[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 213 (Monday, November 6, 2023)]
[Notices]
[Pages 76272-76275]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2023-24422]


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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

[Docket No. DOT-OST-2023-0166]


Transportation Services for Individuals With Disabilities: ADA 
Standards for Transportation Facilities

AGENCY: Department of Transportation (DOT).

ACTION: Request for information on accessibility improvements for 
transportation facilities.

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SUMMARY: The U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT, or Department) is 
considering whether to amend the accessibility requirements for 
transportation facilities under the Americans with Disabilities Act of 
1990 (ADA) currently contained in Appendix A to DOT's regulations 
governing transportation services for individuals with disabilities. 
The Department may consider whether to improve access beyond the 
minimum standards established by the U.S. Access Board

[[Page 76273]]

and Appendix A. The Department seeks suggestions from all 
transportation stakeholders--including transportation agencies, 
transportation riders (particularly those with disabilities), community 
members, advocacy groups, planning officials, States, cities, 
researchers and technology companies, and the private sector--on 
enhancements that the Department could consider with regard to the ADA 
standards for transportation buildings and facilities. The Department 
specifically seeks feedback on areas including, but not limited to 
vertical access, communications, and wayfinding. The Department also 
invites comment on any other aspects of the current accessibility 
requirements for transportation facilities under the ADA contained in 
DOT's regulations governing transportation services for individuals 
with disabilities.

DATES: Comments should be submitted on or before January 5, 2024. DOT 
will consider comments filed after this date to the extent practicable.

ADDRESSES: You may file comments identified by docket number DOT-OST-
2023-0166 by any of the following methods:
     Federal eRulemaking Portal: Go to https://www.regulations.gov and follow the online instructions for submitting 
comments.
     Mail: Docket Operations, U.S. Department of 
Transportation, 1200 New Jersey Ave. SE, West Building Ground Floor, 
Room W12-140, Washington, DC 20590-0001.
     Hand Delivery or Courier: West Building Ground Floor, Room 
W12-140, 1200 New Jersey Ave. SE, between 9:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m. ET, 
Monday through Friday, except Federal holidays.
     Fax: (202) 493-2251.
    All submissions received must include the agency name and docket 
number DOT-OST-2023-0166. All comments received will be posted without 
change to www.regulations.gov, including any personal information 
provided. For information on DOT's compliance with the Privacy Act, 
please visit https://www.transportation.gov/privacy.
    For access to the docket to read background documents or comments 
received, go to www.regulations.gov at any time and search for docket 
number DOT-OST-2023-0166.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For general questions, Holly Ceasar-
Fox, DOT Office of General Counsel, (202) 366-7420 or 
[email protected]. For program questions related to transit, John 
Day, FTA Office of Civil Rights, (202) 366-1671 or [email protected]. 
For legal questions related to transit, Bonnie Graves, FTA Office of 
Chief Counsel, (202) 366-0944 or [email protected]. For questions 
related to intercity or high-speed rail, Alana Kuhn, FRA Office of 
Chief Counsel, (202) 493-0842 or [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Background

    42 U.S.C. 12204 requires the Architectural and Transportation 
Barriers Compliance Board (Access Board) to issue minimum guidelines 
for accessibility under Titles II & III of the ADA. The ADA statute at 
42 U.S.C. 12149 requires the Secretary of Transportation to develop and 
implement regulations for certain public transportation facilities, 
vehicles, and services consistent with the Access Board's guidelines. 
The Secretary may issue regulations that result in greater 
accessibility than the minimum guidelines established by the Access 
Board.
    The current guidelines were developed nearly a quarter century ago 
and adopted as regulatory standards by the Department in 2006.\1\ The 
Department's experience administering these minimum standards for the 
past two decades suggests that they have resulted in greater 
accessibility than the standards \2\ that preceded them, but in many 
cases extra efforts may still be required on the part of people with 
disabilities to enter and use a facility. For example, accessible 
entrances may be located in isolated locations away from entrances used 
by members of the general public who do not require an accessible 
entrance, and persons with sensory disabilities may need to rely on 
information on a message board at station entrances while other members 
of the general public are informed via public address systems. In other 
cases, persons unable to navigate staircases may be faced with lengthy 
ramps to cross from one rail platform to another. Such continuing 
barriers may mean that many wheelchair users and persons with sensory, 
cognitive, or processing disabilities remain dependent on paratransit 
or private transportation rather than being able to use integrated 
fixed route service.
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    \1\ The Access Board published a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking 
in the Federal Register on November 16, 1999, and issued the Final 
Rule on July 23, 2004. The Department of Justice adopted the 
standards on September 15, 2010.
    \2\ The standards adopted by the Department on September 6, 
1991, were in effect until 2006.
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    There have also been many developments such as advances in 
technology since the standards were last updated, and the Department is 
considering both physical access to and usability of facilities by 
persons with sensory, cognitive, and other disabilities. The Department 
strives to provide for equitable access to persons with disabilities 
similar to that available to people without disabilities, including the 
usability of the facility, so that persons with disabilities are able 
to access and navigate public transit with the same ease, reliability, 
and independence as any other user.
    Complaints filed by the public, feedback from the disability 
community, observations of and information gathered by Departmental 
employees (with and without disabilities), media articles, and the 
results of the Department's oversight activities have led the 
Department to solicit feedback on the current standards. For some 
disabilities, such as those affecting hearing, vision, or cognitive 
function, the Department is aware of technological advancements (for 
example, induction loops and mobile device applications), that would 
help persons with those disabilities navigate the transportation system 
with ease and independence. The Department is interested in learning 
more about these technologies. For other disabilities, such as those 
affecting mobility, the Department seeks feedback regarding, for 
example, minimum standards that rely on a single point of access that 
creates a situation where a single point of failure renders an entire 
facility inaccessible and unusable by persons with disabilities, while 
access to nondisabled persons is unaffected. The Department is 
interested in learning how transportation facilities can be designed 
and constructed such that accessibility features are resilient and 
always available. The Department also seeks input to assist it in 
understanding the magnitude of potential access issues that may exist 
in transportation facilities and therefore requests any available 
information and comments stakeholders may have on the number of all 
end-users, not limited to users with disabilities, who would benefit 
from specific standards in 49 CFR part 37 that may be improved or 
implemented.
    In addition to learning about specific standards in 49 CFR part 37 
that may be improved or implemented, the Department is interested in 
the end-user experience generally. These include experiences in 
transportation facilities related to vertical access, communication, 
wayfinding, or any other aspects of transportation facilities that 
represent barriers for people with disabilities. The Department will 
consider the extent to which the

[[Page 76274]]

Department has authority under the ADA to remove such barriers.
    Through this request for information (RFI), the Department seeks 
input as it considers whether to revise the existing DOT ADA 
requirements for transportation buildings and facilities including 
public transportation and intercity rail transportation (including 
Amtrak). The Department poses seven questions below and looks forward 
to feedback from all interested parties.

Vertical Access

    1. It has become increasingly apparent that elevator maintenance 
and reliability are a critical component of ensuring the accessibility 
of a multi-level transportation facility such as subway and rail 
stations. While the existing DOT ADA regulations require accessibility 
features to be maintained in working order, repairs can be complex and 
many entities do not have employees with the skillset necessary to 
repair an elevator or the necessary components readily available, which 
can add a level of difficulty to the repair process.\3\ Thus, 
unreliable elevators create operational and administrative burdens for 
entities covered by DOT's ADA regulations and can render transportation 
facilities inaccessible for users for extended durations. The 
Department is interested in learning about standards that would ensure 
elevator reliability in transportation facilities.
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    \3\ The Department recognizes that many elevator manufacturers 
require that only their employees work on the elevator, and that 
there are examples of arrangements where the third-party repair 
person is available 7 days a week, 24 hours per day, but the 
Department is also aware of arrangements where same-day, after 
hours, weekend, or holiday service is not guaranteed (or is charged 
at a premium).
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    2. Elevators that are frequently out of service significantly 
impact the ability of persons who cannot negotiate stairs to use such 
transportation services. As a result, the Department understands that 
many agencies involved in the construction or alteration of stations 
initially plan for two or more elevators per bank instead of just one, 
so that the station is not rendered inaccessible when one elevator 
requires maintenance or repair. Despite planners' intentions, budgetary 
considerations often result in the minimum legally required (not just 
for accessibility), which means only a single elevator is provided. The 
Department seeks public input on the impacts of the installation, for 
future construction and alterations, of at least two elevators in 
transportation facilities, or a combination of ramps and elevators, 
where currently one elevator is required.
    3. Many commuter and intercity rail stations rely on long switch-
back ramps to provide an accessible route between platforms on either 
side of the tracks, or to multiple platforms within a station. These 
ramps, which can be hundreds of feet long, often present a barrier to 
persons who cannot negotiate steps, but also cannot travel the 
distances required to traverse the ramp. However, the simplicity of a 
non-mechanical ramp means that maintenance costs are relatively low and 
repairs are few and far between, unlike more complex elevators. The 
Department is seeking comment on the use of elevators in lieu of ramps 
in transportation facilities, or a single elevator in addition to the 
ramp, if the vertical distance or ramp length exceeds a certain 
threshold, including information on an appropriate threshold.

Communications

    4. The Department of Justice's current ADA standards for buildings 
and facilities contain provisions requiring assistive listening systems 
in assembly areas. See 28 CFR 35.151(c)(3); 36 CFR pt. 1191, app. B at 
344. The Department seeks comment on the feasibility of extending such 
requirements to transportation facilities such as rail stations to 
enable real-time announcements for persons who are deaf or hard of 
hearing or because of their disability rely on text-based 
communications to access information. Current requirements for 
transportation facilities stipulate only that the same information 
provided audibly must be provided visually. This often takes the form 
of messages written on a dry-erase board in the station entrance by 
personnel or information relayed directly to the passenger by 
personnel, which prevents the transmission of real-time announcements 
that often relate to service changes or safety/security matters, forces 
passengers who are deaf or hard of hearing to identify themselves, is 
not reliable at larger stations with multiple entrances, and is not 
possible at unstaffed stations. The Department is aware that induction 
loop technology is in use in some stations, enabling those with a T-
coil in their hearing aids to receive messages directly, but seeks 
comment on how widespread this technology is used among deaf and hard 
of hearing persons. The Department also seeks comment on other 
technologies that may provide the same benefit to the same or a larger 
audience at transportation facilities, such as real-time text-
messaging.
    5. The Department also seeks comment on other means by which the 
content of audible announcements of the type typically relayed by 
public address systems at transportation facilities can be provided in 
real-time in a visual format, such as changeable electronic message 
boards, as well as information pertaining to the number and placement 
of necessary displays throughout a station environment, including 
spacing, scale, and frequency.
    6. In addition, the Department seeks comment on technologies that 
can provide an audible component to information currently displayed in 
visual format at transportation facilities. For example, many transit 
systems and intercity stations use changeable electronic message 
displays to communicate information about the next train scheduled to 
arrive at a station, such as the line, number of cars, and estimated 
time of arrival. Most such systems lack an audible component to make 
this information accessible to individuals who are blind or have low 
vision. What commercially available technologies might be appropriate 
for deployment in a transit, Amtrak, or commuter rail station 
environment to convey information provided visually in an audible 
format? How should such information be broadcast? Would an interface 
with a smart device be appropriate or sufficient, or should an audible 
component be provided directly on the station's display device?

Wayfinding

    7. The Department seeks comment on technologies to enable effective 
wayfinding within the transit station, intercity and commuter rail 
station environments for persons who are blind or have low vision, and 
to accommodate neurodiversity (e.g., autism, intellectual disability, 
etc.). The Department is aware of technologies capable of real-time 
transcription of speech and those involving the use of Bluetooth 
beacons that interface with smart devices and seeks comment on the 
usability of such systems from the end-user perspective. The Department 
is also interested in alternative technologies that may be available, 
potentially without the use of handheld devices, and the acceptance of 
technologies that do rely on such devices within the general community 
of persons who are blind, have low-vision, and/or are neurodiverse.

General

    In addition, the Department invites comment on all other areas of 
the current DOT ADA standards, found in Appendix A to 49 CFR part 37, 
which govern rail stations and stops of all types, bus stops and 
transfer stations, landside facilities, office buildings housing 
transit agency personnel,

[[Page 76275]]

conference facilities of the type often employed for board meetings and 
public hearings, businesses housed in transit facilities, and 
individual elements such as track crossings, ramps, parking lots and 
structures, fare vending machines and collection equipment, and 
accessible paths of travel. If the public has information on how these 
standards do or do not currently support equitable access, please 
submit comments to the docket for this rulemaking activity.
    All interested parties are encouraged to respond to this RFI. 
Submissions are strictly voluntary. Individuals or entities responding 
to this RFI should state their role as well as knowledge of and 
experience with the ADA in a transportation environment. DOT may 
request additional clarifying information from any or all respondents. 
If a respondent does not wish to be contacted by DOT for additional 
information, a statement to that effect should be included in the 
response. All information submitted should be unclassified and should 
not contain proprietary information, as it will be posted to 
www.regulations.gov without changes.
    DOT is not obligated to officially respond to the information 
received, but the responses will assist DOT in its consideration of 
whether to revise the ADA standards for transportation buildings and 
facilities.
    Comments may be submitted and viewed at Docket No. DOT-OST-2023-
0166 at https://www.regulations.gov.

    Signed pursuant to authority delegated at 49 CFR 1.27(a) on 
October 31, 2023.
Subash S. Iyer,
Acting General Counsel, Department of Transportation.
[FR Doc. 2023-24422 Filed 11-3-23; 8:45 am]
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