Transit Planning

Strategic Plan

On November 24, 2020, METRO’s Board of Trustees adopted our new Strategic Plan. The plan will act as a roadmap and guide our decision-making for the next ten years as METRO transforms into Summit County’s regional mobility provider. For more information and to read the final document, click here.

Title VI Analysis of COVID-19 Service Adjustments

METRO RTA and transit agencies across the country faced numerous challenges during the COVID-19 public health emergency. As ridership and revenues fell, the need to ensure reliable and safe service for essential trips was more important than ever. In April 2020, it became necessary to adjust service in order to promote social distancing and accommodate METRO’s temporarily reduced workforce during this time of unprecedented health, family and personal needs. To accommodate changing demands throughout this challenging time, METRO adjusted service in April 2020, June 2020, August 2020, and January 2021 to ensure safety, adapt to available resources, and improve connections for essential trips.

As we continue to navigate through the ongoing pandemic, we plan to continue the temporary service adjustments made over the past year for the near future. The Federal Transit Administration (FTA) requires transit agencies to complete an equity analysis for any major service change to comply with Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. This also applies to changes made in response to an emergency (such as COVID-19) that last longer than 12 months. An equity analysis is performed to ensure that the service change will not disparately impact minority populations and/or disproportionately burden low income populations. METRO’s approved policy defines a major service change as a change of more than 25% to a given route’s weekly mileage. In alignment with the requirements set forth in both federal and agency policies, METRO provided the public with an equity analysis of the major service changes that have been made since April 2020. We collected written and verbal feedback about the service changes and held a public meeting on February 15, 2021. Click here to view the detailed report, which includes service changes, public comments, and a written transcript of the public meeting.

As we look beyond COVID-19 to METRO’s future, we will use the recommendations outlined in the recently completed Strategic Plan to guide our service improvements. This process will start with a Comprehensive Operational Analysis and Transit Development Plan which will kick off in the second quarter of 2021. There will be many opportunities for our riders and the community we serve to provide their input into the specific shape that these service improvements take. Additional in-depth equity analyses will take place for any future service change recommendations resulting from this process. Keep an eye on the Strategic Plan web page for more information.