.1B asks for in a triennial Title VI Program, including service and fare equity analyses, but it doesn't revise the circular. As of October 1, 2026, I have not found revised FTA guidance.
- Demographic data. The rule still expects recipients to have racial and ethnic data showing who benefits from their programs.
Who was covered in the first place
Many small agencies were never required to run a service equity analysis. Under the circular, it applied to fixed-route providers that operate 50 or more vehicles in peak service and are located in an urbanized area of 200,000 people or more.
Every FTA recipient submits a Title VI Program every three years, and every fixed-route provider sets service standards and policies. The service and fare equity analyses sat with the larger systems.
Why you may still want the numbers
The rule changed the legal trigger. Your board and your public hearings will still ask who a change affects.
Say that you cut midday frequency on a route whose riders are 55% minority, in a system that is 30% minority overall. That number is the first thing a board member or a reporter will ask about. You want to know it while the plan is still a sketch, not read it for the first time in public comment.
Some grant programs ask a version of the same question. Check the criteria in the current notice before you apply.
What to do now
- Ask your FTA regional civil rights officer what your next Title VI Program needs to include, and get the answer in writing.
- Put your Title VI policies on a board agenda. Your major service change definition and your disparate-impact and disproportionate-burden thresholds were adopted by your board. Keeping, revising or retiring them is the board's decision. Don't let them drift.
- Keep collecting rider demographics. A survey program you pause is hard to restart, and the rule still expects you to have the data.
- Run the impact numbers at the sketch stage: who gains service, who loses it, and by how much. Adjusting a draft is cheaper than reworking a final plan.
This isn't legal advice. Your counsel and your FTA regional office are the authorities on what your agency must file.
What is your board doing with its Title VI policies this year?
LMAi Labs builds Transit Planner, which runs the FTA Circular 4702.1B method on an agency's own GTFS and Census data. The method is documented at planning.lmailabs.ai/methodology.
