Through the Looking Glass (TLG) staff Jean Jacob, Megan Kirshbaum and Paul Preston’s article “Barriers for Parents with Disabilities Traveling with Children on ADA Complementary Paratransit” has just been published in the Journal of Public Transportation, 18 (3): 124-142. The article summarizes findings from a TLG research project which surveyed 92 transit agencies from across the U.S. Results indicate that certain policies make it difficult for parents to use paratransit. These policies include limiting the number of children who can accompany a parent, lack of access to chain rides (i.e., no scheduled waits), lack of driver assistance with car seats, not providing car seats, not allowing storage of car seats on vehicles, and fares for adults and children that make regular use of paratransit cost prohibitive, particularly for parents on a fixed income. These policies have serious consequences for parents to obtain and maintain employment, meet their children’s educational, childcare, and medical needs, and, in some cases, even retain custody of their children. Contained in the article are recommendations to make paratransit systems more accessible to parents with disabilities.
New Article: Barriers for Parents with Disabilities Traveling with Children on ADA Complementary Paratransit
December 10, 2015 By
