October 24, 2005

Marilyn Golden, Policy Analyst at the Disability Rights Education and Defense Fund (DREDF) (mgolden@dredf.org), reports:

Recently, four new guidance documents interpreting the Department of Transportation (DOT) Americans with Disabilities Act Regulations were released by DOT. These four guidance documents faithfully carry out the intent of the ADA and its regulation to protect the civil rights of people with disabilities. For example, one of the documents states that transit agencies must provide paratransit service in a way that goes beyond "curb-to-curb service" if necessary to actually get the passenger from his or her point of origin to his or her destination.

The documents are entitled:

1. Origin to Destination Service
2. Full-Length, Level-Boarding Platforms in New Commuter and Intercity Rail Stations
3. Paratransit Requirements for §5311-Funded Fixed-Route Service Operated by Private Entities
4. Use of "Segways" on Transportation Vehicles

The new DOT Disability Law Guidance documents can be found at the DOT (Department of Transportation) Federal Transit Administration website under the ADA heading.

Note that the ADA section has a number of other important ADA transportation tools for advocates, including:

• The FTA ADA complaint form.
• A growing list of FTA ADA assessments of transit agencies.