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Accessibility for All, Are we there yet?

Jul 29, 2015
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Paratransit
Mobility-on-Demand

This week we celebrate 25 years of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). The ADA has helped 57 million Americans access transit by becoming the first line of defence for their civil liberties. Over the past 25 years, the ADA has celebrated incredible accolades and has become a massive part of America’s legacy. However, this wasn’t always the case. It’s time to explore the history of the ADA to see how the industry has evolved from where we were to where we are today.

Before there was any formal legislation, paratransit was only a choice for agencies and was not required by law. This led to many agencies offering extremely limited paratransit options or none at all. The low revenues and high-costs were very unrealistic for many agencies, so there was a general tendency to avoid this service wherever possible.

The 2015 Trapeze User Conference hosted a panel discussion where experts looked back on the past 25 years of the ADA. They discussed the implications of the act itself, as well as the transit industry before its introduction. When asked about the state of paratransit before the ADA, Ron Brooks of Valley Metro stated: “Local agencies could do what they wanted, they did paratransit in the most minimal way”

Marilyn Golden, the Senior Policy Advisor for the Disability Rights Education and Defense Fund played a large role in the activism for and eventual creation of the ADA. When asked about the creation of the ADA at the 2015 Trapeze UC, Marilyn said “It was the outcome of a civil rights struggle that manifested itself in transportation”. Many disabled Americans felt that the lack of paratransit was a violation of their civil rights – so they took action. Thousands became activists, protesting for the right to accessible transit and marching for their civil rights. 

On July 26th, 1990 the American people were heard and history was made. President George H.W Bush signed the Americans with Disabilities act into law and transformed the transit industry for the better.

The introduction of the ADA led to monumental changes for disabled Americans' civil liberties. The first 10 years of the ADA saw the introduction of equal employment opportunities, transportation regulations for the Department of Transportation, as well as ground-breaking Supreme Court decisions which dictated new provisions with services for disabled people.

Following the first decade of the ADA, we saw the introduction of the ADA Amendments Act (ADAAA) which counteracted the Supreme Court’s narrow interpretation of disability and provided disabled Americans additional protection and security from discrimination. The ADAA was signed in 2008 and came in full effect in 2009. As we progressed, there were incremental adjustments to transportation regulations to continue to provide better service for disabled Americans.

The history of the ADA has allowed us to see transit’s important role in protecting civil rights and how our industry truly effects lives. Although there may still be some contention with paratransit, stories like Tim's make it all worthwhile.

As an industry, we’ve made incredible strides with the ADA and we're working to improve accessibility across all transit services. But even with all of the progress we've made, we still have room to grow. In part two of our look at the last 25 years of the ADA, we'll discuss the future of accessible transit, modern trends and real ways the industry can continue to improve.


 
As CTO for Trapeze, Marsha’s mandate is to seize opportunities for growth, focus clearly, and continue to transform. Marsha brings more than 30 years of IT experience and has remained a forerunner in software development, specifically in passenger transportation. She has held executive leadership roles where she drove innovation as well as developed and designed tools that increased productivity.
 
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