Federal Transit Administration November 4, 2015 Subject: americans with disabilities act (ada): guidance

6.5.2Boarding Order of Riders

Establishing a policy that allows individuals who use wheelchairs or other mobility aids to board first at a given stop or station is also permissible. Such a policy may make it easier for riders who use wheelchairs to maneuver to securement areas. This does not mean giving boarding priority to riders with disabilities above other riders. For example, if riders with disabilities are waiting at a bus stop and a bus at full capacity arrives at the stop, drivers do not need to (and are advised not to) compel other riders to get off the bus in order to accommodate waiting riders. Conversely, policies that give lower boarding priority to riders who use mobility aids because they would occupy more space on the vehicle, or for any other reason, would also be discriminatory under § 37.5(a)–(b). (See Circular Section 2.2.)

6.6Stop Announcements

Requirement

(1) The entity shall announce at least at transfer points with other fixed routes, other major intersections and destination points, and intervals along a route sufficient to permit individuals with visual impairments or other disabilities to be oriented to their location.

(2) The entity shall announce any stop on request of an individual with a disability” (§ 37.167(b)).

Discussion

On fixed route systems, the entity must announce stops. These stops include transfer points with other fixed routes. This means that any time a vehicle is to stop where a passenger can get off and transfer to another bus or rail line (or to another form of transportation, such as commuter rail or ferry), the stop would be announced. The announcement can be made personally by the vehicle operator or can be made by a recording system. If the vehicle is small enough so that the operator can make himself or herself heard without a P.A. system, it is not necessary to use the system.

Announcements also must be made at major intersections or destination points. The rule does not define what major intersections or destination points are. This is a judgmental matter best left to the local planning process. In addition, the entity must make announcements at sufficient intervals along a route to orient a visually impaired passenger to his or her location. The other required announcements may serve this function in many instances, but if there is a long distance between other announcements, fill-in orientation announcements would be called for. The entity must announce any stop requested by a passenger with a disability, even if it does not meet any of the other criteria for announcement.

Most transit agencies operating commuter rail and rapid rail systems announce all station stops, usually over public address systems. Practices vary for light rail systems. Agencies that have automated announcement systems on their light rail vehicles usually announce all station stops.

There is no requirement to visually display stop information inside fixed route vehicles. Section 810.6.3 of the DOT Standards, however, requires transit agencies to provide rail station name signs that are clearly visible and within the sight lines of riders standing and sitting in the vehicle on both sides when not obstructed by another vehicle. (See Circular Section 3.2.5.) For buses, sighted individuals can orient themselves by looking out the window.

6.6.1Transfer Points

Figure 6-1 – Stop Announcements for Combined Bus Routes

6.6.2Major Intersections and Major Destination Points

Section 37.167(b)(1) requires a transit agency to also announce stops at major intersections or destination points with appropriate orienting information (e.g., the destination name and the intersection location). As discussed in Appendix D to § 37.167, the selection of major intersections or destinations is deliberately left to the local planning process.

Many transit systems include the following types of locations for stop announcements, as applicable:

Time points and cross streets published in schedules and on route maps

Public facilities such as government offices, libraries, and schools

Medical facilities

Stores and shopping malls

Cultural and entertainment venues

Other popular destinations

6.6.3Sufficient Intervals

In order to orient a visually impaired rider to his or her location, § 37.167(b) requires a transit agency to make announcements at sufficient intervals along the route. The regulations do not define the intervals, and agencies may tailor intervals to local conditions using metrics such as distance (e.g., at least every half mile) or time (e.g., at least every 90 seconds). Regardless of the method chosen, FTA suggests agencies consider the implications for riders who miss their intended stop and would have to backtrack because the stop announcement did not take place at sufficient intervals.

6.6.4Stops Requested by Riders

Section 37.167(b)(2) requires a transit agency to announce any stop or station that a rider with a disability requests. For agencies using automated stop announcement systems (described below), the requirement obligates bus drivers and rail operators to verbally announce a stop or station that is not on the technology’s programmed list of announcements if the location is requested by a rider with a disability.

To ensure that rail operators announce a specific station, an optional good practice is to encourage riders to approach an agency employee (e.g., operator on light rail, operator on rapid rail, or conductor on commuter rail), when possible, and request the station announcement when the riders are boarding the vehicle. Alternatively, rail operators may announce all stations.

6.6.5Stop Announcement Considerations

The following discussion of stop announcements covers optional good practices and considerations for ensuring compliance with the requirements. This includes developing stop lists, announcing all stops (particularly for rail stations), the use of public address systems, and the use of automated stop announcement systems.

Transit agencies must ensure stop announcements are clear, audible, and timely in order for them to be effective:

Clear announcements enable riders unfamiliar with the route and neighborhood to understand the name of the stop.

Audible announcements enable riders to hear the announcement from any location within the bus or train.

Timely announcements provide riders with sufficient time to press the stop request device to enable drivers to stop at a desired location.

FTA also recommends that agencies ensure announcements are made consistently and worded in way familiar to riders:

Consistently worded announcements are structured the same way for all stops; for stops served by multiple routes, vehicles on all routes announce the stop consistently. An optional good practice is to adopt the convention of only announcing cross streets. For example, if traveling on Broadway and intersecting with Market Street, announce, “Market Street.” If turning onto Market Street from Broadway, the convention might be to announce, “Market Street at Broadway.”

Use of familiar names (e.g., “Target”) to announce stops at major destinations rather than general but less familiar names (e.g., “Smith Street Mall”) is helpful. FTA also encourages transit agencies to announce the intersecting street (consistent with the adopted style) along with the name of the destination for major destination stops also at intersections.

Developing and Maintaining Stop Lists

Many transit agencies develop their own lists of stops to announce, called stop lists. FTA recommends considering the following optional good practices for developing and maintaining stop lists:

Consult with groups that represent or work with individuals with visual and cognitive disabilities when developing the lists.

Keep stop lists current for each route by incorporating any changes as soon as possible (e.g., new routing, added or removed stops, and temporary construction-related closures).

As stop lists are updated, provide the lists to operators for the routes they serve (in both directions of travel) and ensure the lists readily available on their vehicles.

Announcing All Stops

As noted above, transit agencies operating rapid rail and commuter services typically announce all station stops for these services. Some agencies that operate light rail service also announce all station stops. Similarly, some agencies also announce all stops for fixed route bus service, but usually only agencies using automated systems do so. This practice eliminates the need to determine what is a “major intersection” or “major destination” or to judge sufficient “intervals along a route.” If an agency adopts this practice, riders might become accustomed to hearing an announcement for each stop and would similarly expect bus drivers to announce all stops whenever the automated system is not working. While limiting the announcements to only the stops that meet the criteria set forth in § 37.167(b) would be compliant, such practices might confuse some riders who are listening for the announcement of each stop.

Using Public Address Systems

The Part 38 vehicle specifications require that all accessible rail vehicles (e.g., light rail, rapid rail, and commuter rail) and buses more than 22 feet in length have a public address system for amplifying announcements (See §§ 38.35, 38.61, 38.87, and 38.103, respectively). When needed for riders to be able to hear announcements, transit agencies must ensure their personnel use the public address system when making announcements. Section 37.167(e) requires personnel to use accessibility-related equipment. If the public address system, or automated announcement system is inoperable, fulfilling the stop announcement requirements means drivers or rail personnel must verbally announce stops.

Automated Stop Announcement Systems

As noted above, many transit agencies are now using automated systems to announce stops. Automated systems use global positioning systems and offer several benefits:

When correctly programmed, automated systems provide clear and timely announcements.

Automated systems can store announcement lists in each vehicle for all routes (and route variations).

As with any technology, an automated stop announcement system may occasionally not function or not be programmed correctly. Any of the following may lead to poor performance that could result in individuals with visual impairments or other disabilities not being oriented to their location:

The stop list is out of date.

The positioning signal is blocked, omitting geographic information.

The positioning technology does not properly account for the direction or speed of the vehicle, leading to stop announcements that are too early or too late.

The positioning technology uses incorrect coordinates to identify bus stop locations.

As discussed above, whenever the automated stop announcement system is not functioning properly, fulfilling the stop announcement requirements means drivers or rail personnel must verbally announce stops.

6.6.6Monitoring Stop Announcements for Compliance

To ensure compliance with the § 37.167(b) stop announcement requirements, transit agencies must sufficiently monitor their operators’ performance and the effectiveness of the announcement equipment. To perform such activities, agencies typically employ the following people to conduct field observations:

Road supervisors or managers

Agency employees commuting by fixed route

Volunteer riders who record and submit their riding experiences (“secret” or “ghost” riders)

Contracted secret riders

When road supervisors or managers perform in-service observations, they will be more effective if they are inconspicuous by not wearing uniforms or other identifying items. For transit agencies with multiple garages, an optional good practice is to assign road supervisors to observe employees from other garages or to “borrow” monitors from other agencies. For example, in Washington and Wisconsin, state transit associations have arranged to have supervisors from other member agencies act as secret riders.

Stop Announcement Data Collection

Attachment 6-1 presents an optional sample data collection form for recording stop announcement performance on bus service (which could be tailored easily to rail). Regardless of the specific data collection form used, FTA recommends obtaining the following key information for each observation:

Date

Route number and direction

Vehicle number

Time and stop when boarding the bus

Time and stop when alighting the bus

The sample data collection form may include a list of all required stop announcement locations. To facilitate data collection, an optional good practice is to print the stop names on data forms. For each announcement, key data for observers to record include:

Whether the announcement was made

How the announcement was made (by the driver or by the automated system)

Whether the announcement was audible

Whether the announcements were timely (i.e., early enough for riders to press a stop request indicator button)

FTA recommends observers also note other relevant issues, including:

Whether the driver used the public address system to announce stops

Whether the driver (or automated system) announced stops not on the stop list

Whether a rider asked the driver to announce a particular stop, and if the driver announced that stop properly

Whether there are certain locations or stops for which announcements might be required by § 37.167(b) but are not being announced. Such announcements can include places along long intervals without any announcements, as well as route segments with several turns.

If observers sit in the middle or toward the rear of the vehicle, they will be able to confirm that announcements are audible from these locations.

For any given set of observations, observers do not need to ride the full route when part of a larger set of observations; 10–20 minutes on a vehicle observing a single driver is usually sufficient.

Directory: sites -> fta.dot.gov -> files -> docs
docs -> Federal Transit Administration Safety Advisory 14-1: Right-of-Way Worker Protection
docs -> Alternative Fuels and Propulsion Vehicle Incentives
docs -> Job Access Reverse Commute (jarc) Program fy 2010 Service Profiles
docs -> Review of the new jersey transit corporation
docs -> Review of new Jersey Transit Corporation
docs -> Review of the jacksonville transportation authority
docs -> Jacksonville Transportation Authority Assessment of ada complementary Paratransit Service Capacity Constraints June 8-11, 1999
docs -> Final policy statement
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