Complaints and Compliments

HARTransit Policies on Complaints and Compliments

The Chief Executive Officer (CEO), or his or her designee, as Complaints Resolution Officer (CRO) is responsible for response and follow through relative to comments from the public.

HARTransit will fully investigate any representations made by passengers or other members of the public and work towards the resolution of any apparent problems which may be the fault of the District. Any positive comments shall be relayed to the appropriate parties as soon as possible.

Complaint intake

The Marketing and Graphic Design Coordinator has primary responsibility for initial contact with complainants and for initial write up of complaints. However, any administrative staff member may be in a position to take comments, and should be prepared to do so.

All written comments, letters and e-mail correspondence should be directed to the CRO.

Staff should transcribe verbal comments to writing on the official HARTransit complaint form located in the company forms folder on the HARTransit admin fileserver. The staff member transcribing the complaint shall ensure that a copy is provided to the CRO and the Chief Operating Officer (COO). The form will automatically generate a numeric identifier for the complaint.

The Marketing and Graphic Design Coordinator is responsible for the input of the complaint on the comment form status spreadsheet located in the company folder on the HARTransit Admin fileserver.

Complaint investigation

The Operations Department under the direction of the Chief Operating Officer shall be responsible for investigating complaints against vehicle operators and schedulers. The Chief Maintenance Officer (CMO) shall be responsible for investigating complaints about vehicles and facilities. These staff shall contact complainants for more detailed information within 3 days of the initial complaint and complete and document their investigations with any suggested remedial actions within two weeks. Any relevant documentation should be returned to the CRO.

The CRO is responsible for ensuring that the investigation process is completed in a timely fashion via use of the comment form status spreadsheet and contact with the Chief of Operations or Maintenance.

ADA and Title VI complaints

Any individual, group of individuals or entity that believes that she or he has been subjected to discrimination on the basis of race, color, or national origin during any program or activity administered by HARTransit or indirectly under a sub-recipient, consultant and /or contractor may file a written complaint to HARTransit’s Title VI Coordinator. The CEO shall fulfill the duties of Title VI Coordinator. Complaint forms are available at the HARTransit Operations Facility. Further details of this process are included in the HARTransit Title VI plan.

In compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), HARTransit ensures its services, vehicles and facilities are accessible to and usable by individuals with disabilities. Anyone who believes that he or she has been discriminated against on the basis of disability may file an ADA complaint.

Complaints may be submitted by completing the online complaint form. If the complainant is unable to write a complaint, individuals may call or visit the office, or a representative may file on his or her behalf.

Recordkeeping

The Marketing and Graphic Design Coordinator shall maintain a spreadsheet for each fiscal year that identifies complaints by category, employee and type of service. ADA and Title VI complaints shall be identified on the spreadsheet, even if the complainant did not explicitly state that the complaint was based on discrimination.

Completed complaints are returned to the Marketing and Graphic Design Coordinator after investigation with a copy to the COO and filed in a binder by month and fiscal year and maintained indefinitely.

Responses to Complaints

Written responses shall be stored with the original complaint. If a response is verbal, the date at which follow up took place and by whom shall be noted on the comment form.

Revised September, 2023