There are reasons to have such a requirement. 9. We want to be sure that you or your employee can fully use the accommodation effectively. Two commenters suggested that it would help matters if the standard language on the sign above the priority seats was reworded to say that other passengers were expected to move if a disabled person showed up and needed the space. The Department, instead, received a substantial number of requests for equivalent facilitation determinations from manufacturers relating to approvals of particular products. In issuing the NPRM, the Department stated that the existing design for detectable warnings standard fulfills detectability and safety requirements. The one exception concerns the EEC, Inc. "arcing" lift cited in the New York PTSB comment. To permit a transportation provider to exclude a category of persons with disabilities from using a device that provides access to a vehicle on the basis of a perceived safety hazard, absent information in the rulemaking record that the hazard is real, would be inconsistent with the statute (c.f., the discussion of the transportation of three-wheeled mobility devices in the preamble to the Department's September 6, 1991, final ADA rule (56 FR 45617)). The DRC staff member and the employee's manager sign the form as well as the employee. Comments mentioned successful experiences with detectable warnings in some systems. Reasonable accommodations may include changes which may be necessary in order for the person with a disability to use and enjoy a dwelling, including public and common use spaces, or participate in the federally-assisted program or activity. If passengers expect detectable warning materials to be on the edge of the entire platform, and several feet of material is missing because the adhesive has failed, someone could fall off the platform because the expected warning was absent. One partial exception to this pattern was a comment from the New York State Public Transportation Safety Board (PTSB). Personal Assistance as a Reasonable Accommodation, FAQ About Obtaining Assistive Technology And Services, DOT Order 1011.1A-Procedures for Processing Reasonable Accommodation Requests b, DOT Disability Program Manager List (Reasonable Accommodation Contacts), Guidelines for Documenting Hidden Medical Conditions, Personal Assistance Services: Questions and Answers, complete the DRC Accommodation Request Form, Office of the Assistant Secretary for Research and Technology. PAGE 2158 FR 63092, *63100(ATMs). The Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act of 1991 (ISTEA) changed the name of the former Urban Mass Transportation Administration (UMTA) to Federal Transit Administration (FTA). A disability community commenter suggested. 2. The Department believes that the suggestion to publish its equivalent facilitation determinations is a good one. In response to the disability group concerns about possible problems detectable warnings may create for people with mobility impairments, the FTA is available to work with rail properties that have installed or are testing detectable warning systems (and users of these systems who have mobility impairments) to determine whether such problems exist and merit any change in the detectable warning requirement. (4) In all signage designating priority seating areas for elderly persons and persons with disabilities, or designating wheelchair securement areas, the entity shall include language informing persons sitting in these locations that they should comply with requests by transit provider personnel to vacate their seats to make room for an individual with a disability. Some letters mentioned the need for detectable warnings for persons who use dogs, as well as those who use canes, as a mobility aid. A disability community commenter suggested that if a passenger decided using a lift was too dangerous, that passenger should be eligible for paratransit. The key point in the comments, from the Department's point of view, is the absence of information documenting a safety problem resulting from standees' use of lifts. PTSB described, in some detail, how the design and operation of a particular lift model (a front door "arcing" lift manufactured by EEC, Inc., Model 141) could create specific hazards for standees. They viewed the separate provision for private entities (such as manufacturers) as being a less stringent standard, which would allow manufacturers to circumvent the standards in the rule. hb``g`` Obviously, a wheelchair user needs access to a securement location. All documents and other information concerning the request shall be available, upon request, to members of the public. We do not believe that it is necessary to prohibit applications for equivalent facilitation concerning detectable warnings. United States, Email: drc@dot.gov The transit provider would notify users (e.g., via signage on affected buses) that this particular bus lift was not available to standees. The final rule specifically bars claims by manufacturers that an equivalent facilitation determination constitutes a product endorsement by the Department. Once your or your employee's needs have been identified, we will prepare a written Action Plan for achieving the proposed accommodations. The main reason for this was that, in the commenters' view, detectable warning materials need to be uniform nationwide. endstream endobj 11 0 obj <> endobj 12 0 obj <>/ExtGState<>/Font<>/ProcSet[/PDF/Text/ImageC]/XObject<>>>/Rotate 0/Type/Page>> endobj 13 0 obj <>stream The Department certifies that the rule will not have a significant economic impact on a substantial number of small entities. Given the differences between the bus and rail contexts, and the specific requirements that the ADA applies to rail, it does not seem appropriate to apply the "don't diminish fleet accessibility percentage" rule to this situation. The authority citation for 49 CFR part 37 continues to read as follows: Authority: Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. Secure .gov websites use HTTPS These commenters, while making clear their concern about safety, did not present any data or anecdotal information that would demonstrate that an actual safety problem existed. For work-related hardship license appeals, this means that you must provide a letter from your employer which explains your work hours and need for a license. Bulletin # 1 also contains a list of products which are claimed by their manufacturers to meet the technical specifications for detectable warnings, but the Access Board neither reviews products for compliance nor certifies the suitability of such products or systems for the purposes for which they are intended. This can happen in one of two ways. Some comments from transit providers suggested there be limits on the use of lifts by standees (e.g., only where there are handrails, only in a wheelchair provided by the transit authority). It is a significant rule under the Department's Regulatory Policies and Procedures, since it amends the Department's Americans with Disabilities Act rule, which is a significant rule. A number mentioned the crowded, noisy, distracting atmosphere of rush hour train stations as being a situation in which a tactile cue like a detectable warning is particularly important. Last fall, the Access Board proposed amending its guidelines for ATMs. Fourteen commenters supported the NPRM provision as drafted. In making the request available for public review, the entity shall ensure that it is available, upon request, in accessible formats. 9*H FuE~W*ETZc3: ZVch.Fbu:c _qZv&5RHO3bnK*A2~pwm@)VK8"gB2laaG PAGE 758 FR 63092, *63094Department takes notice. At the same time, given the modification discussed below, it will not impose onerous new duties on transit personnel. Under the present rule, except where the Department has extended time for completion of modifications to a key station, rail operators had to make key stations accessible by July 26, 1993. Mr. X has Reasonable Cause for Not Filing and Turning Over Form 941 Withholding Taxes. With the exception noted below, the existing @ 37.165(g)-which requires transportation providers to permit standees to use lifts, without restriction-will remain in effect. endstream endobj startxref An ambulatory person with a disability may be unable to stand for long periods, meaning that the person would be effectively denied access to transportation if he or she could not sit down on a crowded bus. PAGE 2258 FR 63092, *63101omission of part of the language concerning wheelchair locations in @ 38.125(d)(2). * * * * *7. The DRC will then purchase the items or services outlined in the Action Plan, at no additional cost to your operating administration. The conclusion the Department draws from this study is that there are documented practical problems with the installation and maintenance of some detectable warning materials, which it is necessary for transit properties to address if their installation of detectable warnings is to be successful. These situations, some of which were recounted by fall victims themselves in detail, were in addition to cases in which visually-impaired passengers almost fell off, or had become very fearful of walking on, rail station platforms. A lock ( LockA locked padlock ) or https:// means youve safely connected to the .gov website. The existing rule's one car per train requirement applies, after July 1995, both to Amtrak and the commuter authorities involved. (49 CFR part 37, Appendix A, @ 2.2; 49 CFR part 38, 38.2). of detectable warning materials had been the result of a combination of first-generation materials and improper installation and/or maintenance by rail properties. Entities shall not claim that a determination of equivalent facilitation indicates approval or endorsement of any product or method by the Federal government, the Department of Transportation, or any of its operating administrations.5. _@b'^\481FqTK9jri0TO*5P5NUB19@u$.c[w(e- Under the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, managers and supervisors are required to provide reasonable accommodations to qualified Federal employees and applicants. hXko+1Ap`;McIsc j&BesfI#H%53EKdJ[qZyfQE)*f:C Iy2-:WA`\I The authority citation for 49 CFR part 38 is revised to read as follows: Authority: Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. PAGE 358 FR 63092, *63092The Department published its notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM) on the issues covered by this rule on November 17, 1992. However, nothing in the study suggests that these problems appear insuperable; nor does the study suggest that a prolonged period of time (e.g., five years) is needed for rail operators to solve these problems. If you are deaf, hard of hearing, or have a speech disability, please dial 7-1-1 to access telecommunications relay services. The comments from the disability community emphasized the safety need for detectable warnings, particularly for blind and visually impaired persons. * * * * *(c)(1) Unless an entity receives an extension under paragraph (c)(2) of this section, the public entity shall achieve accessibility of key stations as soon as possible, but in no case later than July 26, 1993, except that an entity is not required to complete installation of detectable warnings required by section 10.3.2(2) of appendix A to this part until July 26, 1994. 35 0 obj <>/Filter/FlateDecode/ID[<219546CA2F0B1B4A956CBC6DFEFAA54F>]/Index[10 48]/Info 9 0 R/Length 119/Prev 123083/Root 11 0 R/Size 58/Type/XRef/W[1 3 1]>>stream All documents and other information concerning the request shall be available, upon request, to members of the public. Prospective purchasers are advised to evaluate carefully all proposed products and designs against the Access Board requirements for compliance with technical [*63099] specifications, applications, designs, and installations. Part 38 and appendix A to part 37 both contain provisions concerning equivalent facilitation. WebHome / Uncategorized / statement regarding inability to obtain reasonable transportation. The Department is also making two minor technical corrections to its rule establishing standards for accessible vehicles. Reasonably possible . Three commenters suggested that buses carry an on-board wheelchair that standees could choose to use. Other key station accessibility requirements, if not covered by a time extension for [*63095] "extraordinarily expensive" changes, must still have been completed by July 26, 1993. To clarify this point, the NPRM proposed adding to @ 37.167 a new paragraph spelling out this obligation, which would apply to private as well as public transportation entities. This Statement uses the terms probable , reasonably possible, and remote to identify three areas within that range, as follows: Probable . (Since few transit authorities have actually installed detectable warnings to date, most commenters could not assert that they had directly experienced problems, however.) In @ 37.7, paragraph(b) is revised to read as follows. Making decisions about equivalent facilitation in advance, through an agency administrative process, seems more efficient than making them after the fact, through litigation. The warning must be of a contrasting color (i.e., dark vs. light) and texture (i.e., truncated domes vs. smooth surface), as well as (in the case of interior surfaces) differing from the platform in resiliency and sound-on-cane contact. The equivalent facilitation sections for vehicles and facilities are basically parallel. Examples of Reasonable Accommodations can include: Of course, the list above is not all-inclusive. The rulemaking record also provides a sound basis for the propositions that detectable warnings address a significant safety need for persons with impaired vision and that an effective tactile cue that a person is reaching the platform edge is very important, particularly given factors in the rail station environment that may diminish the utility of aural and other cues to persons with impaired vision. The study also noted ongoing efforts at improving detectable warning materials. The Department is aware that the Access Board (along with the Department of Justice and Department of Transportation) proposed to suspend, until January 1995, the requirement for detectable warnings in contexts such as curb ramps and parking lots, with the expectation of conducting further research. Further, 49 CFR 37.7 and 37.9 establish a procedure through which an entity may obtain a determination of equivalent facilitation for vehicles and facilities, respectively:For purposes of implementing the equivalent facilitation provision * * * a determination of compliance will be made by the (Federal Transit) Administrator or the Federal Railroad Administrator, as applicable, on a case-by-case basis. We have some doubts about the practicality of providers carrying wheelchairs on their vehicles to use for standees who are trying to access a vehicle via the lift. The study does not point to any safety problems created by the materials for passengers, beyond those that can be inferred from "lift-off." Three transit agencies asked how to prioritize among different disabled passengers (e.g., ambulatory vs. non-ambulatory). The manufacturers said that the problems the NPRM had cited with adhesion, lift-up, etc. DREDF also cited ADA legislative history favoring use of lifts by standees, the practices of some transit agencies which allow standees to use lifts, extra costs to paratransit systems if ridership on fixed route systems by standees were limited, and a general concern that ADA regulations' protections should not be weakened. In addition, in December 1992, a visually impaired passenger fell to the tracks on Baltimore's subway system, and was struck and injured by a train. The purpose of the detectable warning is to inform blind or visually impaired passengers that they are nearing the platform edge. The Department is not making other suggested changes in the regulatory language, believing that reasonable implementation of the provision can address the issues commenters raised. Those commenters who asserted that the two types of machines should have different requirements did not provide sufficient information on which the Department or the Access Board could base a separate standard. For example, a wheelchair user may not be able to use a bus safely and securely if he or she does not have access to the securement location. In view of the close relationship between the coverage of airport facilities under the ADA, section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act, and the Air Carrier Access Act, the Department is clarifying the facilities section to specifically include requests for equivalent facilitation that arise concerning airport facilities under all three statutes. In Boston, a blind individual received fatal injuries when she fell off a platform and received a shock from the electrified "third rail." Thirty-one state and local agencies working with disability matters, three private transportation providers, three members of Congress (Senators Harkin and Kennedy and Representative Mineta), and four other commenters also advocated not changing the existing rule. Official websites use .govA .gov website belongs to an official government organization in the United States. The existing detectable warning requirement, without change or postponement, will continue to apply to construction of new stations and alterations of existing stations platforms. The ADA is a nondiscrimination statute, intended to ensure, among other things, that people with disabilities have access to transportation services. statement regarding inability to obtain reasonable transportation This is important, among other reasons, because based on the premise that standees can use lifts, the Access Board found it unnecessary to establish a standard for stair riser heights in vehicles that use lifts. Seventeen commenters supported restricting the access of standees to lifts. For any key station modification which, because of an extension of time for extraordinarily expensive changes, does not have to be completed until after July 26, 1994, detectable warnings would have to be installed on the same date as other modifications had to be completed. When the needed technologies or other products are delivered, DRC doesn't stop there. Reasonable accommodations create equal access and opportunities in the workplace so that people with disabilities can be productive team players whose unique perspectives promote the development of successful programs. All it takes is a brief moment of fatigue, or distraction, or disorientation, in the complex and sometimes confusing environment of a rail station, and even a very experienced blind rail system user can make what, in context, is a fatal misstep. The Department believes that the Access Board proposal, which focuses on the reach range requirements for ATMs, is reasonable for fare vending machines as well. The FTA Administrator sent letter to a number of manufacturers to inform them that their designs appeared to meet the dimensional requirements intended by the Access Board. An official website of the United States government Here's how you know. For example, in one rapid rail system lacking adequate detectable warnings, according to testimony from blind passengers at a 1992 public hearing on the system's proposed key station plan, 15 blind or visually impaired passengers have fallen off the platform in recent years (at least one of them was killed by a train). That buses carry an on-board wheelchair that standees could choose to use dangerous, that passenger should be eligible paratransit... Technologies or other products are delivered, DRC does n't stop there, particularly blind! 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Please dial 7-1-1 to access telecommunications relay services the NPRM had cited with adhesion, lift-up, etc New State. Well as the employee 's needs have been identified, we will prepare a written Action Plan for achieving proposed! A passenger decided using a lift was too dangerous, that passenger be... Particular products safety requirements we will prepare a written Action Plan, no! Ensure, among other things, that people with disabilities have access to transportation services involved... 37 both contain provisions concerning equivalent facilitation sections for vehicles and facilities are basically parallel Reasonable Cause for not and... Not impose onerous New duties on transit personnel, to members of the language concerning locations. From the disability community commenter suggested that if a passenger decided using a lift was too dangerous that! Has Reasonable Cause for not Filing and Turning Over form 941 Withholding Taxes lift was too,... 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That you or your employee 's needs have been identified, we will prepare a written Plan. Combination of first-generation materials and improper installation and/or maintenance by rail properties detectable...

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