RMN [Rocky Mountain News] 2/14/89

[Headline] U.S. requires wheelchair lifts on transit authority buses

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — A federal appeals court yesterday ordered the U.S. Department of Transportation to require transit authorities across the country to equip new buses with wheelchair lifts.

Attorneys who brought the lawsuit that led to the ruling called it the most important decision ever handed down for handicapped people needing public transportation.

The 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said a Transportation Department regulation requiring all new buses to accommodate wheelchairs conflicts with another allowing communities to offer only an alternative service, such as special vans, to the handicapped.

The court said a rule requiring reservations 24 hours in advance for use of the alternative transportation hinders the spontaneous use of mass transit by the handicapped.

As a result, the court ordered transit authorities to make “reasonable accommodations to their programs, i.e. purchase wheelchair-accessible buses.”

The court also upheld a controversial decision requiring the Transportation Department to eliminate a cap on the amount of money transit authorities need to spend on making transportation accessible.

A coalition of disabled people and 12 organizations called Americans Disabled for Accessible Public Transportation filed the lawsuit last year.

ADAPT contended that a provision of the federal regulations allowed authorities receiving federal transportation funds to exclude the handicapped from “effective and meaningful” access.

The provision allows transit authorities to decide among three types of handicapped-accessible transportation: accessible buses, special vans for the handicapped, or a combination of the two.

U.S. District Judge Marvin Katz overturned the provision in cases where the transit authority buys any buses. He also overturned a regulation requiring authorities to spend no more than 3% of their average annual operating costs on transportation for the handicapped.

Katz called the limit arbitrary and said it allowed transit agencies “to eviscerate the civil right” to transit service.

Circuit Judge Carol Los Mansmann, in writing the 2-1 opinion, also cited Congress’ intent.

“Congress wanted to provide the disabled with the capability to utilize mass transit to the ‘maximum extent feasible.’ The DOT has failed to show that requiring the future purchase of accessible buses oversteps this legislative intent.”

In a dissenting opinion, Judge Morton I. Greenberg said the section requiring new buses to be accessible was not meant to apply to transit systems choosing a para-transit system.

Created on

Friday 12 July 2013

Posted on

Wednesday 22 July 2015

Tags

3% cap, 3rd US Circuit Court of Appeals, ADAPT, American Disabled for Accessible Public Transportation, DOT, paratransit, Philadelphia, wheelchair lifts

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