DOT Issues Guidance on Transportation During Disaster for People with Disabilities

[AAPD]

WHITE HOUSE
Monday, December 19, 2011

Please note the below guidance recently issued by the Department
of Transportation.

Meeting the Transportation Needs of Individuals with Disabilities
Following a Disaster
The Office of the Secretary of the U.S. Department of Transportation
(DOT) is providing this guidance to public transportation and
emergency management agencies to emphasize the needs of individuals
with disabilities following a disaster. This document responds to a
request by the Interagency Coordinating Council on Emergency
Preparedness and Individuals with Disabilities (ICC). To access the
ICC’s 2009 report, and for more information regarding the ICC, please
visit www.DisabilityPreparedness.gov.

DOT recognizes the circumstances of any given disaster will determine
the ability to continue or restart public transportation services.
Such circumstances include road conditions; the level of accessibility
in the community, e.g., the condition of sidewalks and other
pedestrian rights-of-way; availability of vehicles; and timeline of
recovery. We recognize that, depending on circumstances, it can take
a while to restart public transportation services, including those
accessible to people with disabilities, but there is no “disaster
exception” to the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). As services
are restarted, accessible services need to start up on approximately
the same timetable. The following principles and legal obligations
apply in disaster recovery situations:

• A community's public transportation system is a crucial resource
that directly impacts activities across areas of employment,
education, recreation, social services, health care, and general civic
participation.
o ADA civil rights obligations requiring accessibility in
transportation services apply to transportation providers whether or
not they receive Federal funding. Among providers receiving Federal
funding, civil rights obligations apply to both direct recipients and
subrecipients.
o The requirement for accessibility of transportation service applies
during both the response and recovery stages of an emergency.
o To the extent practicable, vehicles used to transport individuals to
and from evacuation centers, shelters, and disaster recovery centers
should be accessible to individuals with disabilities, including
individuals who use wheelchairs. When some vehicles are inaccessible,
individuals with disabilities should receive priority for accessible
vehicles.
o Vehicles used to re-establish fixed route service (particularly to
places of employment, education and health care) should be accessible
to people with disabilities, including individuals who use
wheelchairs.
o Specialized services such as paratransit should not be viewed as the
sole option for accessible transportation.
o During response and recovery after a disaster, transportation
agencies continue to have an obligation to transport service animals
with their owners.
o Whenever temporary alternatives are necessary for ensuring
accessibility (e.g., using ramps as a result of damaged platform), a
timeline should be established for resolving the issue.
• Communities should engage in pre-disaster planning to meet the
emergency transportation needs of individuals with disabilities and
others with access needs.
• Individuals with disabilities and their representatives should be
involved in the planning for re-establishment of transportation
services during the long-term recovery of the community.
o Communities should plan for how residents may access alternative
medical facilities, particularly via public transportation, if local
facilities are damaged or destroyed.
o Communities and transportation providers should collaborate closely
with Federal, State and other local other governmental and
nongovernmental organizations to consider unmet needs throughout the
recovery planning process. Typical areas of enduring need after a
disaster include transportation for and during relocation.
o Communities should understand the composition of the local and
regional population and ensure they are meeting the needs not just of
individuals with disabilities, but also of those who are limited
English proficient (LEP populations) and who may require translation
services and/or printed instructions and information from public
entities in languages other than English. In addition, elderly, low-
income, minority and other populations that rely on public
transportation will be impacted if public transportation is
discontinued or if routes are changed after a disaster. Assessing the
locations of these populations can be achieved by an analysis of
census and services delivery data.
• Individuals with disabilities are typically more reliant on
community infrastructure – especially housing that is near public
transportation and other needed services – in order to live
independently in the community. Yet, following a disaster, they may
be displaced far away from a public transportation route, or farther
away from the city center. So attention to where housing is created,
where public transportation is established, and where people with
disabilities can live most independently post-disaster, is
particularly critical.
• Individuals who were living independently prior to the disaster and
were displaced from their community need to re-establish support
networks in their new location, which may include registering for ADA
complementary paratransit. Given that it typically takes 30 days to
register for this service, the ability to become mobile within a new
location can be greatly delayed. Transit agencies are required to
grant visitor status for a reasonable time to individuals with
identification showing they were eligible at home, and such service
may exceed the 21 days provided for in the DOT’s ADA regulation.
Transit agencies are encouraged to provide service to any evacuee who
requests paratransit service, even if the individual does not have
identification or documentation showing that he/she was eligible at
home. Transit agencies should work to expeditiously go through the
eligibility process for evacuees who are permanently relocated. In
addition, individuals with disabilities may be able to learn to use
the transit system in their new location. Therefore, as individuals
seek to return to normal daily life, they may benefit from
opportunities to receive travel training to build their familiarity
with the public transportation system.
• During the recovery, the provision of public transportation should
be considered in the context of the new geography and population. For
example, depending on the extent of the damage to infrastructure and
relocation of residents, certain routes may not make sense. Some
neighborhoods previously not served by public transportation may need
to be considered for service. During recovery, there is an
opportunity to rethink new public transportation routes and mechanisms
that get people who were relocated as a result of the disaster to
important community facilities and features.
• There is broad flexibility under FTA’s planning and capital funding
programs for states, metropolitan planning agencies and transit
authorities to spend FTA funds for emergency preparedness and response
planning. However, FTA does not have funding available for emergency
response. Transit agencies are advised to contact their FTA regional
office for assistance with recovery efforts.
Applicable regulatory provisions underlying this guidance can be found
in 49 CFR part 37, Transportation Services for Individuals with
Disabilities, which can be accessed at: http://www.fta.dot.gov/civilrights/ada/civil_rights_3906.html.
The Federal Transit Administration has published a guide: Disaster
Response and Recovery Resource for Transit Agencies that provides
additional information for transit agencies and communities on
planning for and meeting the needs of people with disabilities
following a disaster. That report is available at http://go.usa.gov/N8U.






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