Accessibility

Mobility is an essential component of quality of life. All people, regardless of their ability level, should have access to convenient and safe transportation options. Nonetheless, people with disabilities or limited mobility often have limited access to transportation options.

The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) is a comprehensive civil rights law guaranteeing equal opportunity for people with disabilities. It applies to employment, public transportation, and public accommodations. All state and local government programs, activities, and services may not discriminate based on disability.

Ensuring safe pedestrian travel requires streets, intersections, curbs, and other infrastructure to comply with the ADA. The goal is to make transportation facilities and services accessible and safe for all people, including older adults and people with disabilities. In 2023, the Access Board, an independent government agency that promotes equality for people with disabilities, issued final Public Right-of-Way Accessibility Guidelines under the ADA and the Architectural Barriers Act. The guidelines create minimum accessibility guidelines to ensure that sidewalks, streets, crosswalks, and signals are accessible to people with disabilities.

The ADA requires public transportation providers to make infrastructure accessible. In addition, public transportation providers must offer door-to-door wheelchair-accessible paratransit services for people with disabilities who cannot use fixed-route transit and live within three-quarters of a mile of a fixed route. The coverage area and days and hours of service must be comparable to the fixed-route service. Some communities are experimenting with new on-demand ADA paratransit models in the form of microtransit or partnerships with TNCs.

The ADA requires all new buses and rail cars to be accessible to people with disabilities. The law also requires that demand-responsive public transportation services, which do not operate on a fixed route, demonstrate equivalent service for individuals with a disability. For example, a demand-responsive provider may provide services in buses and vans that are not accessible so long as equivalent service is available for people with disabilities in accessible vehicles.

Municipalities have put in place a range of programs to expand access to accessible transportation options. For example, some taxi companies contract with the local public transportation authority to provide accessible transportation services and then make these wheelchair-accessible vehicles available for regular taxi service when they are not providing service under such contracts.

The ADA and some states prohibit taxi and transportation network company drivers from discriminating against people with disabilities. For example, drivers must transport a wheelchair when they can fit it in the car (see also Transportation Network Companies). Taxis are required to purchase wheelchair-accessible vehicles when purchasing new vans, but this may not be enough to satisfy the demand.

Some transportation network companies (TNCs) are exploring options to ensure compliance with the ADA and expanding access for people with disabilities. These include:

• requiring training for all drivers on ADA legal requirements;
• offering services from drivers who have received additional training on how to best assist older adults and people with disabilities;
• referring passengers who cannot be accommodated to local, accessible vehicle dispatch services;
• partnering with private transportation providers to tap their fleets of wheelchair-accessible vehicles and trained drivers; and
• removing drivers who do not comply with the ADA.

Airplanes: Although the ADA does not apply to air travel, the Air Carrier Access Act of 1986 prohibits discrimination against air travelers with disabilities. Unlike the ADA, however, the 1986 law does not guarantee equal access for people with disabilities or provide injunctive relief in court (though administrative relief is available).

Passenger vessels: The ADA covers passenger vessels, including ferries, excursion vessels, sightseeing vessels, and cruise ships. Passengers with disabilities should be able to experience the same aspects of a cruise or other passenger vessel as passengers without disabilities. The Access Board has also drafted accessibility guidelines, but they have not yet been approved.