BART Sets Up Community Meetings

OAKLAND, Calif. (KCBS)  --  This week BART officials plan to kick-off an unprecedented effort to reach out to minority and low income communities.

This new effort comes after federal regulators yanked stimulus dollars from the Oakland Airport Connector project over civil rights concerns.

KCBS' Chris Filippi reports

The connector plan was put on the back burner after federal transit officials decided BART could not quickly complete a study on how the project would impact minority communities.

John Knox White, program director for TransForm, a transit advocacy group, says BART's call for a series of public meetings is a result of complaints filed by his group and others.

"It definitely seems to be an indication that our complaint has caused BART to realize that they need to start looking at how to get public input into these large massive projects," he said.

BART spokesman Lyton Johnson says his agency will host 17 community meetings in just 20 days.

"We've got to find these underserved communities and make sure we get information to them," he said.

Johnson said the meetings aren't just in response to the connector decision.