Disability Access to Transportation Act

II 118TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 1813 To increase accessible transportation for individuals with disabilities. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES JUNE 6, 2023 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 adults in the United 9 States has a disability. 10 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:55 Jun 21, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1813.IS S1813 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •S 1813 IS (2) Section 2 of the Americans with Disabilities 1 Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 12101) recognized that indi- 2 viduals with disabilities face discrimination when 3 using transportation services and that Act sought to 4 provide ‘‘a clear and comprehensive national man- 5 date for the elimination of discrimination against in- 6 dividuals with disabilities’’. 7 (3) 32 years after the enactment of the Ameri- 8 cans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 12101 9 et seq.), individuals with disabilities continue to face 10 systemic discrimination and a lack of accessible 11 transportation options. 12 (4) Transportation is a core component of inde- 13 pendent living, and without the ability to easily move 14 from one location to another, especially to drop a 15 child off at day care, arrive at work on time, or run 16 basic errands, true community living is impossible. 17 (5) Technology is changing the way the trans- 18 portation industry provides services. 19 (6) As technology continues to change the way 20 people move from one place to another, the transpor- 21 tation sector, including Federal agencies, local tran- 22 sit systems, and private entities, must innovate and 23 provide services in a way that empowers individuals 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:55 Jun 21, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1813.IS S1813 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •S 1813 IS with disabilities to travel independently in their com- 1 munities. 2 SEC. 3. ONE-STOP PARATRANSIT PILOT PROGRAM. 3 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 6 months after the 4 date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall establish 5 a one-stop paratransit pilot program (referred to in this 6 section as the ‘‘pilot program’’). 7 (b) PURPOSE.—The purpose of the pilot program is 8 to develop or expand paratransit programs carried out 9 pursuant to the ADA to provide for 1 stop of at least 15 10 minutes outside of the vehicle during a paratransit trip 11 to prevent long wait times between multiple trips that un- 12 duly limit an individual’s ability to complete essential 13 tasks. 14 (c) ELIGIBLE ENTITIES.— 15 (1) IN GENERAL.—An entity eligible to partici- 16 pate in the pilot program is a transit agency that 17 agrees to track and share information as the Sec- 18 retary requires, including— 19 (A) the number of ADA paratransit trips 20 conducted each year; 21 (B) the requested time of each paratransit 22 trip; 23 (C) the scheduled time of each paratransit 24 trip; 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:55 Jun 21, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1813.IS S1813 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •S 1813 IS (D) the actual pickup time for each para- 1 transit trip; 2 (E) the average length of a stop in the 3 middle of a ride as allowed by this section; 4 (F) any complaints received by a para- 5 transit rider; 6 (G) rider satisfaction with paratransit 7 services; and 8 (H) after the completion of the pilot pro- 9 gram, an assessment by the eligible entity of its 10 capacity to continue a one-stop program inde- 11 pendently. 12 (2) PREFERENCE.—The Secretary shall give 13 preference to entities that— 14 (A) have comparable data for the year 15 prior to implementation of the pilot program 16 that can be used by the Secretary and other or- 17 ganizations, such as nonprofit organizations 18 and advocacy organizations, for research pur- 19 poses; and 20 (B) plan to use agency personnel to imple- 21 ment the pilot program. 22 (d) APPLICATION.—To be eligible to participate in 23 the pilot program, an eligible entity shall submit to the 24 Secretary an application at such time, in such manner, 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:55 Jun 21, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1813.IS S1813 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 5 •S 1813 IS and containing such information as the Secretary may re- 1 quire, including information on— 2 (1) locations the eligible entity intends to allow 3 a stop at, if stops are limited, including— 4 (A) childcare or education facilities; 5 (B) pharmacies; 6 (C) grocery stores; and 7 (D) bank or ATM locations; 8 (2) methodology for informing the public of the 9 pilot program; 10 (3) vehicles, personnel, and other resources that 11 will be used to implement the pilot program; and 12 (4) if the applicant does not intend the pilot 13 program to apply to the full area under the jurisdic- 14 tion of the applicant, a description of the geographic 15 area in which the applicant intends the pilot pro- 16 gram to apply. 17 (e) SELECTION.—The Secretary shall seek to achieve 18 diversity of participants in the pilot program by selecting 19 a range of eligible entities that includes at least 5 of each 20 of the following: 21 (1) An eligible entity that serves an area with 22 a population of 200,000 people or fewer. 23 (2) An eligible entity that serves an area with 24 a population of over 200,000 people. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:55 Jun 21, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1813.IS S1813 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 6 •S 1813 IS (3) An eligible entity that provides transpor- 1 tation for rural communities. 2 (f) REPORT.—Not later than 3 months after the con- 3 clusion of the first 15 pilot projects carried out under this 4 section, the Secretary shall submit to Congress a report 5 on the results of the pilot program, including the feasi- 6 bility of developing and implementing one-stop programs 7 for all ADA paratransit services. 8 (g) FUNDING.— 9 (1) FEDERAL SHARE.—The Federal share of 10 the total cost of a project carried out under this sec- 11 tion may not exceed 80 percent. 12 (2) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.— 13 There are authorized to be appropriated to carry out 14 this section $75,000,000 for each of fiscal years 15 2023 through 2027. 16 SEC. 4. PEDESTRIAN FACILITIES IN THE PUBLIC RIGHT-OF- 17 WAY. 18 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 180 days after the 19 date of enactment of this Act, the Architectural and 20 Transportation Barriers Compliance Board, pursuant to 21 section 502(b)(3) of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (29 22 U.S.C. 792(b)(3)), shall publish final accessibility guide- 23 lines setting forth minimum standards for pedestrian fa- 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:55 Jun 21, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1813.IS S1813 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 7 •S 1813 IS cilities in the public right-of-way, including shared use 1 paths. 2 (b) ADOPTION OF REGULATIONS.—Not later than 3 180 days after the establishment of the guidelines pursu- 4 ant to subsection (a), the Secretary shall issue such regu- 5 lations as are necessary to adopt such guidelines. 6 SEC. 5. REPORTING ACCESSIBILITY COMPLAINTS. 7 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall ensure that 8 an individual who believes that he or she or a specific class 9 of individuals has been subjected to discrimination on the 10 basis of disability by a public entity may, by himself or 11 herself or by an authorized representative, easily file a 12 complaint with the Department. 13 (b) PROCEDURES.—Not later than 1 year after the 14 date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall imple- 15 ment procedures that allow an individual to submit a com- 16 plaint described in subsection (a) by phone, by mail-in 17 form, and online through the website of the Office of Civil 18 Rights of the Federal Transit Administration. 19 (c) NOTICE TO INDIVIDUALS WITH DISABILITIES.— 20 Not later than 18 months after the date of enactment of 21 this Act, the Secretary shall require that each public tran- 22 sit provider and contractor providing paratransit services 23 shall include on a publicly available website of the service 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:55 Jun 21, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1813.IS S1813 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 8 •S 1813 IS provider, any related mobile device application, and any 1 related online service— 2 (1) the telephone number, or a comparable elec- 3 tronic means of communication, for the disability as- 4 sistance hotline of the Office of Civil Rights of the 5 Federal Transit Administration; 6 (2) notice that a consumer can file a disability- 7 related complaint with the Office of Civil Rights of 8 the Federal Transit Administration; 9 (3) an active link to the website of the Office 10 of Civil Rights of the Federal Transit Administra- 11 tion for an individual to file a disability-related com- 12 plaint; and 13 (4) notice that an individual can file a dis- 14 ability-related complaint with the local transit agen- 15 cy and the process and any timelines for filing such 16 a complaint. 17 (d) INVESTIGATION OF COMPLAINTS.—Not later 18 than 60 days after the last day of each fiscal year, the 19 Secretary shall publish a report that lists the disposition 20 of complaints described in subsection (a), including— 21 (1) the number and type of complaints filed 22 with the Department; 23 (2) the number of complaints investigated by 24 the Department; 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:55 Jun 21, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1813.IS S1813 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 9 •S 1813 IS (3) the result of the complaints that were inves- 1 tigated by the Department, including whether the 2 complaint was resolved— 3 (A) informally; 4 (B) by issuing a violation through a non- 5 compliance Letter of Findings; or 6 (C) by other means, which shall be de- 7 scribed in detail; and 8 (4) if a violation was issued for a complaint, 9 whether the Department resolved the noncompliance 10 by— 11 (A) reaching a voluntary compliance agree- 12 ment with the entity; 13 (B) referring the matter to the Attorney 14 General; or 15 (C) other means, which shall be described 16 in detail. 17 (e) REPORT.—Upon implementation of this section, 18 the Secretary shall, to the extent practicable, issue a re- 19 port composed of the information collected under this sec- 20 tion for the preceding 5 years. 21 SEC. 6. ACCESSIBILITY DATA PILOT PROGRAM. 22 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 1 year after the 23 date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall establish 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:55 Jun 21, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1813.IS S1813 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 10 •S 1813 IS an accessibility data pilot program (referred to in this sec- 1 tion as the ‘‘pilot program’’). 2 (b) PURPOSE.—In carrying out the pilot program, 3 the Secretary shall develop or procure an accessibility data 4 set and make that data set available to each eligible entity 5 selected to participate in the pilot program to improve the 6 transportation planning of such eligible entities by— 7 (1) measuring the level of access by multiple 8 transportation modes, including transportation net- 9 work companies, to important destinations, which 10 may include— 11 (A) jobs, including areas with a concentra- 12 tion of available jobs; 13 (B) health care facilities; 14 (C) child care services; 15 (D) educational and workforce training fa- 16 cilities; 17 (E) affordable housing; 18 (F) food sources; and 19 (G) connections between modes, including 20 connections to— 21 (i) high-quality transit or rail service; 22 (ii) safe bicycling corridors; and 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:55 Jun 21, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1813.IS S1813 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 11 •S 1813 IS (iii) safe sidewalks that achieve com- 1 pliance with applicable requirements of the 2 ADA; 3 (2) disaggregating the level of access by mul- 4 tiple transportation modes by a variety of population 5 categories, which shall include— 6 (A) low-income populations; 7 (B) minority populations; 8 (C) age; 9 (D) disability, such as sensory, cognitive, 10 and physical disability, including wheelchair 11 users; and 12 (E) geographical location; and 13 (3) assessing the change in accessibility that 14 would result from new transportation investments. 15 (c) ELIGIBLE ENTITIES.—An entity eligible to par- 16 ticipate in the pilot program is— 17 (1) a State; 18 (2) a metropolitan planning organization; or 19 (3) a rural transportation planning organiza- 20 tion. 21 (d) APPLICATION.—To be eligible to participate in 22 the pilot program, an entity shall submit to the Secretary 23 an application at such time, in such manner, and con- 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:55 Jun 21, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1813.IS S1813 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 12 •S 1813 IS taining such information as the Secretary may require, in- 1 cluding information relating to— 2 (1) previous experience of the eligible entity 3 measuring transportation access or other perform- 4 ance management experience; 5 (2) the types of important destinations to which 6 the eligible entity intends to measure access; 7 (3) the types of data disaggregation the eligible 8 entity intends to pursue; 9 (4) a general description of the methodology the 10 eligible entity intends to apply; and 11 (5) if the applicant does not intend the pilot 12 program to apply to the full area under the jurisdic- 13 tion of the applicant, a description of the geographic 14 area in which the applicant intends the pilot pro- 15 gram to apply. 16 (e) SELECTION.— 17 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall seek to 18 achieve diversity of participants in the pilot program 19 by selecting a range of eligible entities that shall in- 20 clude— 21 (A) States; 22 (B) metropolitan planning organizations 23 that serve an area with a population of 200,000 24 people or fewer; 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:55 Jun 21, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00012 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1813.IS S1813 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 13 •S 1813 IS (C) metropolitan planning organizations 1 that serve an area with a popula [Text truncated for display. 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