Strategy Guide to Enable and Promote the Use of Fixed-Route Transit by People with Disabilities (2014) / Chapter Skim
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Pages 118-164
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From page 118... ...
118 A final strategy for enabling and promoting use of fixed-route transit services is implementing an ADA paratransit eligibility determination process that assists persons with disabilities with identifying abilities to travel independently, identifies travel options, and supports other programs and efforts. The components of this strategy include: • Developing an eligibility process that stresses abilities rather than limitations.
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From page 119... ...
aDa paratransit eligibility Determinations 119 • Persons who, because of a disability, cannot use fixed-route transit because the bus route or transit station they want to use is not yet accessible, or they cannot board or alight at the stop they want to use. • Persons who cannot get to or from stops or stations because barriers in the environment, in combination with their disability, "prevent" them from getting to or from the transit stop or station.
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From page 120... ...
120 Strategy Guide to enable and promote the Use of Fixed-route transit by people with Disabilities • Street crossing issues (width of streets, intersection design, amount of traffic, lack of or type of traffic controls)
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aDa paratransit eligibility Determinations 121 the conditions (e.g., winter eligibility or summer eligibility)
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122 Strategy Guide to enable and promote the Use of Fixed-route transit by people with Disabilities part of paper applications. Agencies can also accept information in other forms that applicants may already have from professionals.
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aDa paratransit eligibility Determinations 123 and process used. Effectiveness ratings varied by the type of information used.
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124 Strategy Guide to enable and promote the Use of Fixed-route transit by people with Disabilities incentives are provided, riders with disabilities will be more willing to use fixed-route transit. If good public information on accessible transit services is provided, and trip planning and travel training services are offered, riders with disabilities will be better able to transition to fixedroute transit.
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From page 125... ...
aDa paratransit eligibility Determinations 125 together in small and large groups to present the concepts and goals and to answer questions in an open and honest method. Focus groups, open houses and forums, the establishment of special work groups, large and small community meetings with questions and answer sessions, formal presentations and networking with human service agencies are all tools which have been used effectively in other locations.
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From page 126... ...
126 Strategy Guide to enable and promote the Use of Fixed-route transit by people with Disabilities • Process name -- Instead of labeling the process as the "ADA paratransit eligibility process," consider a name that better reflects the broader goals. TriMet in Portland, OR, refers to their process as a "transportation assessment" and has named the facility where interviews and in-person assessments are conducted the Transportation Assessment Center.
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From page 127... ...
aDa paratransit eligibility Determinations 127 Strategy Option 2 -- Grant Conditional Eligibility and Identify When Fixed-Route Transit Can Be Used If not currently done, consider granting conditional eligibility as one of the outcomes of the determination process. Research and national experience suggests that about a third of all applicants for ADA paratransit eligibility are able to use fixed-route transit services some of the time.
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From page 128... ...
128 Strategy Guide to enable and promote the Use of Fixed-route transit by people with Disabilities Gather Useful Information from Professionals Who are Familiar with Applicants It is a best practice to seek information from a wide variety of professionals and not be prescriptive in the types of professionals from whom information will be accepted (e.g., only licensed physicians)
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From page 129... ...
aDa paratransit eligibility Determinations 129 Applicants with low vision, but who are not legally blind, are asked to participate in physical functional assessments. Their abilities to travel the walking course are noted.
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From page 130... ...
130 Strategy Guide to enable and promote the Use of Fixed-route transit by people with Disabilities Be Specific in Identifying When Fixed-Route Transit Services Can Be Used To be meaningful, determinations of eligibility need to identify the specific conditions when fixed-route transit services can and cannot be used. For example, if an applicant is able to travel up to three blocks to get to or from bus stops or rail stations, the determination should say that she is eligible for ADA paratransit service "when you must go more than three blocks to get to or from bus stops or rail stations," rather than "when bus stops or rail stations are too far away." Similarly, for an applicant who is able to cross streets that have pedestrian signals, but cannot cross uncontrolled intersections, the determination should indicate he is eligible for ADA paratransit "when you must cross intersections without traffic lights and pedestrian controls," rather than "when there are intersections you are not able to cross." Appendix A contains lists of eligibility conditions that have been developed by Metro in Seattle, WA, and ACCESS in Pittsburgh, PA.
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From page 131... ...
aDa paratransit eligibility Determinations 131 would be important to determine the agency that provided the training and confirm with the agency that the applicant had successfully completed training. It is also important to note that listing specific trips that can be made by fixed-route transit in determination letters should be supplemental to the identification of general conditions of eligibility.
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From page 132... ...
132 Strategy Guide to enable and promote the Use of Fixed-route transit by people with Disabilities It is also a good practice to use the ADA paratransit eligibility determination process to identify potential to learn to use the fixed-route transit system and to suggest and offer travel training. The FACTS assessment tool developed by Easter Seals Project ACTION was specifically designed to do this for applicants with intellectual disabilities.
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From page 133... ...
aDa paratransit eligibility Determinations 133 expensive, more flexible travel options for these trips. And using fixed-route transit for these trips will not impact ADA paratransit eligibility for other trips that they are not able to take by bus or rail.
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From page 134... ...
134 Strategy Guide to enable and promote the Use of Fixed-route transit by people with Disabilities doing trip-by-trip eligibility. Fifty-eight transit agencies indicated that they apply conditions of eligibility in some way.
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From page 135... ...
aDa paratransit eligibility Determinations 135 This service is offered with "no strings attached." Riders are under no obligation to make trips by fixed-route transit if the assessment indicates that there are no barriers. Intercity Transit has found, though, that riders who make these requests are interested in using fixed-route transit whenever possible and just need to know if barriers exist before they attempt the trip.
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From page 136... ...
136 Strategy Guide to enable and promote the Use of Fixed-route transit by people with Disabilities SamTrans' determination letters also include other required information, such as notice of the right to appeal and how to request appeals, eligibility expiration date, telephone number for reaching the ADA paratransit program, and whether use of a PCA is authorized. The above excerpt is just the portion of the letter explaining conditions placed on eligibility.
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From page 137... ...
aDa paratransit eligibility Determinations 137 snow or ice, and low or bright light. Metro has developed the following policies and procedures related to these types of conditions: • Hot temperature (HT)
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From page 138... ...
138 Strategy Guide to enable and promote the Use of Fixed-route transit by people with Disabilities "Pathway" conditions must be evaluated by Mobility Specialists for the specific trips requested. These include things such as maximum walking distances, steep hills, inaccessible bus stops, difficult intersections or street crossings, uneven terrain, or the lack of sidewalks or curb ramps.
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ADA Paratransit Eligibility Determinations 139 Figure 9-6. Map showing street segments with graphic attributes (screenprint courtesy of Metro)
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From page 140... ...
140 Strategy Guide to enable and promote the Use of Fixed-route transit by people with Disabilities barriers that qualify them for Access paratransit service. Information in rider trip spreadsheets is then uploaded into the rider eligibility file in the scheduling software.
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aDa paratransit eligibility Determinations 141 While riders can challenge trip eligibility decisions, it was noted that this rarely happens. Metro staff attributed this to (1)
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From page 142... ...
142 Strategy Guide to enable and promote the Use of Fixed-route transit by people with Disabilities service staff. Detailed instructions for making the trip by fixed-route transit were provided.
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aDa paratransit eligibility Determinations 143 of the trips made by conditionally eligible riders were already reviewed. As records of path-oftravel barriers were developed, staff could also consult these records rather than going out to review street segments that had not yet been evaluated.
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From page 144... ...
Figure 9-8. Screenprint of sample infinity trip eligibility file (courtesy of ACCESS)
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From page 145... ...
aDa paratransit eligibility Determinations 145 Weather and Time of Day Conditions. With the new software system, ACCESS handles weather and time of day issues as follows: At the time of trip bookings, the Infinity software does not consider weather or time of day issues.
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From page 146... ...
146 Strategy Guide to enable and promote the Use of Fixed-route transit by people with Disabilities verification of disability from professionals reported that 88% of applicants were determined unconditionally eligible, 11% were found to be conditionally eligible, 1% were given temporary eligibility, and 7% were found not eligible. Agencies that included in-person interviews and functional assessments in the process reported much different results.
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From page 147... ...
aDa paratransit eligibility Determinations 147 It is interesting to note that using in-person interviews and functional assessments does not appear to increase the percent of applicants found not eligible. For both types of processes, about 7% of applicants were determined not eligible.
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From page 148... ...
148 Strategy Guide to enable and promote the Use of Fixed-route transit by people with Disabilities Facility costs can also vary based on the number of assessment centers that are set up. Typically, unless the service area is very large, transit agencies conduct interviews and assessment in one central facility.
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From page 149... ...
aDa paratransit eligibility Determinations 149 center is not located near accessible public transportation, as a higher percentage of applicants will need assistance with transportation. In general, transit agencies should expect to pay something close to the average ADA paratransit per trip cost for transportation to and from interviews and assessments.
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From page 150... ...
150 Strategy Guide to enable and promote the Use of Fixed-route transit by people with Disabilities Benefits The main benefit of more thorough eligibility determination is that more applicants are found able to use fixed-route transit services for some of their trips. If implemented in a holistic way, riders are provided with information about how to make some trips by fixed-route transit.
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aDa paratransit eligibility Determinations 151 and 640 (21%) were found to have no barriers.
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152 Strategy Guide to enable and promote the Use of Fixed-route transit by people with Disabilities a full year of trips reviewed in 2008 would still be affected (or 64,896 trips)
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From page 153... ...
aDa paratransit eligibility Determinations 153 500,000 600,000 700,000 800,000 900,000 1,000,000 1,100,000 1,200,000 1,300,000 1,400,000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 B oa rd in gs P er Y ea r Access ADA Boardings Trend Based on 2001-2006 Figure 9-9. Access ADA paratransit ridership, 2001–2012.
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From page 154... ...
154 Strategy Guide to enable and promote the Use of Fixed-route transit by people with Disabilities From 2001 through 2006, ridership increased from 976,707 to 1,128,496, or about 3.1% per year. During this period, the Access paratransit fare was $0.75 and the first local demand response service (Hyde Shuttle)
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From page 155... ...
aDa paratransit eligibility Determinations 155 The data in Table 9-8 suggests that ACCESS staff used the Infinity system to review at least 77,476 trips requested by conditionally eligible riders in FY 2012. Of these, 32,837 (about 42%)
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From page 156... ...
156 Strategy Guide to enable and promote the Use of Fixed-route transit by people with Disabilities Table 9-10 provides information about the cost of making trip eligibility decisions, and includes estimates of possible savings in FY 2012 as a result of trip-by-trip eligibility screening. First, as noted above, a total of 32,837 trips were determined able to be made by fixed-route transit, but still provided as non-ADA trips at the higher convenience fare.
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From page 157... ...
aDa paratransit eligibility Determinations 157 ACCESS managers noted that when trip eligibility screening was started back in 2003, it required about four hours of staff time each day. Over time, as the trips of current riders were reviewed and recorded in the Infinity system, less time was required.
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From page 158... ...
158 Strategy Guide to enable and promote the Use of Fixed-route transit by people with Disabilities As noted in Table 9-11, few service changes were made from FY 2001 through FY 2012. Tripby-trip eligibility was introduced in FY 2003.
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From page 159... ...
aDa paratransit eligibility Determinations 159 Metro tracked the number of reviews performed for unique trip requests. These were onetime reviews that then applied to these trips in the future.
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From page 160... ...
160 Strategy Guide to enable and promote the Use of Fixed-route transit by people with Disabilities a glance at the record to see whether the trip has been determined eligible or not. ACCESS estimated that the staff time cost only about $16,965 per year including wages and benefits.
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From page 161... ...
aDa paratransit eligibility Determinations 161 Implementing a more thorough eligibility determination process and trip-by-trip eligibility determinations can, however, be costly and require considerable work. Extensive community input is needed when changing the eligibility determination process.
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From page 162... ...
162 Strategy Guide to enable and promote the Use of Fixed-route transit by people with Disabilities • Conducting detailed on-street assessments to identify path-of-travel barriers when making trip eligibility decisions. • Developing and using technology to record pathway and trip eligibility information.
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From page 163... ...
aDa paratransit eligibility Determinations 163 considered to have good processes. The data in Table 9-3 can help with this comparison.
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From page 164... ...
164 Strategy Guide to enable and promote the Use of Fixed-route transit by people with Disabilities by fixed-route transit rather than ADA paratransit. Multiply this by the estimated number of trips determined able to be made on fixed-route transit to get the estimated net operating cost savings.
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