Mission
Access to transportation services enriches lives and supports the health of our community. Metro Transit’s Equity & Inclusion department cultivates leaders who make our community stronger by ensuring services are accessible, providing a welcoming experience and respecting the individual value of employees, customers and community members.
Our goal? A community that thrives because each individual has access to their destination and feels welcomed.
Our team champions Equity & Inclusion by:
Ensuring Metro Transit promotes diversity to make employees feel valued, respected as their unique selves and supported in their work.
Advancing accessibility for our customers and providing a welcoming, inclusive and safe environment throughout our service options.
We do this by:
- Building inclusive leaders
- Transforming internal culture to better attract and retain employees
- Evaluating agency patterns to find new innovative solutions to equity challenges
- Influencing agency policies that will generate more equitable outcomes
- Fostering an inclusive transit climate for all - Partnering with regional leaders to enhance shared mobility and improve transit accessibility
- Connecting with customers to understand external needs
Explore our work
Our Equity and Inclusion framework outlines how equity and inclusion is influenced by issues related to gender, safety and access, among other things.
Equitable Access
Ensuring all customers have access to the same standard of transportation regardless of community.
METRO A Line The Twin Cities’ first Bus Rapid Transit line to operate on city streets, the A Line launched in 2016. It provided 1.6 million rides in 2018, averaging 4,860 rides per weekday, up 2% over the prior year.
METRO C Line Launched in June 2019, the METRO C Line features the region’s first electric buses on a bus rapid transit route that links Brooklyn Center and downtown Minneapolis. Eight of the route’s 14 buses are fully electric buses with no tailpipe emissions.
METRO D Line The next Bus Rapid Transit Line will be the METRO D Line, substantially replacing Route 5, the region’s busiest bus route. Opening is expected by the end of 2022.
Equitable Funding
Evaluating our decision making and funding supports and benefits our communities.
Transit Assistance Program (TAP) This program makes public transit more affordable for low-income residents by offering $1 rides to certified riders.
Better Bus Stops This program focuses on neighborhoods in areas of concentrated poverty where more than half of the residents are people of color. Bus stops are evaluated for new or enhanced shelters based on a set of use-based guidelines.
Electric buses Metro Transit is the first transit provider in the region to invest in whisper-quiet electric technology, with eight electric buses on the new METRO C Line. Annually, electric buses help reduce pollution in our local neighborhoods by about 58 tons/16 tones of CO2 emissions per bus.
Equitable Environment
Creating a safe and inclusive environment for our customers.
Anti-harassment This initiative launched in April 2019 targeted street harassment against women and nonbinary customers. Built around Respect, Kindness and Inclusivity, it educated customers about creating a harassment-free environment where everyone feels comfortable and safe on transit.
Text for Safety Customers can contact Metro Transit by text for non-emergency situations to silently report something that doesn’t look right on a bus, on a train or at a transit shelter. This service is also accessible via the Metro Transit mobile app.
What is Diversity?
Who makes up Metro Transit, including aspects that are seen and unseen.
What is Equity?
Access to opportunities for everyone.
What is Inclusion?
An environment where diversity is leveraged to make people feel valued, welcomed and respected.
Contacts
Sarah Berres
Specialist, Equity & Inclusion
Sarah.Berres@metrotransit.org
Rachel Cagle
Coordinator, Equity & Inclusion
Rachel.Cagle@metrotransit.org
Lesley Kandaras
Chief of Staff
Lesley.Kandaras@metrotransit.org
Celina Martina
Senior Manager for Transit Equity
Celina.Martina@metrotransit.org