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Eligibility

1. Who qualifies for paratransit services?

Paratransit eligibility is not simply a matter of whether or not a person has a disability, but instead relates to whether or not an individual can use the transportation entity’s fixed route system. Thus, eligibility is a functional determination of a person’s ability to use the regular transit system as it currently exists, and not simply a medical or psychiatric diagnosis. An individual must fit into one of the three ADA paratransit eligibility categories. 

2. What are the three categories of ADA paratransit eligibility?

Category 1: This category includes individuals who are unable, due to a physical or mental impairment, to board, ride or disembark independently from any readily accessible vehicle on the regular fixed route system. Among others, this category includes persons with mental or visual impairments who, as a result of their disability, cannot navigate the system. This means that, if an individual needs an attendant to board, ride, or disembark from an accessible fixed route vehicle (including navigating the system), the individual is eligible for paratransit.

Category 2: Also eligible are those persons with a physical or mental impairment who could use accessible fixed route transportation, but the accessible fixed route transportation is not available at that time on that route (e.g., the accessible vehicle is down for maintenance, the lift cannot be deployed, etc.). This second eligibility category is the broadest, with respect to persons with mobility impairments, but its impact should be reduced over time as transit systems become more accessible.

Category 3: Any individual with a disability who has a specific impairment-related condition which prevents that person from traveling to a boarding location or from a disembarking location on the system is also eligible. In this case, the impairment must prevent travel to or from a stop; significant inconvenience or difficulty does not form a basis for eligibility under this section. Further, barriers not under control of the public entity providing the fixed route service (such as weather) do not by themselves form a basis for eligibility under this section. The regulation makes the interaction between an impairment-related condition and the environmental barrier (whether distance, weather, terrain, or architectural barriers) the key to eligibility determinations. This is an individual determination. Depending on the specifics of an individual’s impairment-related condition, one person may be able to get from his home to a bus stop under a given set of conditions, while the next-door neighbor may not. 

3. Can an individual be eligible for some paratransit trips, but not others?

Yes. An individual’s inability to use the fixed route system may change with differing circumstances. In many cases, it is possible that a person will be eligible for some trips but not others. For instance, some routes may have accessible vehicles and some may not. However, as opposed to trying to establish eligibility on a trip-by-trip basis, it may often be possible to establish individual conditions on eligibility as part of the initial eligibility determination process. 

4. Are people with temporary disabilities eligible for paratransit services?

Individuals may be ADA paratransit eligible on the basis of a permanent or temporary disability. The individual must meet one of the three eligibility criteria, whether permanently or for a limited period of time. 

5. What are the rules concerning the behavior of paratransit-eligible individuals?

An individual with a disability who engages in violent, seriously disruptive, or illegal conduct may be refused service, using the same standards for exclusion that would apply to any other person who acts in such an inappropriate way. 

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Companions and Attendants

6. May a paratransit-eligible individual bring a companion along on trips?

An eligible individual must be allowed to bring one companion on a trip even if the companion’s presence reduces the space available for other paratransit-eligible individuals. Additional companions (beyond one) are served on a space-available basis; in other words, as long as they do not displace other ADA paratransit-eligible individuals. To be considered as accompanying an eligible individual, a companion must have the same origin and destination point.

7. Must a paratransit-eligible individual reserve an extra space for a companion?

The paratransit entity may require that the eligible individual reserve a space for the companion and/or a personal care attendant when the individual reserves his or her own ride. The entity cannot limit the eligible individual's choice of type of companion.

8. When is a person traveling with a paratransit-eligible individual considered a "companion" or "attendant"?

A paratransit entity may require that, as part of the initial eligibility certification process, an individual indicate whether he or she travels with a personal care attendant. If someone does not indicate the use of an attendant, then any individual accompanying him or her would be regarded simply as a companion.

9. What if a paratransit-eligible individual wants to travel with an attendant and a companion?

If the paratransit-eligible individual is traveling with a personal care attendant, the transportation entity must provide service to one other individual in addition to the attendant who is accompanying the eligible individual.

10. What are the rules for traveling with family members or friends?

A family member or friend is regarded as a person accompanying the eligible individual, and not as a personal care attendant, unless the family member or friend registered is acting in the capacity of a personal care attendant.

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Eligibility Process

11. How is paratransit eligibility determined?

Each entity required to provide complementary paratransit service is required to establish a process for determining ADA paratransit eligibility. The goal of this process is to ensure that only people who meet the regulatory criteria, strictly applied, are regarded as eligible.

12. Why must an eligibility process be established?

Transit entities are free to provide service to other persons, but the eligibility process should clearly distinguish those persons who are ADA eligible from those who are provided service on other grounds. This is important because only individuals who are actually paratransit eligible have rights to the paratransit services as required by the regulations.

13. Are there a great number of extra steps involved in determining eligibility?

The process to determine paratransit eligibility may not impose unreasonable administrative burdens on applicants.

14. What is the cost to apply for paratransit eligibility?

A paratransit entity may not charge user fees or application fees to a paratransit applicant.

15. What information about the eligibility process must be available?

All information about the eligibility process, materials necessary to apply for eligibility, and notices and determinations concerning eligibility must be made available, and in accessible formats, upon request. A document does not necessarily need to be made available in the format a requester prefers, but it does have to be made available in a format the person can use.

16. How long does a transportation entity have to determine an individual’s eligibility?

If the transportation entity has not made a determination of eligibility within 21 days, the applicant must be treated as eligible and provided service until and unless the transportation entity denies the application.

17. How must a transportation entity notify a person when he or she is approved for paratransit eligibility?

The public transportation entity must provide documentation to each eligible individual stating that he or she is ADA paratransit eligible. The documentation must include:

• the individual’s name
• the name of the transit entity
• the telephone number of the entity’s paratransit coordinator
• an expiration date for eligibility
• any conditions or limitations on the individual’s eligibility, including the use of a personal care attendant.

The last point refers to the situation in which a person is eligible for some trips but not others, or if the traveler is authorized to have a personal care attendant ride free of charge. For example, the documentation may say that the individual is eligible only when the temperature falls below a certain point, or when the individual is going to a destination not on an accessible bus route, or for non-work trips, etc.

All eligibility determinations must be provided in writing. In the case of a denial, the reasons must be specified and they must relate to the evidence in the matter; a simple statement that the applicant can use fixed route transit is not sufficient. 

18. What is a doctor’s role in the paratransit eligibility process?

A doctor’s note alone does not determine eligibility. The eligibility determination process may include functional criteria related to the eligibility standards (such as inability to use the fixed route system) and, where appropriate, functional evaluation or testing of applicants. While evaluation by a physician or other professional may be used as part of the process, his or her diagnosis does not automatically qualify an individual as paratransit eligible; the determination relies on whether an individual can use the fixed route system in his or her own circumstances. It is primarily a transportation decision, not a medical decision.

19. Is periodic recertification of eligibility allowed?

Recertification of ADA paratransit-eligible individuals at reasonable intervals is permissible. For example, reasonable interval for recertification may be between one and three years. Less than one year would probably be too burdensome for consumers; over three years would begin to lose the point of having recertifications. The recertification interval should be stated in the entity's plan. Of course, a user of the service can apply to modify conditions on his or her eligibility at any time.

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Paratransit Eligibility Appeals Process

20. What can an individual do if his or her application is denied?

The applicant may appeal the decision. Each entity required to provide complementary paratransit service is also required to establish an administrative appeals process through which individuals who are denied eligibility can obtain review of the denial. An opportunity for the applicant to be heard in person and to present information must be provided as part of the appeals process.

21. How long does an individual have to file an appeal?

The transportation entity may require that an appeal be filed within 60 days of the denial of an individual’s initial application.

22. Who should be involved in reviewing the appeal?

In order to have appropriate separation of functions, the person who made the decision on the initial application must not be the person who makes the decision on the appeal. Further, to the extent practicable, that person should not even be involved in the appeals decision.

23. How much time does the transportation entity have to review the appeal?

If a decision has not been made 30 days following the completion of the appeals process, the transportation entity must begin providing paratransit service to the individual. The transportation entity is not required, however, to provide paratransit service to the individual during the 30-day time period allowed for review of the appeal.

24. How are the appeal results disseminated?

The transportation entity must provide written notification of the appeals decision and the reasons for it.

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Suspension of Eligibility for Missed Trips

25. What can a paratransit entity do about individuals who miss trips?

Each entity required to provide complementary paratransit service may establish an administrative process to suspend, for a reasonable period of time, complementary paratransit service to eligible individuals who establish a pattern or practice of missing scheduled trips. The purpose of this process would be to deter or deal with chronic no-shows. 

26. What does "pattern or practice" mean?

A pattern or practice involves intentional, repeated or regular actions, not accidental, singular, or isolated incidents. Only actions within the control of the individual count as part of a pattern or practice. Missed trips due to operator error (e.g., vehicle arrival substantially after scheduled time, going to the wrong address, going to the wrong entrance to a building) and not attributable to the passenger do not count towards establishing a pattern or practice. 

27. What is the procedure for suspending an individual for missed trips?

If a transportation entity proposes to suspend someone, it must first notify the individual in writing, and must specify the basis of the proposed action in terms of days and times of missed trips as well as the intended length of suspension. As part of this process, the individual must be provided an opportunity to be heard and to present information and arguments. During this due process period, the individual must continue to receive paratransit service.

28. What if the paratransit entity decides to follow through with the suspension?

If the transportation entity decides to proceed with the suspension, it must notify the individual in writing about the decision, the reasons for it, and the sanctions imposed.

29. Does the suspended individual have any further recourse, after due process?

When an entity decides to proceed with a suspension, the administrative appeals process (see the Eligibility Appeals Process section) is available to the individual. When an eligible individual uses the appeals process, the suspension must be put on hold during the administrative appeals process, and provision of paratransit service must be continued.

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Complementary Paratransit Service for Visitors

30. What obligations do paratransit entities have in providing services to visitors from outside their service area?

Each public entity required to provide complementary paratransit service must make the service available to visitors. A visitor is an individual with a disability who does not reside in the jurisdiction served by the transportation entity or its partners with whom it coordinates paratransit services.

31. How is a visitor’s paratransit eligibility determined?

Visitors are considered eligible if they present documentation of ADA paratransit eligibility from their home jurisdiction’s paratransit system. Visitors will also be considered eligible if they can present proof of visitor status (i.e., proof of residence somewhere else) and, if the individual’s disability is not apparent, proof of the disability (e.g., a letter from a doctor or rehabilitation professional). Once this documentation is presented and is satisfactory, the local entity must make service available on the basis of the individual's statement that he or she is unable to use the fixed route transit system.

32. What limitations are there for provision of paratransit service to visitors?

A transportation entity is not required to provide service to a visitor for more than 21 days from the date of that visitor’s first paratransit trip. The 21 days may be continuous, or parceled out over several shorter visits. After 21 days, the transportation entity may require the visitor to apply for paratransit eligibility in the usual local manner.

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Service Area

33. What specific geographical areas is a paratransit entity required to serve?

Complementary paratransit service must be provided to origins and destinations within corridors that have a width of 3/4 of a mile on each side of each fixed route. At the end of each route, the entity must also serve an area that looks like a semicircular "cap" and has a 3/4 mile radius from the end point of the route.

34. What about the small gaps that sometimes exist between these corridors?

Because it would not make sense to avoid providing service to such small isolated areas, the rule requires paratransit service there as well.

35. What is a paratransit "core area"?

The core service area is the area in which corridors with a width of 3/4 of a mile on each side of each fixed route merge together such that, with few and small exceptions, all origins and destinations within the area would be served. 

36. What about service outside the core service area, such as isolated routes that extend into the suburbs?

As bus routes follow radial arteries into the suburbs outside the core area, there are increasingly wide areas between the corridors which are not small areas completely surrounded by corridors. Service to these areas is not required. However, the paratransit entity may extend the width of one or more of these corridors from 3/4 of a mile to a maximum of 1 1/2 miles on each side of a route if it wishes to do so. In these cases, the expanded corridor could be counted by the entity in connection with a request for an undue financial burden.

37. What about service for paratransit-eligible individuals who live outside the service areas?

The rule does not say that an eligible user must live within a corridor in order to be eligible for paratransit. If an individual lives outside the corridor, and can find a way of getting to a pickup point within the corridor, the service must pick him up there. The same holds true at the destination end of the trip.

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Scheduling Paratransit Trips

38. How much advance notice can be required for scheduling a trip?

Next day scheduling is required at minimum. This means, for example, that any caller reaching the reservation service at any time on one day could reserve service for any time during the next service day. A rule requiring 24-hour notice is not allowed, as it would require a person to call by noon on one day in order to receive service by noon the next day.

39. When must the reservation service be open for scheduling paratransit trips?

An entity must make its reservation service available during the hours its administrative offices are open. If those offices are open 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., those are the hours during which the reservations service must be open, even if the entity's transit service operates from 6 a.m. to midnight.

40. What if someone wishes to schedule a trip when the administrative offices are closed?

On days prior to a service day on which the administrative offices are not open at all (e.g., a Sunday prior to a Monday service day), the reservation service must be open during the same hours that the administrative offices would usually be open, such as from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. It should also be noted that a reservation service on any day does not have to be provided directly by a real person. An answering machine or other technology can suffice.

41. How far in advance can a paratransit trip be scheduled?

Paratransit entities must permit reservations to be made up to 14 days in advance of the desired trip date.

42. What are the rules for negotiating pick up times when a reservation is requested?

The paratransit entity may negotiate pickup times with an individual, but can not require an eligible individual to schedule a trip to begin more than one hour before or after the individual's desired departure time. 

43. What is "real time" scheduling?

Real time scheduling is scheduling trips on a timely, when-needed basis. Although it is not required, a number of transit entities who have used real time scheduling believe that it is more efficient on a per-trip basis and reduces cancellations and no-shows significantly.

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Trip Fares

44. How are fares calculated for a paratransit trip?

The fare for a trip charged to an ADA paratransit-eligible user of the complementary paratransit service may be up to twice the fare that would be charged to an individual paying full fare, without regard to discounts, for a trip of similar length, at a similar time of day, on the entity's fixed route system. Note that the fare charged may also be less than twice the regular fare.

45. May this calculation include transfer or premium charges?

Yes. Transfer and premium charges applicable to a trip of similar length, at a similar time of day, on the fixed route system may be included in calculating the paratransit trip fare.

46. Does the fare change if paratransit services are provided via a subcontractor?

No. The mode through which paratransit is provided does not change the method of calculation. For example, if paratransit is provided via user-side subsidy taxi service rather than publicly-operated dial-a-ride van service, the cost to the user could still be only twice the applicable fixed route fare. 

47. What are the fares for companions?

Companions are charged the same fare as the eligible individual they are accompanying.

48. What are the fares for personal care attendants?

Personal care attendants ride free.

47. Are there exceptions to the "twice the regular fare" pricing structure?

Yes. One exception to the fare requirement is allowed for social service agency (or other organization-sponsored) trips. This exception, which allows the transit provider to negotiate a price with the agency that may be more than twice the relevant fixed route fare, applies to agency trips. Agency trips are defined as those which are guaranteed to the agency for its use. For example, if an agency wants 12 slots for a trip to the mall on Saturday for clients with disabilities, and:

• the agency makes the reservation for the trip in its name;
• the agency will be paying for the transportation;
• the trip is reserved to the agency for whichever 12 people the agency designates;

then the paratransit entity may negotiate any price it can with the agency for the trips. Note: This does not apply to a situation where an agency employee, as a service, calls and makes an individual reservation for a client, where the client will be paying for the transportation.

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Hours and Days of Service

48. When is paratransit service required to be provided?

The complementary paratransit service shall be available during the same hours and days as the entity's fixed route service is available. This means simply that if a person can travel to a given destination using a given fixed route at a given time of day, an ADA paratransit-eligible person must be able to travel to that same destination on paratransit at that time of day.

49. Are there times when the service area may be limited, such as during late evening hours?

The rules recognize that the shape of the service area can change. Late at night, for example, it is common for buses to stop running on certain routes. Those routes, and their paratransit corridors, do not need to be served with paratransit during the hours when the fixed route system is not running on them.

50. Is the same level of service required at all times?

No. Service during low-demand times need not be by the same paratransit mode as during higher usage periods. For example, if an entity uses its own paratransit vans during high demand periods, it could use a private contractor or user-side subsidy provider during low demand periods.

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Specific Requirements on Service Capacity

51. How many trips may a person schedule in a given time period?

There are no limits. For example, it would be illegal to limit a paratransit-eligible person to a quota of 30 trips per month. 

52. Is it permissible to maintain waiting lists?

No. It is illegal for a paratransit entity to make eligible persons wait for paratransit service until one of the people being served moves away or no longer uses the service.

53. Are there restrictions as to the purpose of the trip?

There can be no restrictions or priorities based on a trip’s purpose in a comparable complementary paratransit system. There is a simple and straightforward requirement: when a user reserves a trip, the entity will need to know the origin, destination, time of travel, and how many people are traveling. The entity does not need to know why the person is traveling and should not even ask.

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Unacceptable Patterns or Practices in Paratransit Operations

54. What does "pattern or practice" mean?

A pattern or practice involves regular or repeated actions, not accidental, singular, or isolated incidents. A missed trip, late arrival, or trip denial now and then does not trigger this provision. Operational problems attributable to causes beyond the control of the entity (such as weather or traffic conditions affecting all traffic that could not be anticipated) is not a basis for determining whether a pattern or practice exists.

On the other hand, if the entity regularly does not maintain its vehicles, such that frequent mechanical breakdowns result in missed trips or late arrivals, a pattern or practice may exist. This is also true in a situation in which scheduling practices fail to take into account regularly occurring traffic conditions (e.g., rush hour traffic jams), resulting in frequent late arrivals.

55. What types of paratransit operations are unacceptable?

Any operational pattern or practice that significantly limits the availability of service to paratransit-eligible persons is not allowed. This includes, but is not limited to, the following:

• Substantial numbers of significantly untimely pickups for initial or return trips;
• Substantial numbers of trip denials or missed trips;
• Substantial numbers of trips with excessive trip lengths.

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Subscription Service

56. What is "subscription service"?

Subscription service is when a paratransit-eligible person arranges a standing appointment for a ride, such as an 8:00 a.m. Monday through Friday departure for work and subsequent 5:00 p.m. return trip.

57. Are subscription services allowed?

Yes. The rules do not prohibit the use of subscription service by public entities as part of a complementary paratransit system, subject to several limitations.

58. What are the limits to providing subscription service?

At any given time of day, subscription service may not absorb more than 50 percent of available capacity on the total system. For example, if the entity can provide 400 trips at 8:00 a.m., no more than 200 of these can be subscription trips. The one exception to this rule would occur in a situation in which there is excess capacity of regular paratransit services available.

Using the above example, if an entity could show a pattern of there being only 150 non-subscription trips requested at 8:00 a.m., they could begin to provide 250 subscription trips at that time. Subsequently, if non-subscription demand increased later on, the 50 extra subscription trips may have to be returned to the regular paratransit services category.

59. What are the rules regarding waiting lists and prioritizing trips for subscription service?

The rules permit two specific restrictions that may be imposed on a subscription service that can not be imposed in regular paratransit service. First, there may be a waiting list or other capacity constraints for provision of subscription service. Secondly, an entity may set priorities based on trip purpose. For example, subscription service during peak work trip times could be limited to work trips. It must be emphasized that these limitations apply only to subscription service. It is acceptable for an entity to put a person on a waiting list for access to subscription service at 8:00 a.m. for work trips; the same person could not be wait-listed for access to paratransit service in general. 

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Definitions

61. How is disability defined for purposes of transportation?

A person with a disability is an individual with a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits one or more of the major life activities of the individual such as caring for one's self, performing manual tasks, walking, seeing, hearing, speaking, breathing, learning, and working. The definition also includes individuals with a record of such an impairment or an individual who is regarded as having such an impairment.

62. When is a transportation system "Demand Responsive"?

An advance request for service is a key characteristic distinguishing a demand responsive service. Systems, like a dial-a-ride van system or a taxi or limousine service, are clearly demand responsive. With demand responsive service, an active step must be taken before the individual can access the service (e.g., the individual must make a telephone call).

Some services (e.g., certain commuter bus or commuter rail operations) may use flag stops, in which a vehicle along the route does not stop unless a passenger flags the vehicle down. A traveler staying at a hotel usually makes a room reservation before hopping on the hotel shuttle. This kind of interaction does not make an otherwise fixed route service demand responsive. On the other hand, we would regard a system that permits user-initiated deviations from routes or schedules as demand responsive.

63. What is meant when a transportation provider is said to be "Not Primarily Engaged"?

Many private businesses have transportation as their primary business. For example, taxi companies and inter-city bus companies are primarily engaged in the business of transporting people. Many other businesses transport people, but do so only as a secondary part of the business. These businesses include hotels that operate a shuttle to the airport or schools that provide bus transportation. Such businesses are not primarily engaged in the business of transporting people. Such businesses must adhere to different rules than those that are primarily engaged in the business.

The line between primarily engaged and not primarily engaged entities is drawn with respect to the specific bus, van, or other service which the entity is providing. For example, there is an obvious sense in which an airline or car rental company is primarily engaged in the business of transporting people. If the airline or car rental agency runs a shuttle bus from the airport terminal to a downtown location or a rental car lot, however, that shuttle service is covered by the "not primarily engaged" requirements of the regulations. This is because the airline or car rental agency is not primarily engaged in the business of providing transportation by bus or van. The relationship of the bus or van service to an airline's main business is analogous to that of a shuttle to a hotel. For this purpose, it is of only incidental interest that the main business of the airline is flying people around the country instead of putting them up for the night.

64. What is a "fixed route" system?

A fixed route system is a system for transporting individuals on which a vehicle is operated along a prescribed route according to a fixed schedule. A typical city bus system fits clearly into this category. With fixed route service, no action by the individual is needed to initiate service. If an individual is at a bus stop at the time the bus is scheduled to appear, then that individual will be able to access the transportation system. If a service is provided along a given route, and a vehicle will arrive at certain times regardless of whether a passenger actively requests the vehicle, the service in most cases should be regarded as fixed route rather than demand responsive.

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Nondiscrimination

65. Is a person with a disability required to use special transportation services if they are provided?

No, an entity must allow an individual with a disability an opportunity to use the entity's transportation service for the general public, if the individual is capable of using that service.

66. Is a person with a disability required to use designated priority seating?

An entity may not require an individual with a disability to use designated priority seats, if the individual does not choose to use these seats. A person with a disability may choose to take advantage of this accommodation or not.

67. May an entity impose special charges on people with disabilities?

An entity may not impose special charges on individuals with disabilities, including individuals who use wheelchairs, for providing services required by the regulations or otherwise necessary to accommodate them. For example, if a shuttle service charges $20.00 for a ride from a given location to the airport for most people, it could not charge $40.00 because the passenger had a disability or needed to use the shuttle service's lift-equipped van.

Higher mileage charges for using an accessible vehicle would likewise be inconsistent with the rule. Charging extra to carry a service animal accompanying an individual with a disability would also be inconsistent with the rule. If a taxi company charges $1.00 to stow luggage in the trunk, it cannot charge $2.00 to stow a folding wheelchair there.

This provision does not mean, however, that a transportation provider cannot charge nondiscriminatory fees to passengers with disabilities. The taxi company in the above example can charge a passenger $1.00 to stow a wheelchair in the trunk; it is not required to waive the charge.

This does not prohibit the fares for paratransit service which transit providers are allowed to charge.

68. Is a person with a disability required to travel with an attendant?

An entity may not require that an individual with disabilities be accompanied by an attendant. However, the entity is not required to provide attendant services (e.g., assistance in toileting, feeding, dressing, etc.).

69. Are there any circumstances under which an entity may deny service to a person with a disability?

An entity may refuse to provide service to an individual with a disability because that individual engages in violent, seriously disruptive, or illegal conduct. If the entity legitimately refuses service to someone, it may condition service to him or her on actions that would mitigate the problem. For example, the entity could require an attendant as a condition of providing service it otherwise had the right to refuse.

However, an entity may not refuse to provide service to an individual with a disability solely because the individual's disability results in appearance or involuntary behavior that may offend, annoy, or inconvenience employees of the entity or other persons, but which does not pose a direct threat. For example, some persons with Tourette's syndrome may make involuntary profane exclamations. These may be very annoying or offensive to others, but would not be a ground for denial of service. Nor may the entity deny service based on fear or misinformation about a disability. For example, a transit provider could not deny service to a person with HIV disease because its personnel or other passengers are afraid of being near people with that condition.

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Service Requirements

70. What are the requirements for maintenance of accessibility equipment?

Public and private entities providing transportation services must maintain in operative condition those features of facilities and vehicles that are required to make the vehicles and facilities readily accessible to and usable by individuals with disabilities. These features include, but are not limited to, lifts and other means of access to vehicles, securement devices, elevators, signage and systems to facilitate communications with persons with impaired vision or hearing.

It is not sufficient to provide features such as lift-equipped vehicles, elevators, communications systems to provide information to people with vision or hearing impairments, etc. if these features are not maintained in a manner that enables individuals with disabilities to use them. Inoperative lifts or elevators, locked accessible doors, accessible paths of travel that are blocked by equipment or boxes of materials are not accessible to or usable by individuals with disabilities.

Allowing obstructions or out of order accessibility equipment to persist beyond a reasonable period of time violates the transportation regulations of the ADA. Mechanical failures due to improper or inadequate maintenance are also a violation. Failure of the entity to ensure that accessible routes are free of obstruction and properly maintained, or failure to arrange prompt repair of inoperative elevators, lifts, or other accessibility-related equipment, would also violate the regulations.

The rule also requires that accommodations be made to individuals with disabilities who would otherwise use an inoperative accessibility feature. For example, when a rail system discovers that an elevator is out of order, blocking access to one of its stations, it could accommodate users of the station by announcing the problem at other stations to alert passengers and offer accessible shuttle bus service around the temporarily inaccessible station. If a public address system were out of order, the entity could designate personnel to provide information to customers with visual impairments.

71. Are service animals allowed on transportation vehicles and in transportation facilities?

Service animals are always permitted to accompany their users in any private or public transportation vehicle or facility. One of the most common misunderstandings about service animals is that they are limited to being guide dogs for persons with visual impairments. Dogs are trained to assist people with a wide variety of disabilities, including individuals with hearing and mobility impairments. In addition, other animals (e.g., monkeys) are sometimes used as service animals as well. In any of these situations, the entity must permit the service animal to accompany its user.

72. May a transportation provider require an individual with a disability to use securement devices provided in a vehicle?

A transportation provider may require that wheelchair users use securement systems for their mobility devices. The entity, in other words, can require wheelchair users to "buckle up" their mobility devices.

Further, the entity is required to use the securement system to secure wheelchairs. This requirement is a mandate to use best efforts to restrain or confine the wheelchair to the securement area. The transportation provider does the best it can, given its securement technology and the nature of the wheelchair. Entities with relatively less adequate securement systems on their vehicles are encouraged to retrofit the vehicles with better securement systems, that can successfully restrain a wide variety of wheelchairs.

73. If all securement locations are filled, may the transportation provider refuse to pick up a wheelchair user?

Entities may require wheelchair users to ride in designated securement locations. That is, the entity is not required to carry wheelchair users whose wheelchairs would have to park in an aisle or other location where they could obstruct other persons' passage or where they could not be secured or restrained. An entity's vehicle is, therefore, not required to pick up a wheelchair user when the securement locations are full, just as the vehicle may pass by other passengers waiting at the stop if the bus is full.

74. May a transportation provider require that a wheelchair user transfer to a vehicle seat?

Entities have often recommended or required that a wheelchair user transfer out of his or her own device into a vehicle seat. It is no longer permissible to require such a transfer. The entity may provide information on risks and make a recommendation with respect to transfer, but the final decision on whether to transfer is up to the passenger.

75. Is a transportation operator required to announce stops?

On fixed route systems, the transportation provider must announce stops. These stops include transfer points with other fixed routes. This means that any time a vehicle is to stop where a passenger can get off and transfer to another bus or rail line (or to another form of transportation, such as commuter rail or ferry), the stop would be announced. The announcement can be made personally by the vehicle operator or can be made by a recording system.

Announcements also must be made at major intersections or destination points. In addition, the entity must make announcements at sufficient intervals along a route to orient a visually impaired passenger to his or her location. The other required announcements may serve this function in many instances, but if there is a long distance between other announcements, fill-in orientation announcements would be called for. The entity must announce any stop requested by a passenger with a disability, even if it does not meet any of the other criteria for announcement.

If the vehicle is small enough so that the operator can make himself or herself heard without a P.A. system, it is not necessary to use the system.

76. Are all transportation providers required to provide paratransit?

Only public entities operating fixed route systems must provide paratransit or other special service to individuals with disabilities. The paratransit system must be comparable to the level of service provided to individuals without disabilities who use the fixed route system. This requirement applies to light and rapid rail systems as well as to bus systems, even when rail and bus systems share all or part of the same service area.

Requirements for complementary paratransit do not apply to commuter bus, commuter rail, or intercity rail systems.

Paratransit may be provided by a variety of modes. Publicly operated dial-a-ride vans, service contracted out to a private paratransit provider, user-side subsidy programs, or any combination of these and other approaches is acceptable.

77. What is equivalent service?

A fixed route or demand responsive system is providing equivalent service if the service available to individuals with disabilities, including individuals who use wheelchairs, is provided in the most integrated setting appropriate to the needs of the individual and is equivalent to the service provided other individuals with respect to the following service characteristics:

(a) (1) Schedules/headways (if the system is fixed route)

     (2) Response time (if the system is demand responsive)

(b) Fares

(c) Geographic area of service

(d) Hours and days of service

(e) Availability of information

(f) Reservations capability (if the system is demand responsive)

(g) Any constraints on capacity or service availability

(h) Restrictions priorities based on trip purpose (if the system is demand responsive).

In applying the provisions to this section, it is important to note that they are only points of comparison. For example, if a demand responsive system gets a van to a non-disabled person in 2 hours, 8 hours, or a week and a half after a call for service, the system must get an accessible van to a person with a disability in 2 hours, 8 hours, or a week and a half.

A private entity not primarily engaged in the business of transporting people which operates a demand responsive system must ensure that its system, when viewed in its entirety, provides equivalent service to individuals with disabilities, including individuals who use wheelchairs, as it does to individuals without disabilities. Entities in this category are always required to provide equivalent service, regardless of what they are doing with respect to the acquisition of vehicles. The effect of this provision may be to require some entities to arrange, either through acquiring their own accessible vehicles or coordinating with other providers, to have accessible vehicles available to meet the equivalency standards or otherwise to comply with the standards. 

78. What are the requirements for university transportation systems?

Private university-operated transportation systems are subject to the regulations for private entities not primarily engaged in the business of transporting people.

With one important exception, public university-operated transportation systems are subject to the requirements for public entities. For public university fixed route systems, the requirements for commuter bus service would govern. This has the effect of requiring the acquisition of accessible vehicles and compliance with most other provisions of the regulations, but does not require the provision of complementary paratransit or submitting a paratransit plan.

The nature of the systems involved -- demand responsive or fixed route -- determines the precise requirements involved. 

79. Are elementary and secondary schools required to provide accessible transportation?

The transportation regulations of the ADA do not apply to public school transportation. However, the general rules of title II program accessibility may apply. In addition, the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) presents specific requirements for public school transportation of children with disabilities. The U.S. Department of Education Office of Special Education Programs has excellent materials available on IDEA.

The transportation requirements of ADA do not apply to the transportation of school children to and from a private elementary or secondary school, and its school-related activities, if the school is providing transportation service to students with disabilities equivalent to that provided to students without disabilities. If the school does not meet the requirement of this paragraph for exemption from the requirements of this part, it is subject to the requirements for private entities not primarily engaged in transporting people.

Given the constitutional law on church-state separation, it is likely that church-affiliated private schools do not receive Federal financial assistance. To the extent that these schools' transportation systems are operated by religious entities or entities controlled by religious organizations, they are not subject to the ADA at all. 

80. What must airport shuttle services do to meet accessibility requirements?

Private jitney or shuttle services that provide transportation between an airport and destinations in the area it serves in a route-deviation or other variable mode are subject to the requirements of this Part for private entities primarily engaged in the business of transporting people which provide demand responsive service. They may meet equivalency requirements by such means as sharing or pooling accessible vehicles among operators, in a way that ensures the provision of equivalent service. 

81. Are the requirements the same for other shuttle services such as hotel shuttles?

Shuttle systems and other transportation services operated by privately-owned hotels, car rental agencies, historical or theme parks, and other public accommodations are subject to the requirements for private entities not primarily engaged in the business of transporting people. The requirements for demand responsive or fixed route service may apply, depending upon the characteristics of each individual system of transportation. 

82. Are recreational vehicles required to be accessible?

Conveyances used by members of the public primarily for recreational purposes rather than for transportation (e.g., amusement park rides, ski lifts, or historic rail cars or trolleys operated in museum settings) are not subject to the transportation requirements of the ADA. Such conveyances are subject to Department of Justice regulations implementing Title II or Title III of the ADA, as applicable.

The criterion for determining what requirements apply is whether the conveyances are primarily an aspect of the recreational experience itself or a means of getting from Point A to Point B. At a theme park, for instance, a large roller coaster (though a "train" of cars on a track) is a public accommodation not subject to the transportation requirements of the ADA; the tram that transports the paying customers around the park, with a stop at the roller coaster, is a transportation system subject to the provisions for entities not primarily engaged in transportation. 

83. If employers provide transportation service must that service be accessible?

Transportation services provided by an employer solely for its own employees are not subject to the transportation requirements of the ADA. Such services are subject to the regulations of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission under Title I of the ADA and, with respect to public entities, the regulations of the Department of Justice under Title II of the ADA.

This exclusion applies to transportation services provided by an employer (whether access to motor pool vehicles, parking shuttles, employer-sponsored van pools) that is made available solely to its own employees. If an employer provides service to its own employees and other persons, such as workers of other employers or customers, it would be subject to the transportation requirements for private entities not primarily engaged in the business of transporting people or the public entity rules, as applicable.

84. Are private clubs and religious entities required to make their transportation services accessible?

Transportation systems operated by private clubs or religious organizations or entities controlled by religious organizations are not subject to the transportation requirements of the ADA. 

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Vehicle Acquisition

85. Must private entities not primarily engaged in transportation acquire accessible vehicles?

The rules for acquiring vehicles by private entities not primarily engaged in the business of transporting people are summarized in the following table:

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City Bus System FAQ

The ADA Transportation Regulations cover public entities