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Easter Seals Project ACTION
Hosts
Benefits Summit on Accessible Transportation
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Easter Seals Project ACTION (ESPA) participants |
Easter Seals Project ACTION (ESPA) in cooperation with the Federal Transit Administration (FTA) sponsored a two-day summit on the benefits of accessible transportation. With more than 35 economists, disability advocates, transit providers, and federal representatives, the primary goal of the event was to learn about, discuss, and dissect the use of alternate models for measuring the benefits of providing accessible transportation.
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Nuria I. Fernandez
Acting Administrator
Federal Transit Administration
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Nuria I. Fernandez, Acting Administrator, Federal Transit Administration, was the keynote speaker. She emphasized the need for more data on accessible transportation benefits. She noted, "The National Transit Database provides numbers on ridership and passenger miles as well as statistics on paratransit but not ADA complementary paratransit. As we continue to work toward strengthening the public transportation system so that every American has equal opportunity to access services that provide flexibility and increased mobility, we need more data." Acting Administrator Fernandez updated the participants on the state of accessible public transportation today --83% of transit buses are accessible with the expectation that by 2002 there will be 100% accessibility. FTA key station assessments are continuing, with completion of 689 stations in 33 systems. Also, the over-the-road bus regulation has been published. |
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Michael Winter
Associate Administrator for Budget and Policy
Federal Transit Administration
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Michael Winter, Associate Administrator, Office of Budget and Policy, FTA, thanked participants for their interest and commitment. He also challenged them to examine what’s been done already and to look for opportunities to build and expand. He noted that the majority of data collected thus far on public transportation and the economy do not look at how accessible transportation fits into the equation.
He referenced several studies including the 1999 study by Cambridge Systematics, Inc. and Weisbrod Associates, Public Transportation and the Nation’s Economy: A Quantitative Analysis of Public Transportation’s Economic Impact. |
One of the key findings in the analysis was that "Business output and personal income are positively impacted by transit investment, growing rapidly over time. These transportation user impacts create savings to business operations, and increase the overall efficiency of the economy, positively affecting business sales and household incomes. The study also noted that additional economic benefits that would improve the assessment of transit’s economic impact are difficult to quantify and require a different analytical methodology from that employed in the 1999 report. Those factors are quality of life measures, changes in land use, social welfare benefits and reductions in the costs of other public sector functions.
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Bryna Helfer
Director
Easter Seals Project ACTION
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Bryna Helfer, Director, Easter Seals Project ACTION echoed Winter’s comments and emphasized the mobility factor. She referenced the Transportation Cooperative Research Project, Report 49, Using Public Transportation to Reduce the Economic, Social, and Human Costs of Personal Immobility. The report states, "The lack of personal mobility has economic, social and human costs, such as higher unemployment, reduced tax revenue, greater welfare and medical costs, and limited social potential." |
ESPA’s joint effort with FTA on the economic roundtable is intended to look at the accessibility factors and how they positively impact public transportation and the economy and to identify methodologies to determine accurate measurement.
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A number of guest speakers joined the roundtable discussion including Justin Dart, longtime advocate and founder of Justice for all. Dart noted in his comments that "Thanks to all the advocates, ADA has been a resounding success. Much progress has been made in many areas including transportation. |
 Justin Dart confers with Marca Bristo
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Empowerment comes with access to public transportation. The goal must be increased investment, totally integrated, services in suburban and rural areas taking people where they want to go when they want to go."
He also emphasized the importance of livable communities designed for all people that include public services that are convenient and affordable. "There are no magical shortcuts. We must increase the pursuit one hundredfold and continue to strive for empowerment leaving no one behind." |
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John Lancaster
Executive Director
President’s Committee on the Employment of People with Disabilities
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John Lancaster, Executive Director of the President’s Committee on the Employment of People with Disabilities joined the lunch discussion and charged the group to remember the basic constitutional concept that each individual has the right to move about the country from one place to another. He suggested as we examine the issue of measuring benefits that we keep four items in mind. "The litmus test that you must remember in any measurement should reflect the following principles from the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990: |
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- Does it foster equal opportunity to the public transportation system and is it truly non-discriminatory?
- Is there whole participation, choice -- do consumers have a say?
- Is it designed with the idea of fostering independent living – can people get to where they need to go whether its work, school, etc.? and
- Does it foster economic sufficiency?
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William Millar
President
American Public Transportation Association
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William Millar, President of the American Public Transportation Association, joined the discussion on Tuesday morning. "I am a great believer in partnerships. You get things done by working together," said Millar. He suggested that we are at a very critical yet positive fork in the road. "We need better data to give our friends the information they need as they walk the halls of Congress making the case for the benefits of public transportation for all people." |
He referenced several Transit Cooperative Research Project reports that addressed the benefits of public transportation but noted the reports were a start and that there was certainly more work to be done. He reiterated his commitment and that of APTA and said, "if we continue to work together, our voices will be heard and we will positively influence the transportation policies that govern our ability to move freely." Over the two-day period, participants engaged in both large and small group discussions to examine how policy issues, labor statistics, and the international perspective, related to the dynamics of accessible public transportation and the benefits that are associated. Easter Seals
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Clockwise from the flip chart are: Tom Hale, Taide Buenfil, Michael Winter, Mike Auberger, Dr. Jacqueline Switzer, Julie Carroll, and Sharon Ransome-Smith.
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Foreground: Paul Spooner and Dr. Robert Metts. Background: Justin Dart and Taide Buenfil.
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Project ACTION staff, FTA and Dr. Rosalyn Simon, roundtable facilitator, will synthesize the information gathered over the two days of discussions and begin to develop research initiatives that will move us closer to capturing the necessary data. |
