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AMERICAN PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION ASSOCIATION
TRANSIT BOARD MEMBERS COMMITTEE
ADA Subcommittee
Franciscan B – Hilton Union Square – San Francisco, CA
Monday,October5, 2015 • 1–2p.m.
NOTES FROM MEETING
Chair Doug Lecato welcomed the group and each member introduced themselves.
Doug shared updates of the sessions and events that highlighted the 25th anniversary of the ADA: (Sat)NTI Training: Understanding ADA; (Tues) General Session ADA25: Celebrating 25 years of access and mobility; Celebration Reception; and (Wed) Accessibility Innovations and ADA Regulatory Circular Update. The ADA subcommittee and Access committee worked hard to coordinate the reception and obtain sponsors. Special thanks to Ron Brooks for helping to lead this effort.
Doug shared an update to the Transportation for Individuals with Disabilities; Reasonable Modification of Policies and Practices rule (released March 13, 2015) effective July 13, 2015. The summary of the rule: “the Department is revising its rules under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, as amended (section 504), specifically to provide that transportation entities are required to make reasonable modifications/accommodations to policies, practices, and procedures to avoid discrimination and ensure that their programs are accessible to individuals with disabilities.” This rule was created to fill the gap since there wasn’t specific language for transit agencies. Doug asked the committee to read appendix E to get familiar with the rule. The details can be found at this link
Doug opened up the floor for a round robin exchange: The challenges discussed were: working with original lift systems, safety and cost; continuum of services; full understanding of ADA rules/laws; ADA access on ferry’s; how to manage rapidly growing ridership; wide pickup areas; new ADA users, patience from seasoned operators; eligibility issues/re-eligibility requirements; understanding of fixed-route vs paratransit; travel training – understanding what is out there for those with disabilities; auditing paratransit use/assessment; reduced rate/fixed rate fares don’t cover costs; more training for dispatchers/new staff; engaging the millennials – educating the youth so they can spread the transit message; lots of staff turnover.
Suggested resources - TCRP Report 163 and ADA Essentials for Transit Board Members Handbook. Donna McNamee shared these were two of the most valuable things produced by this committee.
Ron Brooks, vice chair of the Access Committee shared his committee deals with a lot of the same issues and TCRP Report 163 is a great study. He suggested we do a survey of the TBM committee to find out the top five ADA concerns, and use this data as planning content for upcoming meetings.
The next conference call will be Wed. Nov 4 at noon Eastern time. The calls are bi-monthly. The next in-person meeting will be at the Legislative Conference in March 2016. Transit Board Members and Board Support Seminar will be held April 30-May 3, 2016 in San Antonio, TX.
Doug and Donna thanked everyone for attending and ended the meeting.