New FTA Americans with Disabilities Act Circular, an outline of ADA requirements

The Federal Transit Administration has announced the availability of the new Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) Circular.  The ADA circular provides guidance to recipients and subrecipients of FTA financial assistance necessary to carry out provisions of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) of 1990, Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, as amended, and the U.S. Department of Transportation's implementing regulations at 49 CFR Parts 27, 37, 38, and 39. The final circular, FTA C 4710.1, is effective as of November 4, 2015. The circular's purpose is to provide an outline of ADA requirements with reference to applicable regulatory sections and example practices to meet the ADA requirements. More information is available in the Federal Register notice along with an overview of comments received. Key aspects of ADA Circular Federal Register notice: ADA Circular "does not alter, amend or otherwise affect the U.S. DOT ADA regulations themselves or replace the need for detailed information in the regulations." No new requirements are included in the circular. An introduction, explanation of requirement, discussion and good practices examples are provided for each primary topic. Developed in coordination with the U.S. Department of Justice and the U.S. Access Board, the circular's chapters address:      Chapter 1 - Introduction Chapter 2 - General Requirements (reasonable modification, boarding & service animals) Chapter 3 - Transportation facilities for both bus and rail Chapter 4 - Vehicle acquisition (bus & rail), securement and seating Chapter 5 - Equivalent facilitation (requests and documentation) Chapter 6 - Fixed-Route Service (lifts, ramps, stop announcements, priority seating & local policies) Chapter 7 - Demand Responsive Service (taxi subsidy service, dial-a-ride, van pools & route deviation) Chapter 8 - Complementary Paratransit Service (level of service, premium service, curb-to-curb service, scheduling & fares) Chapter 9 - ADA Paratransit Eligibility (standards, process, types of eligibility)  Chapter 10 - Passenger Vessels (accessibility, assistance, service animal definition & complaint procedures) Chapter 11 - Other modes (high-speed rail, monorails, automated guideway & others) Chapter 12 - Oversight, complaints and monitoring This announcement offers an overview of the contents of the circular. For complete details, download a copy in Word or PDF format from the FTA website.   # information as shared by:

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