From ADA to Access-A-Ride: Why Transportation Equity Still Falls Short

Written by Raven Diaz

With society's mass investment in transportation infrastructure, it is essential to recognize that this favoritism towards highways, cars, and overall personal ways of traveling has left the disability community forgotten and behind. People who cannot afford accessible vehicles or drive are left with limited, equitable options to travel, indirectly excluding them from their communities. According to the AAPD, out of the 2 million people with disabilities who do not leave their homes, 560 thousand of them are due to inaccessible transportation. This disproportionately leaves people with disabilities with fewer opportunities for healthcare, education, housing, and jobs. 

When the ADA of 1990 was enacted, accessibility became a requirement throughout all forms of public transportation. However, with our nation's new priorities, the promises made by the ADA have not been implemented to a reasonable standard. Under the ADA, Section 222 mentions that all new vehicles in fixed-route public transportation systems must be accessible for people with disabilities, including features like wheelchair lifts, ramps, and priority seating, dedicated to individuals with disabilities and older people, which was later expanded to include visual and audio announcements. Despite efforts to make transportation accessible, infrastructure is poorly sustained, older transit systems cannot be remodeled to be fully accessible, and maintenance of accessible features like elevators and bus ramps is rarely checked and kept up to date. Transportation systems have never been built with disabled people in mind, seeing accessibility as a second-hand thought rather than a legal requirement. 

Many townships have adopted a paratransit transportation system to address this issue for those with disabilities and older people. Paratransit is a specialized transportation service for people with additional needs beyond the current public transportation limits. It is typically known as a door-to-door or curb-to-curb service, with a reduced or equated fare, recognized as a safety net for both parties. In NJ and NY, services like Access-A-Link and Access-A-Ride are built to bridge the gap for those who face difficulties using public transit. However, both services have issues with leaving riders stranded, delayed rides, no fixed time frame for drop off, and not having the leisure of same-day scheduling, creating a system where people with disabilities have to rely on unreliable transportation, making them miss doctor's appointments, work, social outings, and a plethora of typical day-to-day activities. It plays a large part in the mental and physical toll on people with disabilities, increasing levels of stress and anxiety as well as adding to the physical tax it takes to get to one point or another. 

It is in addition to our public transportation system, but the journey is left inaccessible, with steep street ramps, curb cuts, and covered sidewalks. Staff who work in public transit are left untrained, uneducated on ableist practice, do not know how to use the accessibility equipment or features, and do not know the laws of the ADA. A common misconception is that these accessibility features are secondary and only help a small portion of the population, while the reality is that everyone benefits from equitable transportation. This includes senior citizens, expecting parents, those with injuries, those with children, delivery workers, and those with language barriers. Without these adjustments, not only are people with disabilities left out of everyday life, but they are often left without an emergency plan. 

People who have mobility issues are left behind during the public evacuations, those with sensory issues are overwhelmed with no staff protocol to assist, and people who are deaf, HOH, or blind are not provided with interpreters or speech-to-text vice versa translations. Paratransit does not run during late hours or with same-day scheduling, and public transit is left inaccessible to those with additional needs, leading to equitable transportation no longer being a question of priority but a life-or-death situation. A large part of why our system is not equitable in this way is because people with disabilities are not included in this type of conversation, politicians do not prioritize their voices, and local and federal transportation boards do not have disabled representation in their decision-making. This is not a matter of leisure; it violates civil rights and is a disservice to a larger community than considered. 

In honor of July's Disability Pride Month and the 35th anniversary of the ADA coming up, we must not only celebrate the victories and resilience of those over the years but also call for change. While the ADA laid the groundwork, we must ensure we can build upon that rather than weaken the foundation. Pride without progress is performative, so we must report when our system fails, advocate for universal design from the beginning, and bring light to the voices that may be overlooked. Equity is not just a word or a movement; it is a tangible practice we must implement.

References: 

Bersi, Mallory. “Equitable Transportation for All.” Public Health Post, 13 Apr. 2023, publichealthpost.org/health-equity/equitable-transportation-for-all/. Accessed 10 July 2025. 

“Equity in Transport: What Is It, Why Is It Important, and How Can We Provide for It? | Steer.” Steer, 2020,  steergroup.com/insights/news/equity-transport-what-it-why-it-important-how-can-we-pro vide-it. 

“Equity in Transportation for Disabled Persons.” Montgomery Transit - the M, 15 Feb. 2022, themtransit.com/equity-in-transportation-for-disabled-persons/. Accessed 10 July 2025. https://www.civilrightsdocs.info/pdf/transportation/final-transportation-equity-disability.pdf