By Kelly Meallady
Customer Experience Lead
In procurement after procurement, I see the same pattern: solicitations ask for customer satisfaction surveys in one section and Title VI reporting in another. Too often, they’re treated as separate boxes to check; one for compliance, the other for customer feedback. But they’re not separate at all. Both are rooted in the same simple idea: understanding who rides, how they ride, and whether they have equitable access to quality service.
What if we stopped treating Title VI and customer satisfaction as separate exercises, and started seeing them as one?
Efficiency in the Field
When demographic and equity-focused questions are embedded directly into customer satisfaction surveys, agencies eliminate duplication. Instead of separate efforts–each requiring staff, outreach, and reporting–the data is collected once and serves multiple purposes.
Equity Meets Experience
The real power of this work comes when agencies’ crosstab satisfaction results with Title VI demographics. For example:
Riders who transfer frequently may report lower satisfaction.
When cross-tabbed with Title VI variables, these customers might also be shown to be disproportionately minority or low-income.
Suddenly, what looks like a customer experience issue is also an equity issue. This integration allows agencies to spot disparities, identify root causes, and prioritize solutions that improve fairness and overall satisfaction at the same time.
Beyond Compliance, Toward Impact
By merging the two efforts of customer satisfaction and Title VI surveys, agencies gain:
Richer insights that go beyond a checkbox report;
A stronger story to share with boards, funders, and communities;
A roadmap for change, not just compliance; and
Cost savings in execution.
The Takeaway
Title VI and customer satisfaction aren’t checklist items. Together, they can guide agencies toward decisions that make a real difference in people’s daily lives. Real change happens when the question shifts from “what do we have to do?” to “what can we achieve?”
