ADA AND FTA REGULATIONS TO DISPUTE:
NOTE: Though all of these regulations may not apply to Paratransit Service in your area, Please respond anyway because some of them are statewide. Please fill out the feedback form at the end of the page. Anyone who is a citizen of the United States can support our cause. You do not have to be a paratransit user. We only need your contact information to show your support.
1. The regulation established in 1992, that allows paratransit providers to charge as much as twice the fare of the fixed route riders are charged is an outdated regulation which has not taken into consideration the fact that the majority of the paratransit riders are on a fixed income with an average of $600 per month, and the cost of living increases are not comparable to the increased cost of transportation. This regulation should be abolished. Paratransit riders should only be required to pay a very small portion e.g. 3% of an individual’s total monthly income.
2. Paratransit riders should not be subject to a farebox recovery ratio as well as facing the possibility of being charged twice the cost of the fixed route system. This needs to be investigated.
3. When there is more than one carrier in a city that provides paratransit service, the rider should have the opportunity to choose which carrier they
wish to ride with. The transportation overseer should not be allowed to make changes that strongly have the appearance of being economically and racially discriminating. We are calling for an investigation and stoppage of these changes.
4. Paratransit riders should not be made to cover the cost of salaries and profit margins when their fares are calculated. Paratransit riders should also be entitled to a written explanation and complete breakdown of any fees charged to them by the paratransit overseer.
5. No paratransit overseer/provider should be allowed to increase fares by more than 25 cents at a time.
6. No paratransit provider should be allowed to increase fares for paratransit riders more than once in a 12 month period. The majority of the paratransit riders are on a fixed income and only get one cost of living increase a year. It is an economic hardship to expect those riders to pay more than one fare increase in a year.
7. No paratransit provider should ever be allowed to increase fares on a paratransit rider 100% or greater at any time.
8. Any program that serves as another form of transportation for paratransit riders and requires that an individual be a paratransit rider in order to be a participant of that program should be subject to the same regulations as the “paratransit system”.
9. A paratransit rider should never be subject to a farebox recovery ratio that is equal to or greater than twice the cost of a fixed route fee.
10. A paratransit overseer/provider should never be allowed to increase a fare greater than twice the cost of a fare on the fixed route system for any paratransit transportation source.
11. Paratransit providers should be forced to hold public hearings on specific upcoming changes affecting paratransit riders within 30 days of the effective date of the proposed change. They should also be made to provide these notices in various accessible formats to their riders. Putting them in vehicles or in the newspaper is not enough. A large number of the riders are blind and posting notices in the above two manners does not provide reasonable accommodations to this community.
12. Paratransit overseers/providers should not be allow to enforce unnecessary regulations on carriers that are guaranteed to drive up the cost of paratransit trips, e.g., requiring driver to possess CDL licenses when the carriers vehicles are not CDL regulation vehicles, and in turn carry this cost over to the rider.
13. No paratransit provider should be allowed to sell any items for payment of trips which states that they are allowed to make any changes at their discretion and without notice to riders as to whether they accept that form of payment.
14. Paratransit overseers/providers should not be allowed to make a change when there is an overwhelming outcry against that change. There needs to be a specific amount of opposition that must be adhered to which has the power to prevent a change.
15. In the event of an incident between a rider and a driver, no paratransit overseer/provider should be allowed to suspend trips for a rider without their first being a full investigation into the circumstances surrounding the incident. If there is no proof to the allegations against the rider, there should be nothing reflected in the riders’ record in the future.
16. No paratransit rider should ever be able to lose their paratransit service because of no shows or late cancellations.
18. No paratransit provider/overseer should ever be allowed to encourage carriers to call the police on riders for little or no reason.
19. No rider should be forced to take a no-show and lose the rest of their trips for the day because they missed their first trip at home.
20. No paratransit carrier should be allowed to refuse a rider transportation because the rider missed being picked up at home and thereby force the rider to accept a no show.
21. No paratransit overseer should be allowed to implement any program that limits the availability of service to the riders.
22. Any transit entity holding public hearings must notify the public of those hearings no less than one week before the first scheduled hearing date. They must also give notification in accessible formats in addition to posting it in a widely read newspaper
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