HR4116-119

What This Bill Does

The Disability Access to Transportation Act responds to continued transportation barriers for people with disabilities. DOT must establish, within six months, a one-stop paratransit pilot allowing at least one stop of at least 15 minutes during a paratransit trip, using existing paratransit operators and workforce, with data on requested, scheduled, actual pickup, complaints, rider satisfaction, stop length, and capacity to continue the program. The Attorney General must issue enforceable public-right-of-way pedestrian facility standards within 180 days using Access Board guidance. DOT must make disability transportation complaints easy to file by phone, mail, and online, require transit providers and paratransit contractors to post FTA civil-rights complaint information, and publish annual complaint disposition reports. DOT must also create an accessibility data pilot within one year for states, MPOs, and rural planning organizations to measure multimodal access, disaggregate by income, race, age, disability, geography, and assess transportation investments.

Who Benefits and How

Paratransit riders benefit because pilot trips can include a meaningful stop without forcing multiple separate rides and long waits. People with disabilities using sidewalks benefit from enforceable public-right-of-way pedestrian facility standards. Transit accessibility complainants benefit from phone, mail, and online filing paths plus public complaint-disposition reporting. State and regional transportation planners benefit from accessibility data sets that measure access by mode, population category, and investment scenario.

Who Bears the Burden and How

The Department of Transportation must administer paratransit and accessibility data pilots, complaint systems, and annual reports. The Attorney General must issue enforceable pedestrian right-of-way accessibility regulations within 180 days. Transit agencies and paratransit contractors must post complaint information and collect pilot-program performance data. Transportation network companies may be included in accessibility data analysis, increasing scrutiny of their disabled-rider access.

Key Provisions

• Creates a one-stop ADA paratransit pilot within six months of enactment.
• Requires enforceable pedestrian public-right-of-way accessibility standards within 180 days.
• Requires DOT complaint filing by phone, mail, and online plus public transit provider notice requirements.
• Creates an accessibility data pilot for states, MPOs, and rural transportation planning organizations within one year.