Legal Considerations in Relationships Between Transit Agencies and Ridesourcing Service Providers (2018) / Chapter Skim
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Pages 18-36
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18 2. State and Local Requirements Types of Taxi Regulatory Systems. -- Generally speaking, there are four types of regulatory systems: permits (medallions)
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19 new FTA MOD regulatory framework that would take into account differences in MOD service structure from typical capital projects and that would incorporate MOD service into National Transit Database (NTD) data reports.120 However, as of November 2017, FTA had not updated any of its regulations or circulars to address TNC questions.
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20 alternative to public transportation under one of FTA's grant programs. For example, construction of waiting areas at a transit facility or providing information technology systems to support the use of shared mobility services may be eligible capital projects.
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21 B Americans with Disabilities Act In the context of analyzing potential ADA issues in transit agency relationships with RSPs, it is useful to consider not only Title II, but also Title III, which prohibits discrimination on the basis of disability by owners, operators, lessees, and lessors of places of public accommodation129 and in the full and equal enjoyment of specified public transportation services provided by a private entity that is primarily engaged in the business of transporting people and whose operations affect commerce.130 Title III requirements are relevant because even in cases where Title II may not come into play, either Title III actions seeking to enjoin TNC service131 or DOJ enforcement activity could disrupt TNC service and thereby adversely affect the transit agency relying on the service.
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22 done so in the context of TNCs providing service in conjunction with a transit agency relationship.
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23 Although most transit agency–RSP partnerships to date have involved demand responsive service, FTA has addressed the possibility of using an RSP to provide fixed-route service. FTA has advised that even should such an arrangement not be funded with federal assistance, the transit operator would be required to ensure that all vehicles used on the fixed route were accessible to and usable by individuals with disabilities, including wheelchair users, and that complementary paratransit was provided.144 Clearly, the same requirements would apply to RSP-provided fixed-route service funded through an FTA grant.
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24 FTA has stated that RSP-provided FMLM service "would most likely be regarded as demand responsive service to the general public." The RSP vehicles would not necessarily have to be WAVs, so long as the service as a whole were accessible to and usable by individuals with disabilities, including individuals who use wheelchairs. The required accessibility could be afforded by having some WAVs be provided, if not by the RSP, then by the transit agency or another contractor, so that the service provided to passengers with disabilities would be equivalent to the service provided to passengers without disabilities.152 However, FTA also advised that if an RSP planned to acquire a fleet of vans to provide demand responsive service, "the vans must be accessible to wheelchair users unless the system, when viewed in its entirety, meets the standard for equivalent service."153 4.
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25 criteria apply.159 The regulations also allow transit agencies to offer service that exceed the required service criteria, referred to by FTA as premium service. Transit agencies may charge higher fares for premium services, and they may limit premium service trip purposes.160 However, the regulations do not permit a transit agency to offer different classes of ADA paratransit based on the need for WAVs.
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26 regulation requiring transportation entities to make reasonable modifications/accommodations to policies, practices, and procedures to avoid discrimination and to ensure that their programs are accessible to individuals with disabilities.168 Liberty Resources, Inc.
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27 agency's argument that the ADA only requires origin-to-destination service, finding that the statute requires the transit agency to deliver service in accordance to the plan it submits to DOT, which in this case was door-through-door. Therefore, a jury could find that failure to follow the plan was discrimination under Title II.
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28 Thus, issues that may arise in RSP relationships, such as adding RSP FMLM service or substituting RSP service for existing service, would seem to fall under the DOT regulation. FTA Title VI Guidance. -- FTA's guidance regarding Title VI compliance includes FTA's Title VI circular186 and a set of FAQs related to Title VI.
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29 The problems and solutions identified by larger fixed-route providers in their electronic payment fare equity analyses may prove useful to transit agencies looking for ways to ensure that their RSPprovided service complies with the nondiscrimination requirements under Part 21. In addition, transit agencies have addressed some of the Title VI equity issues in their agreements with TNCs, for example, by including call center access as well as the typical app access to the TNC service.
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30 case of traditional taxi service, if the transit system subsidizes services from only one company (i.e., exclusively Uber) leaving the passenger with no choice but to use the one service, the company is then considered to be "standing in the shoes" of the transit system and is required to have an FTA-compliant drug and alcohol testing program.
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31 employees of the first provider. DOL found that the contract was terminated because of loss of state funding, which was not covered by the § 13(c)
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32 provision making it easier for businesses to classify workers as independent contractors.215 This section reviews the common law factors applied to determine whether an individual is an employee or an independent contractor; requirements under the FLSA, the NLRA, and the Federal Arbitration Act (FAA) ; and analogous cases involving delivery truck, taxicab, and black-car drivers.
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33 Court held that a group of boners at a meat plant were employees for purposes of the FLSA, agreeing with the Circuit Court of Appeals that the work of the boners was part of the integrated unit of production at the plant. The Court further made clear that merely affixing an independent contractor label on what would otherwise be an employment relationship under the FLSA does not take the relationship out from under the FLSA.225 The Court in Darden noted this broad interpretation of the FLSA's definition of employment.
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34 Subsequently, the NLRB invited parties and interested amici to file briefs addressing the question of under what circumstances, if any, the NLRB "should the Board deem an employer's act of misclassifying statutory employees as independent contractors a violation of Section 8(a)
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35 and that FedEx in fact did so in terms of driver and vehicle appearance, times the driver works -- albeit without setting specific hours -- and how and when drivers delivered their packages. In addressing FedEx's argument that there were details of the drivers' work it did not control, the court noted that "the right-to-control test does not require absolute control.
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36 sufficient indicia of an employment relationship between the plaintiff Drivers and EGL such that a reasonable jury could find the existence of such a relationship,"253 and accordingly reversed and remanded the lower court's judgment granting the defendant's motion for summary judgment.
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