This bill establishes programs and requirements to expand transportation access for individuals with disabilities.
The Department of Transportation (DOT) must establish a one-stop paratransit pilot program. (Paratransit is often a service for the elderly and disabled using small buses and vans.) This program must develop or expand transit agency paratransit programs carried out pursuant to the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA) to prevent long wait times between multiple trips that unduly limit an individual's ability to complete essential tasks.
For new construction and alterations of pedestrian facilities in the public right-of-way (e.g., shared use paths), the Department of Justice must adopt enforceable standards that comply with guidance issued by the Architectural and Transportation Barriers Compliance Board (i.e., the Access Board), an independent federal agency.
In addition, DOT must implement procedures that allow an individual who believes that they have been subjected to discrimination on the basis of a disability by a public entity to submit an ADA complaint by phone, by mail-in form, and online. DOT must require each public transit provider and contractor providing paratransit services to post certain information on how an individual can file a disability-related complaint. In addition, DOT must publish yearly reports on the disposition of these accessibility complaints.
Finally, DOT must create an accessibility data pilot program to provide data sets to states and metropolitan or rural planning organizations to improve their transportation planning.