Opinion ID: 527543
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Are The Local Option Provisions Arbitrary and Capricious?

Text: 79 The district court found that the Secretary's decision to allow communities the option of providing alternatives to accessible bus service is adequately supported by record evidence of the relative costs and benefits. See ADAPT, 676 F.Supp. at 640-41. Much of this evidence is derived from the Secretary's Regulatory Impact Analysis (RIA). See 51 Fed.Reg. 18,994. The RIA evaluated the costs and benefits of various service options and was based on two research methods. One method compiled detailed case studies of seven cities selected as representative of the array of possible modes of providing transportation services to the handicapped. See RIA at v-vi. A second method constructed a computer model designed to predict the relative costs of paratransit systems providing a range of alternate levels of service. See RIA at IV-1 to IV-18. 80 The RIA indicated that special services for handicapped persons were likely to be more cost-effective than accessible bus service. Specifically, the Secretary concluded that specialized services would generate more handicapped rides per dollar expended, thereby resulting in lower costs per trip. See RIA at VI-9. This conclusion was reflected in data from both the actual case studies and a computer model. The case studies, for example, indicated that: 81 [L]ift-bus service does not appear to be a particularly cost effective way of meeting the transportation needs of large numbers of disabled persons.... To date, the Seattle Metro bus system has attained the highest lift use rate of any large lift-bus system.... Based on the adjusted cost of the Seattle service, the estimated costs per trip is $16.90. In comparison, the paratransit systems in Cleveland and Pittsburgh are more cost-effective (with cost per trip of $12.06 and $11.95), and serve roughly four times the number of disabled trips as Seattle's liftbuses. 82 RIA at III-6. 83 The computer model produced similar predictions of greater cost effectiveness for specialized services: 84 At a discounted cost-per-trip of $25.00 ... lift-equipped buses are clearly less cost-effective than paratransit services ($11.56 per trip) and are estimated to serve considerably fewer persons as well. RIA at VI-9 to VI-10. 11 85 The higher ridership rates for paratransit services suggest that a system providing only accessible bus service may not fully and adequately serve the handicapped community. Indeed, the Secretary took note of comments in the rulemaking record indicating that 86 not all handicapped persons could use accessible bus service, for reasons such as distance from bus stops, inability to use a lift, physical barriers between the bus stop and the user's origin or destination, bad weather, etc. 87 51 Fed.Reg. at 19,009. 88 Given our narrow scope of review, and the Secretary's conclusion that local discretion in providing handicapped services is essential, 51 Fed.Reg. at 19,004, evidence showing that the paratransit systems already operated by many communities could offer more cost-effective service, while providing advantages that cannot be provided by accessible bus service alone, provides sufficient support for DOT's decision to permit such alternatives. We conclude therefore that the district court correctly held that the provisions permitting paratransit alternatives are a rational exercise of the Secretary's discretion pursuant to the STAA's command to issue minimum criteria. 89 We admit to some discomfort with our conclusion, because ADAPT has forcefully argued that a system that is wholly paratransit results in rather serious restrictions on spontaneous travel for the disabled. The regulations provide for 24-hour response time for paratransit services. See 49 C.F.R. Sec. 27.95(b)(2). Therefore, the disabled may have great difficulty in attending social events or getting to work on short notice where the system is not fully accessible. Despite our unease in the face of these difficulties, neither the language nor the legislative history of any of the acts at issue here justifies a conclusion that DOT has acted arbitrarily and capriciously in promulgating the local option provision. Under current administrative law doctrine, we need not conclude that the agency construction was the only one it permissibly could have adopted to uphold the construction, or even the reading [we] would have reached if the question initially had arisen in a judicial proceeding. Chevron, 467 U.S. at 843 n. 11, 104 S.Ct. at 2782 n. 11. The accommodation of the transit needs of the disabled can only come from Congress or the Secretary. 90