[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 161 (2015), Part 9]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page 13087]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]


             HONORING ADA'S LEGACY, BUILDING FOR ITS FUTURE

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                          HON. EARL BLUMENAUER

                               of oregon

                    in the house of representatives

                         Tuesday, July 28, 2015

  Mr. BLUMENAUER. Mr. Speaker, this past weekend our nation celebrated 
the 25th anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). 
Since its enactment in 1990, this seminal law has not only benefited 
millions of persons with disabilities; it has benefited every American. 
Today, we are a stronger, more diverse, fairer, and more accessible 
society thanks to the ADA.
  One part of our daily lives where the law's achievements are 
particularly visible is in public transportation. Mr. Michael P. 
Melaniphy, president and CEO of the American Public Transportation 
Association (APTA), captured the hope and promise of the ADA in an 
essay published this week in APTA's Passenger Transport newsmagazine. I 
commend APTA and the public transportation community for their efforts 
to help us move closer to an America, as Mr. Melaniphy states, ``With 
equal access for everyone, everywhere and at all times.'' I submit his 
essay.

                         (By Michael Melaniphy,
                         APTA President & CEO)

       The history of public transportation is the story of 
     American progress. Over decades of technological and social 
     change, our industry has helped open frontiers, grow local 
     economies, and improve the lives of millions.
       This month's silver anniversary of the Americans with 
     Disabilities Act (ADA) is a reminder of how mobility can 
     change attitudes and break down barriers, both real and 
     perceived.
       When Congress in 1990 guaranteed equal opportunity for 
     persons with disabilities, seminal changes were already 
     writing the prelude for a new century focused on freedom and 
     equity. It was the year that Nelson Mandela was released from 
     a South African prison. East and West Germany were united. 
     Tim Berners-Lee gave us the World Wide Web.
       None of us could have foreseen what would emerge 25 years 
     later, but we knew ADA would change the way our nation and 
     our industry thought about access to public transportation.
       It's been said that without struggle there can be no 
     progress, and the early days of implementing this new law 
     were challenging. The country had just entered a recession 
     and many cash-strapped public transit agencies were 
     politically and fiscally encumbered.
       As a young general manager in Hamilton, Ohio, at the time, 
     a dearth of resources for ADA compliance forced me to think 
     differently about what equal access could mean for our 
     community. We established a system-wide point deviation plan 
     and introduced braille and tactile bus stop signs--both 
     firsts in the nation that became models for other public 
     transit organizations. The experience marked the beginning of 
     a new personal passion to provide equal access to all.
       To design practical solutions, we needed to gain a true 
     understanding of the difficulties faced by persons with 
     disabilities. While sitting in wheelchairs, our drivers, 
     supervisors and I learned firsthand what it was like to 
     navigate high floor buses and ride when incorrectly secured 
     in a paratransit vehicle. We donned blackened goggles to 
     experience a bus trip without visual clues to our location, 
     and we discovered that ADA-mandated curb cuts didn't 
     necessarily mean a sidewalk would take us to a desired 
     destination once we left the bus. All of this helped us 
     become better problem solvers, better thought leaders and 
     better citizens.
       Today the public transportation sector can take pride in 
     how far we have come. Aspiration has replaced apprehension. 
     From 1993 to 2013, the portion of accessible buses nearly 
     doubled (from 51 percent to 99.8 percent), accessible light 
     rail and streetcar fleets more than doubled (from 41 percent 
     to 88 percent) and accessible commuter and hybrid rail fleets 
     almost tripled (from 32 percent to 87 percent). Additionally, 
     all of America's heavy rail and trolleybus fleets are 100 
     percent ADA compliant. Such advances in fixed route access 
     have allowed tens of millions of people with disabilities to 
     participate more fully in their communities.
       For individuals who are unable to use these modes of public 
     transit, our systems provided more than 230 million demand-
     response trips in 2013--from a starting point of 68 million 
     in 1990, the year ADA was enacted.
       The achievements of the past quarter century should 
     encourage us to address any remaining challenges. Our 
     industry must continue to build productive partnerships with 
     the ADA community. Both physical and financial barriers 
     persist for some legacy rail systems. And we need to find 
     new, more cost-efficient ways to reach more people, 
     especially through our fixed-route services.
       In this 25th-anniversary year, there is good reason to be 
     enthusiastic. Unlike 1990, today's technological innovations 
     appear almost monthly, offering fresh ways to increase access 
     and choice while reducing fear and complexity for new riders.
       Still, an industry is made great not just by its newest 
     machines, but by how it lives its values and meets its 
     customers' greatest needs. Our work is about more than 
     getting people to and from a workplace or doctor's office; 
     it's about giving everyone the freedom, independence, and 
     access to achieve their greatest potential.
       ADA has taught our industry that progress is impossible 
     without change. Our commitment to fulfilling the law's spirit 
     has become a core tenet of who we are and what we do. Like so 
     many of the people whose stories are told--and who are 
     pictured--in this special publication, I am proud to have 
     played a role in ADA's foundational years.
       Thanks to ADA and the efforts of public transportation 
     leaders, we move closer every day to a world with equal 
     access for everyone, everywhere and at all times. It's a 
     legacy that deserves to be celebrated.


     

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