# How can I effectively advocate for same-day/on-demand transportation through a paratransit provider?

As a completely blind individual, I have thought of moving to a state that offered on-demand transportation, such as Access on Demand of Denver, Colorado and a few others, like Las Vegas or Los Angeles, but unfortunately, this is not a luxury offered across the board.

I do know that all of these paratransit agencies are regulated by the Federal Transportation Administration, meaning that they all have reciprocating authority to allow visitors to take advantage of their services when not in their home state. But of course, since they're not a permanent resident, they will not be able to use on-demand services.

Since the prevalence of Lyft, Uber, and Uzurv, and especially since TriMet Lift of Portland, oregon has a contract with them I can't see why they can implement an on-demand option through their mobile app. I called them up a few times, kindly suggesting this as a viable option, but the representative said to me in a cold tone of voice that there has never been a same-day service, and never will be.

When I brought this issue up with a fellow rider, it turned out that he was actually on the advisory board with them, and he promised to help me get in, but that was over six months ago and I haven't heard anything since. He did mention that the FTA had issued a letter last year highlighting the benefits of having a same-day service as being more equitable. For example, an able-bodied individual need not plan a trip at least twenty-four hours in advance if they can reliably access a bus stop within walking distance, take a cab, or drive themself. Similarly, a disabled person, unless they are working, may not be able to reliably hire a traditional taxicab or Uber/Lyft and must therefore rely on paratransit, or volunteer-based rides. Thus, they must rely on a subsidised programme, such as door-to-door paratransit, or if their Medicaid covers it in their county, non-medical transportation, which is a lot more limiting than medical transportation.

I've had caregiver/skills-training services through a Medicaid waiver, Medicaid being a federally funded programme for disabled and low-income individuals in the United States that is run by each state, so it is not as consistent as Medicare. The sad news is that because of liability, they are not able to drive me places in their personal vehicles, unless I owned a vehicle or they accompanied me on public transportation or hired private cabs.

There was one service that came out last year, but it is unfortunately extremely limited by region, and I unfortunately do not live in this region, as I do not live in a metropolitan area, but rather in a suburban city/town. It is called _Golden Transportation Wallet: Access4All_. Its purpose is to replenish a prepaid debit card that you can use on Uber/Lyft for wherever you wish to go.

I have been trying to push for this for a very, very long time, as I have been wanting to access resources in more rural areas, such as equine-based therapy/horseback-riding, but unfortunately paratransit cannot go out to those places because they are outside of their boundaries.

Is there any case study or scholarly journals about the efficacy of how invaluable on-demand services are to these individuals that I can use as great talking points? What might be some opposing arguments that I might face, and what could I argue against them? If it's about budget costs, what can I say to convince them that if other states have been able to pull this off, why not we?

Any help with this would be greatly appreciated!