Business Logistics 420Public Transportation

Spring 2001

Lectures 13 & 14

Policy Issues I: Transit’s Role in Meeting the Mobility Needs of Transportation Disadvantaged

Persons

Lecture Objectives

• Identify the mobility needs of the transportation disadvantaged and compare to transit service options

• Explain the evolution of national policy with respect to transportation for disabled persons

• Discuss the details of the Americans with Disabilities Act as it applies to transit

The “Transportation Disadvantaged”

• Transportation disadvantaged persons are those individuals that are unable to drive or cannot afford to own and operate a motor vehicle

• Includes:– low income individuals– elderly, especially the frail elderly– persons with physical and/or mental disabilities

Transportation Needs of the “Transportation Disadvantaged”

• Low income needs– need money to purchase and operate a motor vehicle

or low cost transit service– transit needs to serve work and other trips, special

problem -- the reverse commute

• Low income solutions– low fare transit– user-side subsidies– better service -- especially to suburbs

Welfare To Work and Transportation

• 1996 Welfare to Work Federal Law requires able bodied persons to get jobs or more training or loose benefits after two years

• Most welfare recipients do not have vehicles• Most welfare recipients are in the center city and

most jobs are in the suburbs• Much debate about the best way to provide

mobility -- more transit services or provide cars

Transportation Needs of the “Transportation Disadvantaged”

• Elderly Mobility Needs– may not need public transportation or other non-

auto mode until 85+ years– door-to-door transit service and good coverage

more important than speed– cost may not be an issue

• Elderly Transit Mobility Solutions– demand responsive transit (door-to-door)– volunteer network of drivers (ex. ITN)

Transportation Needs of the “Transportation Disadvantaged”

• Physical or Mental Disability Needs– Need to distinguish type of disability to

determine best solution– Driving is often not a choice due to disability– Physical condition/stamina or mental ability to

navigate transit system may prevent use of transit without an aide

Transportation Needs of the “Transportation Disadvantaged”

• Physical or Mental Disability (Continued)– Possible Solutions

• Travel Training to use transit services

• Door-to-door paratransit

• Grants and training for specially equipped vehicles

• Accessible fixed-route transit

• Other aids for hearing or visually impaired individuals

Brief History of Transit and Accessibility Debate

• First federal policy stated in 1970 Amend-ment to Urban Mass Transportation Act of 1964– "Hereby declared to be national policy that

elderly and handicapped persons have the same right as other persons to utilize mass transit facilities and services....special efforts must be made to assure availability of these services."

Brief History of Transit and Accessibility Debate (Continued)• Major legislation – Section 504 of the

Rehabilitation Act of 1973– "No otherwise qualified handicapped individual

in the U.S...... shall, solely by reason of his handicap, be excluded from the benefits of, or subjected to discrimination under any program or activity receiving federal financial assistance.”

–

Section 504 Implementation

• USDOT guidelines implementing Section 504 caused debates, lawsuits, etc throughout the 1970s and were finally overturned by the courts.

• Final regulations reissued in the early 1980s though Reagan Administration objected but Congress insisted

Section 504 Implementation• Final regulations offered federally funded

transit systems two choices (each publicly funded transit system had to do one or the other) – Make all vehicles/stations accessible to persons

in wheelchairs– Offer alternate, comparable door-to-door

paratransit service.

Section 504 Implementation Choices

• Accessible Fixed Route Services

Section 504 Implementation Choices

• Comparable Paratransit Service

Section 504 Implementation• Comparability defined in terms of the

following attributes:

• Eligibility• Response Time (within 24 hours of request)• No trip purpose limitations• Fares (same as fixed route)• Hours and days of service• Service area (trips within 1/4 mile of bus

routes/rail stations)

Experience with Section 504

• Transit industry resisted Section 504 regulations on basis of cost -- especially to old rail systems such as New York City

• Industry argued against full accessibility as not being cost-effective

• Persons with disabilities made civil rights claim that “separate is not equal” when considering separate paratransit service offerings

Experience with Section 504

• Most transit systems chose to implement paratransit services rather than make fixed route services accessible

• Some systems did both -- Pittsburgh, for example

• Many resisted and took little action -- Philadelphia, for example

Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) of 1990

• The major piece of legislation now governs transportation for disabled persons is the United States and applies to both public and private transportation services

• Civil Rights Legislation that applies to transportation, employment, accommodations for all, not just federally funded programs

Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) of 1990

• Definition of Disability:– A physical or mental impairment that

substantially limits one or more of the major life activities of such individual, a record of such an impairment, or being regarded being regarded as having such an impairment.

What ADA Means to Public Transit

• Buses purchased after August 26, 1990 must be accessible to individuals with disabilities

• Transit systems must provide comparable paratransit services who cannot use fixed route services unless an undue burden would result.

What ADA Means to Public Transit

• New paratransit vehicles must be accessible unless a system can demonstrate that disabled individuals have the same access to the paratransit system as persons without disabilities.

• New rail vehicles ordered after August 26, 1990 must be accessible.

• Existing rail systems must have one accessible car per train by July 26, 1995.

What ADA Means to Public Transit

• New rail stations must be accessible.

• Existing "key" stations must be accessible by July 26, 1993 unless an extension is granted for 20 years.

• AMTRAK stations must be accessible by July 26, 2010

Rail and other Modes to be Accessible

What ADA Means to Private Transportation Providers

• Intercity buses ordered after July 26, 1996 must be accessible.

• Operators of public accommodations that provide transportation, e.g., hotels, car rental agencies, must provide equivalent accessible services

Comparability for Paratransit Services under ADA

• Persons who cannot access fixed-route services are eligible

• Response Time (within 24 hours of request)

• No trip purpose limitations

• Fares (no more than 2 x fixed route fare)

• Hours and days of service must be same as fixed route service

• Service area (trips within 3/4 mile of bus routes/rail stations)

ADA is Not Just About Accessible Vehicles

• Accessible Customer Information

– Braille

– TDD

• Announce stops on bus/train

• Tactile warning edges at stations

• Alternate media for important information, e.g. public hearings

Key Differences Between 504 and ADA

• Section 504 only applied to federally funded activities

• Section 504 debate focused on cost/benefit of accessibility options

• ADA is a civil rights law -- cost not a relevant issue

• ADA applies to all -- government funded and private

Study Questions• Identify three key categories of transportation

disadvantaged persons• What are the transportation needs of each group and

what are some of the transportation solutions that have been proposed and/or implemented?

• Which solutions do you think are the best/most appropriate?

• Briefly trace the history of federal policy with respect to providing public transportation to individuals with disabilities.

Study Questions (Continued)

• According to the CTAA article "Squeezing the Soul Out of ADA, what has been the experience with ADA implementation? What major problems remain to be resolved?

• What are the key differences between Section 504 and ADA regulations regarding paratransit and accessible fixed-route services.

Study Questions (Continued)

• How is comparability defined for paratransit services under the ADA regulations?

• Review the operating concept of Portland Maine’s Independent Transportation Network In and evaluate its approach to meeting the needs of the transportation disadvantaged