Emily F. Keller

Celebrating the Americans with Disabilities Act

    By Emily F. Keller

     Around 30 people celebrated the 19th anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act yesterday with music, poetry and speeches in Central Park. 

    The landmark legislation prohibits discrimination against people with disabilities in transportation as well as employment, access to government, commercial or public facilities, and telecommunications. It was signed into law on July 26, 1990.

MTA Line Managers to Launch Elevator Outage Phone Line

By Emily F. Keller

    As the Metropolitan Transportation Authority’s board of directors plans to reduce station staff through attrition to help balance its budget, the system’s line managers are re-allocating resources in attempt to provide better service in the case of elevator outages.

    As part of a new internal reorganization, line managers for the MTA’s New York City Transit division are making a series of changes to improve communication with customers who require elevators to travel by providing more timely information about service disruptions.

    By the end of July, customers will be prompted with a new sign outside all of the system’s 182 elevators – 160 of which are in accessible stations – with a toll free number to call for accessible transit instructions when an elevator is out of service. Since phone service is inconsistent underground, intercoms outside the elevators will still be available. Those calls will be routed to a central midtown office rather than to station booths as in the past, said Warren Tobin, maintenance general manager for the 4, 5 and 6 subway lines.

    The sign will also provide riders with a Web link to the MTA’s list of accessible stations, and to online information about receiving text message alerts for outages. “We know it’s important and we really want to get it out there,” Tobin said about the program, adding that he wants the subway system to be more like Disney World, which is known as a model of accessibility.

    Tobin spoke about the coming changes following an annual forum hosted by the New York City Transit Riders Council – an advisory board to the MTA – where several customers made critical comments about elevator accessibility in the subways.

MTA Line Managers to Launch Elevator Outage Phone Line

    As the Metropolitan Transportation Authority’s board of directors plans to reduce station staff through attrition to help balance its budget, the system’s line managers are re-allocating resources in attempt to provide better service in the case of elevator outages like the one that trapped Kitty Lunn (pictured.)

    As part of a new internal reorganization, line managers for the MTA’s New York City Transit division are making a series of changes to improve communication with customers who require elevators to travel by providing more timely information about service disruptions.

    Published on Transportation Access. Read the story.

Access-A-Ride Eligibility Process Leads to More Withdrawals

    By Emily F. Keller  

     Thousands of potential applicants for New York City's Access-A-Ride paratransit service informally withdraw their applications every month by missing their appointment for an in-person assessment.

    About half of the people who call Access-A-Ride to register have missed their eligibility appointment since March 2007, when the Metropolitan Transportation Authority changed the application process. The new policy requires in-person interviews and physical tests to prove that people are functionally unable to use buses and trains, according to criteria in the Americans with Disabilities Act. Prior to the change, Access-A-Ride registered half of its applicants by mail and referred half for assessments, leading to hundreds of withdrawals per month rather than thousands.

Access-A-Ride Eligibility Process Leads to More Withdrawals

    Thousands of potential applicants for New York City's Access-A-Ride paratransit service informally withdraw their applications every month by missing their appointment for an in-person assessment.

    About half of the people who call Access-A-Ride to register have missed their eligibility appointment since March 2007, when the Metropolitan Transportation Authority changed the application process. The new policy requires in-person interviews and physical tests to prove that people are functionally unable to use buses and trains, according to criteria in the Americans with Disabilities Act. Prior to the change, Access-A-Ride registered half of its applicants by mail and referred half for assessments, leading to hundreds of withdrawals per month rather than thousands.

    Published on Transportation Access. Read the story.

Paratransit Eligibility Assessments Required at More Transit Agencies

    By Emily F. Keller

    The nation’s transit agencies are increasing their oversight of people with disabilities who apply for federally mandated transportation service.

     Applicants to the paratransit program are more likely to undergo functional assessments and in-person interviews than in years past, when registration was often completed by mail with a doctor’s note. Assessments were traditionally used for people whose need for the shared ride service was difficult to prove by mail. Now many cities are requiring all applicants to apply in person, following the lead of Pittsburgh, which has used assessments since the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 took effect. Since 2001, in-person assessments also became mandatory in New York City, Philadelphia, Los Angeles, St. Louis, Chicago and Washington D.C.

Paratransit Eligibility Assessments Required at More Transit Agencies

    The nation’s transit agencies are increasing their oversight of people with disabilities who apply for federally mandated transportation service.

     Applicants to the paratransit program are more likely to undergo functional assessments and in-person interviews than in years past, when registration was often completed by mail with a doctor’s note. Assessments were traditionally used for people whose need for the shared ride service was difficult to prove by mail. Now many cities are requiring all applicants to apply in person, following the lead of Pittsburgh, which has used assessments since the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 took effect. Since 2001, in-person assessments also became mandatory in New York City, Philadelphia, Los Angeles, St. Louis, Chicago and Washington D.C.

    Published on Transportation Access. Read the story.