Transportation Accessibility

Transportation is vital in maintaining independence and mobility for people with disabilities, linking them to employment, health care, and participation in the community. The President's New Freedom initiative seeks to create a more accessible public transportation system for individuals with disabilities. The Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act limits the time a person can receive welfare benefits, and generally requires recipients to participate in job and training activities. For many of these people, access to public transportation is the key to making a transition from welfare to work.

The following table depicts the performance measures and goals related to Transportation Accessibility.

TRANSPORTATION ACCESSIBILITY – DEPARTMENTAL PERFORMANCE MEASURES AND GOALS

Performance Measures	Modal Administration	FY 2001 Actual	FY 2002 Actual	FY 2003 Actual	FY 2004 Target	FY 2004 Actual	FY 2004 Results
Percentage of bus fleets Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) compliant	FTA	85 (Target 83)	90 (Target 86)	93 (Target 89)	92	95 1	Met
Percentage of key rail stations that are ADA compliant 2	FTA	67 (Target 58)	77 (Target 68)	82 (Target 79)	89	82	Not Met
Number of employment sites (000s) that are made accessible by JARC transportation services	FTA	28.4  (Target 15.7)	52.1  (Target 20.4)	92r (Target 23.5)	50	92 1	Met

FY 2004 Results: The Department met the bus target for compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and number of employment sites made accessible by Job Access and Reverse Commute (JARC) services. The Department did not meet the target for percentage of rail stations that are ADA compliant.

FTA

ADA-Compliant Bus Fleets

FTA has funded purchase of low floor buses to meet ADA requirements.

Since enactment of the ADA in 1990, FTA has been working to make public bus, rail, and paratransit services accessible to individuals with disabilities. One major goal is to make the national fixed-route bus system 100 percent lift-equipped, ramp-equipped, or designed with low floors. FTA met the target for ADA compliance by ensuring that bus fleet vehicles were equipped with wheelchair lifts or ramps. Prior to 1990, approximately 35 percent of the buses in the active fleet of over 50,000 transit vehicles were lift-equipped. In 2002, the fleet was 90 percent ADA-compliant, compared to 77 percent in 1999. FTA exceeded its target of 92 percent in FY 2004, and is on target to meet its goal of a 100 percent ADA-compliant bus fleet by the year 2007.

ADA-Compliant Rail Stations

Of the 547 key stations designated to be ADA compliant, only 437 or 82 percent met the goal. Although the ADA required all key stations to be accessible by July 26, 1993, the Department's ADA regulation at 49 Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) 37.47 (c)(2) permits the FTA Administrator to grant an extension up to July 26, 2020 for stations requiring extraordinarily expensive structural modifications to bring them into compliance. Currently, there are 138 stations under FTA approved time extensions, and these stations are not included in the goal. Although transit operators have made significant progress in meeting the goal, the remaining stations tend to be those that require the most significant amount of work. Many operators are discovering that the scope of work that is needed exceeds their original projections. As a result, more time will be required to complete the necessary modifications. In recognition of these realities, FTA lowered its projections for achieving full key station accessibility.

JARC

FTA met the FY 2004 target for employment sites that are made accessible by JARC transportation services. This measure assesses one part of the JARC program—the number of employment sites made accessible that were not previously reached either directly by demand-responsive services or that are within one-quarter mile of the new service stop for fixed route service. Services that make an employment site accessible may include, but are not limited to, carpools, vanpools, and other demand-responsive services as well as traditional bus and rail public transit.

In areas that receive JARC funds, the program successfully met the transportation needs of low-income individuals seeking reliable transportation to employment and related support services. Grantees used JARC funds for a wide variety of services, ranging from expansion of fixed route bus systems and demand responsive services, to the provision of customer information. In each community that received a grant, JARC transportation services reached new employment sites, making thousands of entry-level jobs and employers accessible for the program's target populations. New stops increased access to critical employment support sites, particularly childcare and job training facilities.