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. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Disability Access to 

5 Transportation Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 Congress finds the following: 

8 (1) According to the Centers for Disease Con9 trol and Prevention, 1 in 4 U.S. adults has a dis10 ability. 


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1 (2) Section 2(b) of the Americans with Disabil2 ities Act (42 U.S.C. 12101) recognized that individ3 uals with disabilities face discrimination when using 

4 transportation services and sought to provide ‘‘a 

5 clear and comprehensive national mandate for the 

6 elimination of discrimination against individuals with 

7 disabilities’’. 

8 (3) Thirty years after the enactment of the 

9 Americans with Disabilities Act, individuals with dis10 abilities continue to face systemic discrimination and 

11 a lack of accessible transportation options. 

12 (4) Transportation is a core component of inde13 pendent living; 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 trans18 portation industry provides services. 

19 (6) As technology continues to change the way 

20 people move from one place to another, the transpor21 tation sector, including Federal agencies, local tran22 sit systems, and private entities must innovate and 

23 provide services in a way that empowers individuals 

24 with disabilities to travel independently in their com25 munities. 


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1 SEC. 3. ONE-STOP PARATRANSIT PILOT PROGRAM. 

2 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 6 months after the 

3 date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Transpor4 tation shall establish a one-stop paratransit pilot program. 

5 (b) PURPOSE.—The purpose of the pilot program 

6 under this section is to develop or expand paratransit pro7 grams carried out pursuant to the ADA to provide for 1 

8 stop of at least 15 minutes outside of the vehicle during 

9 a paratransit trip to prevent long wait times between mul10 tiple trips that unduly limit an individual’s ability to com11 plete essential tasks. 

12 (c) ELIGIBLE ENTITIES.— 

13 (1) IN GENERAL.—An entity eligible to partici14 pate in the pilot program is a transit agency that 

15 agrees to track and share information as the Sec16 retary requires, including— 

17 (A) number of ADA paratransit trips con18 ducted each year; 

19 (B) requested time of each paratransit 

20 trip; 

21 (C) scheduled time of each paratransit 

22 trip; 

23 (D) actual pickup time for each para24 transit trip; 

25 (E) average length of a stop in the middle 

26 of a ride as allowed by this section; 


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1 (F) any complaints received by a para2 transit rider; 

3 (G) rider satisfaction with paratransit 

4 services; and 

5 (H) after the completion of the pilot pro6 gram, an assessment by the eligible entity of its 

7 capacity to continue a one-stop program inde8 pendently. 

9 (2) PREFERENCE.—The Secretary shall give 

10 preference to entities that— 

11 (A) have comparable data for the year 

12 prior to implementation of the pilot program 

13 that can be used by the Secretary and other or14 ganizations, such as nonprofit organizations 

15 and advocacy organizations, for research pur16 poses; and 

17 (B) plan to use agency personnel to imple18 ment the pilot program. 

19 (d) APPLICATION.—To be eligible to participate in 

20 the pilot program, an eligible entity shall submit to the 

21 Secretary an application at such time, in such manner, 

22 and containing such information as the Secretary may re23 quire, including information on— 

24 (1) locations the eligible entity intends to allow 

25 a stop at, if stops are limited, including— 


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1 (A) childcare or education facilities; 

2 (B) pharmacies; 

3 (C) grocery stores; and 

4 (D) bank or ATM locations; 

5 (2) methodology for informing the public of the 

6 pilot program; 

7 (3) vehicles, personnel, and other resources that 

8 will be used to implement the pilot program; and 

9 (4) if the applicant does not intend the pilot 

10 program to apply to the full area under the jurisdic11 tion of the applicant, a description of the geographic 

12 area in which the applicant intends the pilot pro13 gram to apply. 

14 (e) SELECTION.—The Secretary shall seek to achieve 

15 diversity of participants in the pilot program by selecting 

16 a range of eligible entities that includes at least five of 

17 each of the following: 

18 (1) An eligible entity that serves an area with 

19 a population of 200,000 people or fewer. 

20 (2) An eligible entity that serves an area with 

21 a population of over 200,000 people. 

22 (3) An eligible entity that provides transpor23 tation for rural communities. 

24 (f) REPORT.—Not later than 3 months after the con25 clusion of the first 15 pilot projects carried out under this 


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1 section, the Secretary shall submit to Congress a report 

2 on the results of the program, including the feasibility of 

3 developing and implementing one-stop programs for all 

4 ADA paratransit services. 

5 (g) FUNDING.— 

6 (1) FEDERAL SHARE.—The Federal share of 

7 the total cost of a project carried out under this sec8 tion may not exceed 80 percent. 

9 (2) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.— 

10 There are authorized to be appropriated to carry out 

11 this section $75,000,000 for each of fiscal years 

12 2022 through 2026. 

13 SEC. 4. PEDESTRIAN FACILITIES IN THE PUBLIC RIGHT-OF14 WAY. 

15 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 180 days after the 

16 date of enactment of this Act, the Architectural and 

17 Transportation Barriers Compliance Board, pursuant to 

18 section 502(b)(3) of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (29 

19 U.S.C. 792(b)(3)), shall publish final accessibility guide20 lines setting forth minimum standards for pedestrian fa21 cilities in the public right-of-way, including shared use 

22 paths. 

23 (b) ADOPTION OF REGULATIONS.—Not later than 

24 180 days after the establishment of the guidelines pursuVerDate Sep 11 2014 07:06 Jun 23, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2038.IS S2038

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1 ant to subsection (a), the Secretary shall issue such regu2 lations as are necessary to adopt such guidelines. 

3 SEC. 5. REPORTING ACCESSIBILITY COMPLAINTS. 

4 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Transportation 

5 shall ensure that an individual who believes that he or she 

6 or a specific class of individuals has been subjected to dis7 crimination on the basis of disability by a public entity 

8 may, by himself or herself or by an authorized representa9 tive, easily file a complaint with the Department of Trans10 portation. Not later than 1 year after the date of enact11 ment of this Act, the Secretary shall implement procedures 

12 that allow an individual to submit a complaint described 

13 in the previous sentence by phone, by mail-in form, and 

14 online through the website of the Office of Civil Rights 

15 of the Federal Transit Administration. 

16 (b) NOTICE TO INDIVIDUALS WITH DISABILITIES.— 

17 Not later than 18 months after the date of enactment of 

18 this Act, the Secretary shall require that each public tran19 sit provider and contractor providing paratransit services 

20 shall include on a publicly available website of the service 

21 provider, any related mobile device application, and online 

22 service— 

23 (1) the telephone number, or a comparable elec24 tronic means of communication, for the disability asVerDate Sep 11 2014 07:06 Jun 23, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2038.IS S2038

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1 sistance hotline of the Office of Civil Rights of the 

2 Federal Transit Administration; 

3 (2) notice that a consumer can file a disability4 related complaint with the Office of Civil Rights of 

5 the Federal Transit Administration; 

6 (3) an active link to the website of the Office 

7 of Civil Rights of the Federal Transit Administra8 tion for an individual to file a disability-related com9 plaint; and 

10 (4) notice that an individual can file a dis11 ability-related complaint with the local transit agen12 cy and the process and any timelines for filing such 

13 a complaint. 

14 (c) INVESTIGATION OF COMPLAINTS.—Not later than 

15 60 days after the last day of each fiscal year the Secretary 

16 shall publish a report that lists the disposition of com17 plaints described in subsection (a), including— 

18 (1) the number and type of complaints filed 

19 with Department of Transportation; 

20 (2) the number of complaints investigated by 

21 the Department; 

22 (3) the result of the complaints that were inves23 tigated by the Department including whether the 

24 complaint was resolved— 

25 (A) informally; 


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1 (B) by issuing a violation through a non2 compliance Letter of Findings; or 

3 (C) by other means, which shall be de4 scribed in detail; and 

5 (4) if a violation was issued for a complaint, 

6 whether the Department resolved the noncompliance 

7 by— 

8 (A) reaching a voluntary compliance agree9 ment with the entity; 

10 (B) referring the matter to the Attorney 

11 General; or 

12 (C) by other means, which shall be de13 scribed in detail. 

14 (d) REPORT.—Upon implementation of this section, 

15 the Secretary shall, to the extent practicable, issue a re16 port composed of the information collected under this sec17 tion for the preceding 5 years. 

18 SEC. 6. ACCESSIBILITY DATA PILOT PROGRAM. 

19 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 1 year after the 

20 date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall establish 

21 an accessibility data pilot program. 

22 (b) PURPOSE.—In carrying out the pilot program, 

23 the Secretary shall develop or procure an accessibility data 

24 set and make that data set available to each eligible entity 


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1 selected to participate in the pilot program to improve the 

2 transportation planning of such eligible entities by— 

3 (1) measuring the level of access by multiple 

4 transportation modes, including transportation net5 work companies, to important destinations, which 

6 may include— 

7 (A) jobs, including areas with a concentra8 tion of available jobs; 

9 (B) health care facilities; 

10 (C) child care services; 

11 (D) educational and workforce training fa12 cilities; 

13 (E) affordable housing; 

14 (F) food sources; and 

15 (G) connections between modes, including 

16 connections to— 

17 (i) high-quality transit or rail service; 

18 (ii) safe bicycling corridors; and 

19 (iii) safe sidewalks that achieve com20 pliance with applicable requirements of the 

21 ADA; 

22 (2) disaggregating the level of access by mul23 tiple transportation modes by a variety of population 

24 categories, which shall include— 

25 (A) low-income populations; 


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1 (B) minority populations; 

2 (C) age; 

3 (D) disability such as sensory, cognitive, 

4 and physical, including wheelchair users; and 

5 (E) geographical location; and 

6 (3) assessing the change in accessibility that 

7 would result from new transportation investments. 

8 (c) ELIGIBLE ENTITIES.—An entity eligible to par9 ticipate in the pilot program is— 

10 (1) a State; 

11 (2) a metropolitan planning organization; or 

12 (3) a rural transportation planning organiza13 tion. 

14 (d) APPLICATION.—To be eligible to participate in 

15 the pilot program, an entity shall submit to the Secretary 

16 an application at such time, in such manner, and con17 taining such information as the Secretary may require, in18 cluding information relating to— 

19 (1) previous experience of the eligible entity 

20 measuring transportation access or other perform21 ance management experience; 

22 (2) the types of important destinations to which 

23 the eligible entity intends to measure access; 

24 (3) the types of data disaggregation the eligible 

25 entity intends to pursue; 


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1 (4) a general description of the methodology the 

2 eligible entity intends to apply; and 

3 (5) if the applicant does not intend the pilot 

4 program to apply to the full area under the jurisdic5 tion of the applicant, a description of the geographic 

6 area in which the applicant intends the pilot pro7 gram to apply. 

8 (e) SELECTION.— 

9 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall seek to 

10 achieve diversity of participants in the pilot program 

11 by selecting a range of eligible entities that shall in12 clude— 

13 (A) States; 

14 (B) metropolitan planning organizations 

15 that serve an area with a population of 200,000 

16 people or fewer; 

17 (C) metropolitan planning organizations 

18 that serve an area with a population of over 

19 200,000 people; and 

20 (D) rural transportation planning organi21 zations. 

22 (2) INCLUSIONS.—The Secretary shall seek to 

23 ensure that, among the eligible entities selected 

24 under paragraph (1) program participants rep25 resent— 


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1 (A) a range of capacity and previous expe2 rience with measuring transportation access; 

3 and 

4 (B) a variety of proposed methodologies 

5 and focus areas for measuring level of access. 

6 (f) DUTIES.—For each eligible entity participating in 

7 the pilot program, the Secretary shall— 

8 (1) develop or acquire an accessibility data set 

9 described in subsection (b); and 

10 (2) submit the data set to the eligible entity. 

11 (g) METHODOLOGY.—In calculating the measures for 

12 the data set under the pilot program, the Secretary shall 

13 ensure that methodology is open source. 

14 (h) AVAILABILITY.—The Secretary shall make an ac15 cessibility data set under the pilot program available to— 

16 (1) units of local government within the juris17 diction of the eligible entity participating in the pilot 

18 program; and 

19 (2) researchers. 

20 (i) REPORT.—Not later than 120 days after the last 

21 date on which the Secretary submits data sets to the eligi22 ble entity under subsection (f), the Secretary shall submit 

23 to Congress a report on the results of the program, includ24 ing the feasibility of developing and providing periodic ac25 cessibility data sets for all States, regions, and localities. 


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1 (j) FUNDING.—The Secretary shall carry out the 

2 pilot program using amounts made available to the Sec3 retary for administrative expenses to carry out programs 

4 under the authority of the Secretary. 

5 (k) SUNSET.—The pilot program shall terminate on 

6 the date that is 8 years after the date on which the pilot 

7 program is implemented. 

8 SEC. 7. ENHANCED MOBILITY OF SENIORS AND INDIVID9 UALS WITH DISABILITIES. 

10 Section 5338(a)(2) of title 49, United States Code, 

11 is amended by striking subparagraph (D) and inserting 

12 the following: 

13 ‘‘(D) $450,000,000 for fiscal year 2022, 

14 $463,500,000 for fiscal year 2023, 

15 $477,405,000 for fiscal year 2024, 

16 $491,727,150 for fiscal year 2025, and 

17 $506,478,965 for fiscal year 2026 shall be 

18 available to provide financial assistance for 

19 services for the enhanced mobility of seniors 

20 and individuals with disabilities under section 

21 5310;’’. 

22 SEC. 8. DEFINITIONS. 

23 In this Act: 


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1 (1) ADA.—The term ‘‘ADA’’ means the Ameri2 cans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 12101 

3 et seq.). 

4 (2) STATE.—The term ‘‘State’’ means each of 

5 the several States, the District of Columbia, and any 

6 commonwealth, territory, or possession of the United 

7 States. 

8 (3) TRANSPORTATION NETWORK COMPANY.— 

9 The term ‘‘transportation network company’’— 

10 (A) means a corporation, partnership, sole 

11 proprietorship, or other entity, that uses an on12 line-enabled application or digital network to 

13 connect riders to drivers affiliated with the enti14 ty in order for the driver to transport the rider 

15 using a vehicle owned, leased, or otherwise au16 thorized for use by the driver to a point chosen 

17 by the rider; and 

18 (B) does not include a shared-expense car19 pool or vanpool arrangement that is not in20 tended to generate profit for the driver. 

Æ 


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