2023 New York Laws › TRA - Transportation › Article 2 - Powers, Duties and Jurisdiction of the Department of Transportation › 15-C - Accessible Public Transportation.

§ 15-c. Accessible public transportation. 1. Definitions. When used in
this section:
a.   "Transportation   provider"   shall  mean  the  Niagara  frontier
transportation   authority,   the    Rochester-Genesee    transportation
authority,  the  capital  district transportation authority, the central
New York regional transportation authority, the Utica transit authority,
the metropolitan suburban bus  authority,  Suffolk  county,  Westchester
county and Broome county.
b.  "Committee" shall mean the committee for accessible transportation
established pursuant to subdivision two of this section.
c. "Transit-disabled person" shall mean any individual who, by  reason
of illness, age, injury, or congenital malfunction or other permanent or
temporary   incapacity   or   disability,  is  unable,  without  special
facilities, special planning or design, to utilize  mass  transportation
facilities as effectively as members of the general public.
d.  "Para-transit"  shall  mean  a transportation service specifically
designed to serve the needs of transit disabled  persons  using  special
vehicles operating on demand.
e.  "Accessible  fixed-route service" shall mean a regularly scheduled
fixed-route bus service  operated  by  a  transportation  provider  with
lift-equipped transit buses.
2.  Establishment  of committee. a. To assist in the development of an
accessible   transportation   system,   a   committee   for   accessible
transportation  shall  be  established for each transportation provider.
Each  committee  shall  consist  of   seven   persons,   including   the
commissioner  of transportation and the state advocate for the disabled,
or their designee, and five persons appointed by the governor  including
one  member  from the transportation provider and three transit-disabled
persons. If the member appointed from the transportation provider ceases
to be a member of the provider, such member shall at the same time cease
to be a member of the committee. The commissioner of transportation,  or
the commissioner's designee, shall serve as chairperson.
b.   Members   of  the  committee,  other  than  the  commissioner  of
transportation and the state advocate for the disabled, shall  serve  at
the  pleasure  of the governor. If at any time there is a vacancy in the
membership  of  the  committee  by   reason   of   death,   resignation,
disqualification, or otherwise, such vacancy shall be filled in the same
manner as the original appointment.
c.  A  majority  of the whole number of members of the committee shall
constitute a quorum for the transaction of the committee's business. The
committee shall have the power to act by a majority vote of the members.
d. Meetings of the committee shall take place no less than once  every
two  months  for a period of fifteen months following the effective date
of this section unless waived, in writing, by a  majority  vote  of  the
members  of  the  committee.  Within  such  fifteen  month  period,  the
committee shall, in addition to its regular meetings, hold no less  than
two  public  meetings  at  which  the  committee shall receive testimony
concerning service needs. Thereafter, regular meetings of the  committee
shall  take  place  no  less  than  every three months unless waived, in
writing, by a majority vote of the members of the committee.
3. Committee responsibilities. a. Each committee shall, by July first,
nineteen  hundred  ninety-one,  develop  an  accessible   transportation
services  plan  to  provide  for accessible transportation services at a
level sufficient to meet demand in an  economic  and  efficient  manner,
which   coordinates,   to   the   maximum  extent  possible,  accessible
fixed-route services, para-transit, accessible rapid transit, and  other
transportation   services  available  to  transit-disabled  persons,  as
appropriate.
b. The accessible transportation services plan shall  include  service
criteria for the provision of para-transit services.
c. The plan shall also include:
(i)   service   areas  and  routes  which  shall  reflect  residential
distributions of transit-disabled persons  and  existing  transportation
services  operating  in  the transportation provider's service area that
are accessible to transit-disabled persons;
(ii) eligibility for use of para-transit;
(iii) hours and days of operation;
(iv) available financing, including farebox revenue;
(v) passenger and mileage data;
(vi) vehicle hours of operation;
(vii) a financial analysis and comparison  of  projected  capital  and
operating  costs,  a  revenue  plan to cover any additional costs within
resources otherwise available  to  the  transportation  provider  and  a
determination   of   the   effectiveness   of  any  proposed  accessible
fixed-route service and alternative para-transit; and
(viii) any other information deemed appropriate. The  committee  shall
consult  on  such  plan with the metropolitan planning organization, and
following  such  consultation,  shall  recommend   the   plan   to   the
transportation provider for implementation.
4. Required level of fixed-route accessibility. a. Each transportation
provider   shall   provide   access   to  one  hundred  percent  of  its
regularly-operated buses that provide  local,  fixed-route  service.  To
implement  this  requirement  on  and  after  the effective date of this
section, all buses purchased, leased or otherwise brought  into  service
on  the bus lines of each transportation provider shall be lift-equipped
except any bus which a provider has under contract of purchase  on  July
first,  nineteen  hundred  ninety  for  delivery  after  that date. Such
lift-equipped  buses  shall  be  properly  operated  and  maintained  to
facilitate their use by transit-disabled persons.
b.  The  provisions of paragraph a of this subdivision shall not apply
to buses that are purchased, leased or otherwise  brought  into  service
that have a useful life of six years or less.
5. Required level of para-transit service. a. Within thirty days after
the  submission  of  the  accessible  transportation  services plan, the
transportation provider shall, with respect to that portion of the  plan
setting  forth  service  criteria for para-transit service, approve such
criteria, request amendments to the criteria or reject such criteria. If
the transportation provider approves the criteria, it shall  proceed  to
implement   such  criteria.  If  the  transportation  provider  requests
amendments to the criteria, the committee shall  consider  such  request
and,  no  later  than  thirty days following such request, submit either
amended criteria or the initial criteria. Within fifteen  days  of  such
submission,  the  transportation provider shall either approve or reject
the criteria, as resubmitted. If the transportation provider rejects the
criteria, it shall be subject to the provisions of paragraph b  of  this
subdivision.  This  schedule  may  be  modified by mutual consent of the
committee and the transportation provider.
b. If a transportation provider rejects the service criteria submitted
by the committee, the transportation  provider  shall,  subject  to  the
provisions  of  paragraphs  c  and  d  of  this subdivision, provide the
following minimum level of para-transit service:
(i)  For  transportation  providers  operating  up  to  fifty   buses,
para-transit services shall operate with a para-transit fleet of no less
than  ten  percent  of the provider's fixed route fleet, but in no event
less than one vehicle;
(ii) For transportation providers operating fifty-one to  one  hundred
buses,  para-transit services shall operate with a para-transit fleet of
no less than eight percent of the provider's fixed route fleet,  but  in
no event less than five vehicles;
(iii)  For  transportation  providers operating one hundred one to one
hundred  fifty  buses,  para-transit  services  shall  operate  with   a
para-transit  fleet  of no less than six percent of the provider's fixed
route fleet, but in no event less than eight vehicles; and
(iv) For transportation providers operating in excess of  one  hundred
fifty  buses,  para-transit  services  shall operate with a para-transit
fleet of no less than five percent of the provider's fixed route  fleet,
but in no event less than nine vehicles.
c.   Each  provider  shall  begin  implementing  the  requirements  of
paragraph a of this subdivision upon the committee's  submission  of  an
accessible  transportation  service  plan and shall fully implement such
requirements no later than three years  thereafter;  provided,  however,
that  each  provider  must fully implement such requirements by December
first, nineteen hundred ninety-four.
d. In no event shall  the  amount  of  a  provider's  expenditures  on
para-transit services be less than the amount allocated for para-transit
services  in  a  provider's budget for the year nineteen hundred ninety,
unless agreed to by the committee.
6. Committee reports. On or before February  first,  nineteen  hundred
ninety-three,  each committee shall submit a report to the governor, the
president pro tem of the senate, and the speaker of the assembly,  which
details  the  progress of the committee in addressing the transportation
needs of persons with disabilities and  which  presents  the  accessible
transportation  services plan developed by the committee and recommended
to  the  metropolitan  planning  organization  and  the   transportation
provider.
7.   Technical  assistance.  The  committee  shall  receive  technical
assistance from the metropolitan planning organization,  the  department
of  transportation,  the  transportation  provider,  the  office  of the
advocate for the disabled, and any other state agency that it determines
appropriate.
8. The committee may, by vote of two-thirds of its  members  cease  to
exist   at  any  time  after  December  thirty-first,  nineteen  hundred
ninety-five.
9. The commissioner of  transportation  is  authorized  to  promulgate
regulations to carry out the provisions of this section.