Transportation Access

National Study Examines Paratransit Eligibility Testing

    By Emily F. Keller

    A national research institute in Tampa, Florida spent more than $100,000 to study the human impacts of paratransit eligibility testing without interviewing any customers.

    Two senior researchers for the National Center for Transit Research examined industry data and spoke with 39 transit agencies through written surveys, ten phone interviews and one in-person conversation for the study, "Impacts of More Rigorous ADA Paratransit Eligibility Assessments on Riders with Disabilities." The researchers, Jay Goodwill and Deborah Sapper, did not interview paratransit applicants or customers or include transit riders groups in the data analysis that spanned 18 months with funds from the Florida Department of Transportation.

    One of the study's objectives was to "measure the impacts of the more restrictive procedures on those disabled persons who have been denied services." But the researchers did not speak with anyone who lost service.

    Goodwill, a former transit agency manager, said paratransit customers were not consulted for budgetary reasons and to protect their confidentiality, since medical information and identities are revealed in the application process."That was a conscious decision at the beginning," Goodwill said. "We couldn’t just do a random survey because that’s not reliable or statistically valid. Would we only get the ones who have axes to grind? Or quite often you only get people who have good things to say."

Street Named for Frieda Zames, Advocate for Accessibility

By Emily F. Keller

    A New York City street has been named for a disability rights advocate who fought for accessibility all the way up to the top of the Empire State Building.

    A green sign on the corner of 1st Avenue and East 4th Street in Manhattan now reads "Frieda Zames Way," named for a woman who used lawsuits, civil disobedience and writing to improve the accessibility of public transportation, sidewalk curb cuts, polling places and public buildings.

    "She didn't have an impact on our community. She had an impact on America," Manhattan Assemblyman Micah Kellner said at the May 2nd ceremony. "You cannot walk two feet in this city without seeing Frieda Zames' impact."

Access-A-Ride Customers and Advocates Speak to the New York City Council

    By Emily F. Keller

    People with disabilities and their advocates called on the New York City Council to improve the safety, reliability and quality of Access-A-Ride paratransit service last week.

    Access-A-Ride customers and advocates told stories of missing safety straps, lengthy trips, service delays and sagging lifts to members of the council’s committees on transportation, aging and disability services.

    Thomas Charles, vice president of the Metropolitan Transit Authority’s paratransit division, defended the service, citing high ridership rates, a zero denial ride policy, increased use of taxi vouchers and technological innovations to improve vehicle tracking.

    Access-A-Ride is a federally mandated service under the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, which requires all transit providers to offer “comparable” transportation service to people who are “functionally unable” to use mass transit and live within three-quarters of a mile of a bus or train stop. The April 27th hearing focused on whether Access-A-Ride’s more than 124,000 customers receive the service they are entitled to.