Strategy Guide to Enable and Promote the Use of Fixed-Route Transit by People with Disabilities

This report will help transit agencies fulfill the primary goals of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA) by making mainstream fixed-route bus and rail systems accessible to and usable by individuals with disabilities. While the research recognizes that some individuals with disabilities will not have an equal opportunity to benefit from fixed-route public transit services and will require complementary paratransit services for some or all trips, the focus of the Strategy Guide is to offer guidance on providing public services in the most integrated setting possible. The Strategy Guide presents information on the current use of transit services—both fixed route and ADA complementary paratransit—by people with disabilities. It also presents the results of a nationwide survey of almost 2,000 people with disabilities that identified the main factors that affect their use of fixed-route transit services. This foundational information sets the stage for the critical steps and strategies that could be pursued by transit agencies seeking to better serve disabled people with fixed-route bus and rail transit services. Transit agencies can begin by gathering ridership data for people with disabilities and setting system-wide goals to ensure that the entire organization is working toward the same end of enabling and promoting greater use of fixed-route transit services by people with disabilities. The next critical step is ensuring that fixed-route transit services are accessible, usable, and reliable. Five broad strategies are presented that may be individually or collectively pursued by transit agencies to enable and promote the use of fixed-route transit by people with disabilities. The strategies address: (1) improved access to bus stops for all passengers; (2) marketing, public information, and travel training for people with disabilities; (3) fare incentives for using fixed-route transit rather than complementary paratransit; (4) more inclusive transit service designs for all riders; and (5) ADA paratransit eligibility determination. The appendices provide sample materials that transit agencies may wish to use related to conditional eligibility for ADA paratransit and evaluation methodologies.