National Council on Disability releases report on transportation access

The National Council on Disability (NCD), an independent federal agency that advises the president, Congress and other federal agencies on disability policy, released an assessment Monday of surface transportation for people with disabilities.

The report comes 10 years after NCD’s 2005 publication of “The Current State of Transportation for People with Disabilities in the United States,” which had a role in major improvements in accessible transportation.

“Much has happened in the last decade,” NCD Chair Jeff Rosen said. “More people with disabilities are riding public transit than ever before and yet, in many areas, significant barriers to ground transportation for Americans with disabilities remain pervasive.”

The report, “Transportation Update: Where We’ve Gone and What We’ve Learned,” outlines both the progress made in the last decade and details the barriers that still remain.

“Taxi alternatives like Uber, SideCar, Lyft and others, could open up exciting business opportunities and provide much-needed travel options for passengers with disabilities,” Marilyn Golden, senior policy analyst for the Disability Rights Education and Defense Fund, the research contractor for the report, said. “But recent court cases and news reports show potential customers being routinely discriminated against because of service dogs and wheelchairs. As our nation gears up to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act later this year, let us resolve to move equal transportation access forward.”