6 Reasons to Give Thanks – Improving Transportation Accessibility

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Avenue Update #9

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It’s Thanksgiving, and in addition to giving thanks for our families, for our freedoms, and for the joys of huge dinners and wall to wall football, we want to take this opportunity to give thanks for a number of accessibility-related developments in the world of public transportation.  

Since this time last year, we’ve watched as the U.S. Access Board, the Federal Transit Administration, and the Department of Justice have all provided guidance that will make transportation and community mobility more accessible for almost all people with disabilities. We’ve witnessed the birth of a couple of brand-new technologies that are transforming accessibility and mobility for millions of disabled Americans, and we’ve observed that even paratransit (the last frontier in the fight for equity for millions of disabled people) is becoming more spontaneous and flexible in a number of communities throughout America.  

We could have picked a dozen other accessibility-related achievements to celebrate, but in the interest of time and space, we’re doing something that is rarely done during Thanksgiving... We’re limiting ourselves to just a few.  Here are six transportation-related reasons that people with disabilities should be celebrating this Thanksgiving. 

#1 - The FTA began funding major improvements to legacy subway, light rail and commuter rail systems through the All Stations Accessibility Program 

On December 19, 2022, the Federal Transit Administration (FTA) announced that fifteen projects in nine states will receive support to help make it easier for people with disabilities to access some of the nation’s oldest and busiest rail transit systems through essential upgrades, such as elevators.  Funded by the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, the All Stations Accessibility Program (or ASAP for short) is designed to improve mass transit accessibility for everyone, including people who use mobility devices, people pushing strollers, and others who have difficulty navigating steps. 

#2 – The U.S. Access Board issued new guidance mandating accessibility improvements for public rights of way.  

After more than a decade of on-again/off-again deliberations, the U.S. Access Board finally issued new accessibility standards for the public right of way in August. The new Public Right of Way Accessibility Guidelines (PROWAG for short) address a number of elements impacting the overall accessibility of pedestrian spaces including: sidewalks and other pedestrian access routes, curb ramps, pedestrian signals, on-street parking, and the design of transit stops and stations. In order for the PROWAG to become legally binding, the U.S. Departments of Transportation and Justice must formally adopt it, and that will not happen until 2024—at the earliest. But the existence of the new PROWAG standards is already beginning to impact the work of urban planners, architects, and traffic engineers around the country, because once fully adopted (hopefully in the Spring or summer of 2024), PROWAG standards will apply for all future projects taking place in the public right of way. 

#3 – Oko was introduced in the United States, and many traffic intersections got safer for many people with disabilities.  

In February of 2023, the blind and low vision community began hearing about a new mobile app that could supposedly read the status of traffic signals—even if the signals were not designed to be accessible. The app, called Oko, was developed by the Dutch company, Ayes, and as soon as people began downloading Oko, they began crossing streets with a much greater degree of confidence and safety. 

Oko uses the camera in a person’s mobile phone to see the traffic signal and interpret the status of the walk/don’t walk interval, which it communicates to the user. The process is simple. The user downloads the app, sets their preferences, and then points the app at the traffic signal pole on the opposite side of any street the pedestrian wishes to cross. When Oko is open and pointing at a traffic signal pole, it relays the status of the signal, either “walk,” “don’t walk,” or “countdown, using verbal messages, tones for each stage in the crossing interval, or haptic feedback, and the user can cross or wait, based on the feedback received.  

It is important to note that Oko is a new app and has limitations. Because it uses the phone’s camera, the user must be able to point the phone directly at the traffic signal, a task which can be more difficult for people who may be working with a cane or guide dog and carrying other items, and/or who may have difficulty locating a traffic signal pole they cannot see. Oko is also less effective during hours of darkness and for signals that are backlit by the sun. In addition, some within the blind/low vision community are concerned that the presence of an app like Oko might make cities more hesitant to install Accessible Pedestrian Signals (APS) that are more accessible for everyone—including those without smartphones.  

These concerns are all valid, but given the timeline for installing APS everywhere they are needed, the existence of Oko means that many blind and low vision people are going to be safer and more confident today, and this is a very good thing. … And did we mention that Oko is currently free? 

#4 – The U.S. Department of Justice began laying the groundwork for more accessible websites and mobile apps. 

An ever-increasing number of transit systems and paratransit services have been introducing mobile apps and online tools for planning, monitoring, and paying for trips on public transit. This fact, coupled with the growing use of app-based transportation services for microtransit and paratransit, has made digital accessibility, or more to the point, a lack of digital accessibility for many people with disabilities who use assistive technologies like screen readers, screen magnification, electronic braille, voice dictation, etc. a really big deal. And while the ADA requires public transit agencies and their providers to communicate about and deliver programs and services in ways that are accessible for people with disabilities, the ADA (which predates virtually all of the digital technologies currently in use across the transportation industry) offers no clear guidance on what constitutes digital accessibility. But this is changing. 

For years, the U.S. Department of Justice (the federal agency that regulates most parts of the ADA) has been using its enforcement role to signal that digital accessibility is required, and early in 2023, the DOJ issued informal guidance announcing that it viewed an international accessibility standard developed by the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) called the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG), and more specifically WCAG 2.1 Level AA, as the standard for digital accessibility. And in August, the DOJ issued a Notice of Proposed Rule Making (NPRM) that, once finalized, will incorporate WCAG 2.1, Level AA (and presumably any successor standard thereto) within the ADA as the benchmark for measuring digital accessibility of mobile apps and websites of entities of state and local governments, to include public transit agencies.  

Once the Department of Justice issues its Final Rule (expected to take place next year), public agencies and municipal governments providing public transit will have either two or three years (depending on the size and other characteristics of each agency) to make their customer-facing websites, web content, and mobile apps, accessible to and usable by people with disabilities, and including those of us who use assistive technologies. Having a standard means less confusion about what constitutes digital access, and it will help the technology providers who support the transit industry to develop products that meet the new standards. Over time, this will be a game changer for digital accessibility and for those of us who depend on it in our everyday lives. 

#5 – The public transit industry is beginning to embrace the need for more equitable and spontaneous ADA paratransit.  

For most people with disabilities who are unable to use conventional public transit services, the only real option is ADA paratransit, a shared-ride service that typically requires the customer to book at least a day in advance, accept a pick-up time that might be up to an hour before or after the time they need, wait for 20 or 30 minutes for a vehicle to arrive, and then take a trip that might be very short, or very long, depending on the number of other riders sharing the vehicle, all for a fare that could be twice as much as a non-disabled person would pay if taking regular transit. In other words, not very good. But times are beginning to change.  

On September 14, FTA Administrator, Nuria I. Fernandez, issued a “Dear Colleague” letter, reminding transit agencies that making ADA paratransit more flexible and spontaneous promotes greater equity for people with disabilities. The letter went on to remind transit agencies that in many instances, federal funds can be used to pay for making these service improvements. The FTA’s letter did not say anything new, but it did provide clear evidence of the FTA’s support for a trend toward more innovative approaches to paratransit, a trend that has been accelerating through the year. Here are just a couple of examples:  

• Access Services, which provides ADA paratransit on behalf of 44 transit agencies serving Los Angeles County, CA, expanded a pilot program allowing parents with disabilities using paratransit to make stops along the way for the purpose of picking up and dropping off children at school or daycare. 

• A growing number of transit agencies have been introducing on-demand paratransit services utilizing an array of providers including local cab companies, wheelchair-accessible vehicle (WAV) providers, and Transportation Network Companies. One such company is UZURV, a TNC built for the express purpose of providing paratransit with drivers who meet all of the same background, screening and training requirements that traditional ADA paratransit drivers have been meeting for decades. These on-demand paratransit services are still not available in most cities, but more and more cities, including Baltimore, MD; Boston, MA; Chicago, IL; Denver, CO; Jacksonville, FL; Kansas City, MO/KS; Phoenix, AZ; Richmond, VA, St. Petersburg/Clearwater, FL; San Francisco, CA; and many others are beginning to make them available, and more will follow suit in years to come. 

#6 – Autonomous vehicle manufacturers and providers are continuing to focus on accessibility as they develop and introduce AV services.  

Autonomous vehicle (AV) manufacturers and service providers are continuing to develop their products and services, and they are continuing to focus on accessibility. Here are just a few examples of the many good things going on in the world of AV accessibility. 

• Robotaxi providers, Waymo and Cruise, expanded operations in Phoenix, AZ, launched operations in San Francisco, CA, and Waymo announced plans to expand operations to Los Angeles, CA and Austin, TX. At the time of this writing, Cruise has suspended operations in the wake of an incident involving a pedestrian in San Francisco, but the overall trend for robotaxi services is positive, which means that access to fully independent travel for many people with disabilities is also increasing. 

• Several AV manufacturers and providers announced partnerships with an array of national disability organizations, including a partnership between Waymo and the National Federation of the Blind to ensure that Waymo’s rider app is accessible, a partnership between Cruise and the Paralyzed Veterans of America to support development of a wheelchair-accessible AV (the prototype of which was introduced in September), and a partnership between Argo AI and the American Council of the Blind that will support the development of a more accessible rider experience, including the ability to use voice commands to summon Argo vehicles. 

No time for a Nap 

In our house, the end of the turkey signals the beginning of the nap. But there’s no time for sleep for those of us concerned about the accessibility of public transit.  

At the beginning of November, the U.S. Department of Transportation issued a Request for Information about possible enhancements to ADA requirements pertaining to transit facilities. This RFI joins two other expected rule-making efforts: one by the U.S. Department of Justice finalizing the mobile app and web accessibility requirements described earlier in this article, and one implementing PROWAG (also described earlier) that will need to be undertaken by both the Departments of Justice and Transportation. In addition, transit agencies and transportation providers will continue to introduce service and technological innovations in response to a growing number of demands for better, more accessible, and more equitable services for everyone. And then, there is the rapidly evolving AV industry that needs a great deal of attention from advocates and regulators in order to make sure this exciting new technology hits the ground with accessibility built-in. 

So, if you’re an advocate for better and more accessible transportation, here’s the plan...  

Finish that turkey.  

Watch that last football game.  

Fight those Black Friday crowds.  

Support your local small business, and give till it hurts on Giving Tuesday.  

Rest with friends and family over the holidays.

Then get ready because 2024 will be bigger and better than ever, and the work will need us all. 

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#Accessibility 

#ADAParatransit 

#AutonomousVehicles 

#DigitalAccess 

#GivingThanks 

#PedestrianSafety 

#PeopleWithDisabilities 

#PublicTransit