Vermont transportation bureau details equity, outreach and labor-compliance efforts

Colleen Montague, director of the Civil Rights Bureau at the Vermont Agency of Transportation, told the House Transportation Committee on Jan. 29 that the agency has expanded outreach, language access and workforce programs to reduce barriers for residents and small contractors interacting with transportation projects.

Montague said the agency is implementing a Transportation Equity Framework intended to guide investments and public involvement and to “rectify past discriminations” while ensuring affected people are represented in decision-making. The framework, she said, builds on federal civil-rights requirements for recipients of federal transportation funding.

Montague described the bureau’s staff and recent activity, saying the civil-rights team of eight manages labor and contractor compliance and emphasizes training and education. “We really try to go above and beyond compliance and we promote education, culture of respect, stability, inclusion,” she said. She told lawmakers the agency…