Disability Access to Transportation Act

II 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 2038 To increase accessible transportation for individuals with disabilities. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES JUNE 10, 2021 Mr. MENENDEZ introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation A BILL To increase accessible transportation for individuals with disabilities. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Disability Access to 4 Transportation Act’’. 5 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 6 Congress finds the following: 7 (1) According to the Centers for Disease Con- 8 trol and Prevention, 1 in 4 U.S. adults has a dis- 9 ability. 10 VerDate Sep 11 2014 07:06 Jun 23, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2038.IS S2038 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •S 2038 IS (2) Section 2(b) of the Americans with Disabil- 1 ities Act (42 U.S.C. 12101) recognized that individ- 2 uals with disabilities face discrimination when using 3 transportation services and sought to provide ‘‘a 4 clear and comprehensive national mandate for the 5 elimination of discrimination against individuals with 6 disabilities’’. 7 (3) Thirty years after the enactment of the 8 Americans with Disabilities Act, individuals with dis- 9 abilities continue to face systemic discrimination and 10 a lack of accessible transportation options. 11 (4) Transportation is a core component of inde- 12 pendent living; without the ability to easily move 13 from one location to another, especially to drop a 14 child off at day care, arrive at work on time, or run 15 basic errands, true community living is impossible. 16 (5) Technology is changing the way the trans- 17 portation industry provides services. 18 (6) As technology continues to change the way 19 people move from one place to another, the transpor- 20 tation sector, including Federal agencies, local tran- 21 sit systems, and private entities must innovate and 22 provide services in a way that empowers individuals 23 with disabilities to travel independently in their com- 24 munities. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 07:06 Jun 23, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2038.IS S2038 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •S 2038 IS SEC. 3. ONE-STOP PARATRANSIT PILOT PROGRAM. 1 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 6 months after the 2 date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Transpor- 3 tation shall establish a one-stop paratransit pilot program. 4 (b) PURPOSE.—The purpose of the pilot program 5 under this section is to develop or expand paratransit pro- 6 grams carried out pursuant to the ADA to provide for 1 7 stop of at least 15 minutes outside of the vehicle during 8 a paratransit trip to prevent long wait times between mul- 9 tiple trips that unduly limit an individual’s ability to com- 10 plete essential tasks. 11 (c) ELIGIBLE ENTITIES.— 12 (1) IN GENERAL.—An entity eligible to partici- 13 pate in the pilot program is a transit agency that 14 agrees to track and share information as the Sec- 15 retary requires, including— 16 (A) number of ADA paratransit trips con- 17 ducted each year; 18 (B) requested time of each paratransit 19 trip; 20 (C) scheduled time of each paratransit 21 trip; 22 (D) actual pickup time for each para- 23 transit trip; 24 (E) average length of a stop in the middle 25 of a ride as allowed by this section; 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 07:06 Jun 23, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2038.IS S2038 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •S 2038 IS (F) any complaints received by a para- 1 transit rider; 2 (G) rider satisfaction with paratransit 3 services; and 4 (H) after the completion of the pilot pro- 5 gram, an assessment by the eligible entity of its 6 capacity to continue a one-stop program inde- 7 pendently. 8 (2) PREFERENCE.—The Secretary shall give 9 preference to entities that— 10 (A) have comparable data for the year 11 prior to implementation of the pilot program 12 that can be used by the Secretary and other or- 13 ganizations, such as nonprofit organizations 14 and advocacy organizations, for research pur- 15 poses; and 16 (B) plan to use agency personnel to imple- 17 ment the pilot program. 18 (d) APPLICATION.—To be eligible to participate in 19 the pilot program, an eligible entity shall submit to the 20 Secretary an application at such time, in such manner, 21 and containing such information as the Secretary may re- 22 quire, including information on— 23 (1) locations the eligible entity intends to allow 24 a stop at, if stops are limited, including— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 07:06 Jun 23, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2038.IS S2038 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 5 •S 2038 IS (A) childcare or education facilities; 1 (B) pharmacies; 2 (C) grocery stores; and 3 (D) bank or ATM locations; 4 (2) methodology for informing the public of the 5 pilot program; 6 (3) vehicles, personnel, and other resources that 7 will be used to implement the pilot program; and 8 (4) if the applicant does not intend the pilot 9 program to apply to the full area under the jurisdic- 10 tion of the applicant, a description of the geographic 11 area in which the applicant intends the pilot pro- 12 gram to apply. 13 (e) SELECTION.—The Secretary shall seek to achieve 14 diversity of participants in the pilot program by selecting 15 a range of eligible entities that includes at least five of 16 each of the following: 17 (1) An eligible entity that serves an area with 18 a population of 200,000 people or fewer. 19 (2) An eligible entity that serves an area with 20 a population of over 200,000 people. 21 (3) An eligible entity that provides transpor- 22 tation for rural communities. 23 (f) REPORT.—Not later than 3 months after the con- 24 clusion of the first 15 pilot projects carried out under this 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 07:06 Jun 23, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2038.IS S2038 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 6 •S 2038 IS section, the Secretary shall submit to Congress a report 1 on the results of the program, including the feasibility of 2 developing and implementing one-stop programs for all 3 ADA paratransit services. 4 (g) FUNDING.— 5 (1) FEDERAL SHARE.—The Federal share of 6 the total cost of a project carried out under this sec- 7 tion may not exceed 80 percent. 8 (2) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.— 9 There are authorized to be appropriated to carry out 10 this section $75,000,000 for each of fiscal years 11 2022 through 2026. 12 SEC. 4. PEDESTRIAN FACILITIES IN THE PUBLIC RIGHT-OF- 13 WAY. 14 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 180 days after the 15 date of enactment of this Act, the Architectural and 16 Transportation Barriers Compliance Board, pursuant to 17 section 502(b)(3) of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (29 18 U.S.C. 792(b)(3)), shall publish final accessibility guide- 19 lines setting forth minimum standards for pedestrian fa- 20 cilities in the public right-of-way, including shared use 21 paths. 22 (b) ADOPTION OF REGULATIONS.—Not later than 23 180 days after the establishment of the guidelines pursu- 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 07:06 Jun 23, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2038.IS S2038 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 7 •S 2038 IS ant to subsection (a), the Secretary shall issue such regu- 1 lations as are necessary to adopt such guidelines. 2 SEC. 5. REPORTING ACCESSIBILITY COMPLAINTS. 3 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Transportation 4 shall ensure that an individual who believes that he or she 5 or a specific class of individuals has been subjected to dis- 6 crimination on the basis of disability by a public entity 7 may, by himself or herself or by an authorized representa- 8 tive, easily file a complaint with the Department of Trans- 9 portation. Not later than 1 year after the date of enact- 10 ment of this Act, the Secretary shall implement procedures 11 that allow an individual to submit a complaint described 12 in the previous sentence by phone, by mail-in form, and 13 online through the website of the Office of Civil Rights 14 of the Federal Transit Administration. 15 (b) NOTICE TO INDIVIDUALS WITH DISABILITIES.— 16 Not later than 18 months after the date of enactment of 17 this Act, the Secretary shall require that each public tran- 18 sit provider and contractor providing paratransit services 19 shall include on a publicly available website of the service 20 provider, any related mobile device application, and online 21 service— 22 (1) the telephone number, or a comparable elec- 23 tronic means of communication, for the disability as- 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 07:06 Jun 23, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2038.IS S2038 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 8 •S 2038 IS sistance hotline of the Office of Civil Rights of the 1 Federal Transit Administration; 2 (2) notice that a consumer can file a disability- 3 related complaint with the Office of Civil Rights of 4 the Federal Transit Administration; 5 (3) an active link to the website of the Office 6 of Civil Rights of the Federal Transit Administra- 7 tion for an individual to file a disability-related com- 8 plaint; and 9 (4) notice that an individual can file a dis- 10 ability-related complaint with the local transit agen- 11 cy and the process and any timelines for filing such 12 a complaint. 13 (c) INVESTIGATION OF COMPLAINTS.—Not later than 14 60 days after the last day of each fiscal year the Secretary 15 shall publish a report that lists the disposition of com- 16 plaints described in subsection (a), including— 17 (1) the number and type of complaints filed 18 with Department of Transportation; 19 (2) the number of complaints investigated by 20 the Department; 21 (3) the result of the complaints that were inves- 22 tigated by the Department including whether the 23 complaint was resolved— 24 (A) informally; 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 07:06 Jun 23, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2038.IS S2038 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 9 •S 2038 IS (B) by issuing a violation through a non- 1 compliance Letter of Findings; or 2 (C) by other means, which shall be de- 3 scribed in detail; and 4 (4) if a violation was issued for a complaint, 5 whether the Department resolved the noncompliance 6 by— 7 (A) reaching a voluntary compliance agree- 8 ment with the entity; 9 (B) referring the matter to the Attorney 10 General; or 11 (C) by other means, which shall be de- 12 scribed in detail. 13 (d) REPORT.—Upon implementation of this section, 14 the Secretary shall, to the extent practicable, issue a re- 15 port composed of the information collected under this sec- 16 tion for the preceding 5 years. 17 SEC. 6. ACCESSIBILITY DATA PILOT PROGRAM. 18 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 1 year after the 19 date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall establish 20 an accessibility data pilot program. 21 (b) PURPOSE.—In carrying out the pilot program, 22 the Secretary shall develop or procure an accessibility data 23 set and make that data set available to each eligible entity 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 07:06 Jun 23, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2038.IS S2038 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 10 •S 2038 IS selected to participate in the pilot program to improve the 1 transportation planning of such eligible entities by— 2 (1) measuring the level of access by multiple 3 transportation modes, including transportation net- 4 work companies, to important destinations, which 5 may include— 6 (A) jobs, including areas with a concentra- 7 tion of available jobs; 8 (B) health care facilities; 9 (C) child care services; 10 (D) educational and workforce training fa- 11 cilities; 12 (E) affordable housing; 13 (F) food sources; and 14 (G) connections between modes, including 15 connections to— 16 (i) high-quality transit or rail service; 17 (ii) safe bicycling corridors; and 18 (iii) safe sidewalks that achieve com- 19 pliance with applicable requirements of the 20 ADA; 21 (2) disaggregating the level of access by mul- 22 tiple transportation modes by a variety of population 23 categories, which shall include— 24 (A) low-income populations; 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 07:06 Jun 23, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2038.IS S2038 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 11 •S 2038 IS (B) minority populations; 1 (C) age; 2 (D) disability such as sensory, cognitive, 3 and physical, including wheelchair users; and 4 (E) geographical location; and 5 (3) assessing the change in accessibility that 6 would result from new transportation investments. 7 (c) ELIGIBLE ENTITIES.—An entity eligible to par- 8 ticipate in the pilot program is— 9 (1) a State; 10 (2) a metropolitan planning organization; or 11 (3) a rural transportation planning organiza- 12 tion. 13 (d) APPLICATION.—To be eligible to participate in 14 the pilot program, an entity shall submit to the Secretary 15 an application at such time, in such manner, and con- 16 taining such information as the Secretary may require, in- 17 cluding information relating to— 18 (1) previous experience of the eligible entity 19 measuring transportation access or other perform- 20 ance management experience; 21 (2) the types of important destinations to which 22 the eligible entity intends to measure access; 23 (3) the types of data disaggregation the eligible 24 entity intends to pursue; 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 07:06 Jun 23, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2038.IS S2038 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 12 •S 2038 IS (4) a general description of the methodology the 1 eligible entity intends to apply; and 2 (5) if the applicant does not intend the pilot 3 program to apply to the full area under the jurisdic- 4 tion of the applicant, a description of the geographic 5 area in which the applicant intends the pilot pro- 6 gram to apply. 7 (e) SELECTION.— 8 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall seek to 9 achieve diversity of participants in the pilot program 10 by selecting a range of eligible entities that shall in- 11 clude— 12 (A) States; 13 (B) metropolitan planning organizations 14 that serve an area with a population of 200,000 15 people or fewer; 16 (C) metropolitan planning organizations 17 that serve an area with a population of over 18 200,000 people; and 19 (D) rural transportation planning organi- 20 zations. 21 (2) INCLUSIONS.—The Secretary shall seek to 22 ensure that, among the eligible entities selected 23 under paragraph (1) program participants rep- 24 resent— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 07:06 Jun 23, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 0 [Text truncated for display. 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