As a person living with a disability, moving around in different areas could be challenging. This is further exacerbated in instances where the disability you have impairs your locomotion.
The Bureau of Transportation Statistics has indicated that at least 25.5 million United States citizens above five years have self-reported travel-limiting disabilities. This suggests that many people need transportation services that factor in their locomotion inadequacies.
Difficulty in transportation can be precarious to the interest of persons with disabilities; it can impede their abilities to access essential facilities and services. As such, various facilities across the globe and certainly in the United States provide transportation services for those who need them.
Accessibility Features and Handicap Transportation Services
While many transportation services are available for different individuals, the question of whether these services factor in everyone’s needs is deserving of deliberation. In situations where these transportation features are inadequate for persons with disability, manufacturers and installers of transportation devices have considered incorporating accessibility features for seamless handicap transportation tailored to meet the specific needs of those with disabilities.
These accessibility features are adjoined to existing platforms to ensure that persons with disability are not constrained from using the transport facilities as they exist. While they are not precisely sufficient in providing the services that disabled people need, they go a long way to assisting in bridging the gap in transportation services.
Accessibility features for persons suffering from disabilities are essential in a general sense. They include having pathways dedicated to persons with disabilities and ramps instead of stairs for persons who use wheelchairs for locomotion.
Another way of ensuring that persons with disabilities can access the same features that others do is by providing unique parking spaces and platforms to make existing transportation feasible. This is best done by making ordinary buses and trains suitable for them.
For instance, having low steps for people who use sticks to walk and ramps at the entrances of trains allows them to get on the trains quickly.
Transportation Services for Persons With Disabilities
Numerous service providers across the United States provide specialized handicap transportation services, most of which are free. Here is a summary of some of them and how you can access their services.
The National Aging and Disability Transportation Center and the ADA Transport Services
According to the Americans Disabilities Act, there are some requirements that all transportation services must meet to make adequate accommodations for persons with disabilities. The Act refers to this as paratransit services.
Paratransit services exist as alternatives to regular routes and for persons that require some form of assistance to use the common transportation facilities. The Act demands that these services are available on the same hours and days as the standard transport systems and may not charge more than double the transportation charge for ordinary services. Aside from the foregoing, the benefits must be available within ¾ mile of the regular services.
The ADA Paratransit Services are available with varying qualifications and eligibility criteria. However, anyone seeking to use the existing paratransit services must provide identification documents and documents illustrating their disabilities.
The Independent Living Resource Center
The Center for Independent Living plays a critical role in providing persons with disabilities access to transportation services that factor in their needs. These centers ensure that anyone seeking information on how to access the transportation services that suit them can get the information and the transport services well in advance. Considering the organization is nonprofit and consumer-controlled, the information is available to clients at no cost. Therefore, if you are seeking information on where to get transportation services, reach out to your nearest CIL and ask for guidance.
Autonomous Vehicles
Modern technology has developed a novel way to facilitate people with transportation-limiting disabilities with the assistance they need. One way the technology does this is through autonomous vehicles. Autonomous vehicles help persons with disabilities move around and easily access their needed services.
Simply put, autonomous vehicles do not need humans to drive them. They can move towards any location once it has been keyed in. This can happen quickly if the user can get assistance to key in the location they want to go to.
Some are also so advanced as to accept speech recognition to provide instructions concerning the location and where the cars should go. While this technology has not increased the market, it can be essential for persons with disabilities as it continues to spread.
Parting Shot
Transportation services for handicaps are essential, especially for those with disabilities that directly affect their abilities to move around. They allow handicaps to move around freely without causing concerns to themselves and the general public. Thus, if you need to access transportation services for a disabled person, reach out to the options above for guidance.