ADA Toolkit

According to U.S. DOT ADA regulations, demand responsive services are defined as any services transporting individuals which is not a fixed route service [49 CFR Part 37, Section 37.3]. In this Toolkit, the expression “demand response service” is used to refer to what U.S. DOT regulations refer to as a “demand responsive system." As described in Section 7.1 of FTA ADA Circular, 4710.1, demand responsive services encompass a wide variety of service types, including traditional dial-a-ride service, taxi subsidy service, vanpool service, and route deviation service. In the context of the U.S. DOT ADA regulations, demand responsive service does not include paratransit, which is discussed elsewhere in FTA ADA Circular 4710.1.

U.S. DOT ADA regulations do not require eligibility determination for demand response services. Eligibility policies for demand response services can be determined at the local organization level. Sometimes funding sources will limit eligibility or require that the service be open to the general public. Locally-determined policies must not be discriminatory (for example, wheelchair users must be able to use the service in a manner equivalent to ambulatory individuals).

Note that the definition of demand response in FTA’s National Transit Database (NTD) Glossary is different from the definition of a demand responsive service in the ADA regulations. The NTD defines demand response transit as:

A transit mode comprised of passenger cars, vans or small buses operating in response to calls from passengers or their agents to the transit driver, who then dispatches a vehicle to pick up the passengers and transport them to their destinations. A demand response (DR) operation is characterized by the following: 

• The vehicles do not operate over a fixed route or on a fixed schedule except, perhaps, on a temporary basis to satisfy a special need, and
• Typically, the vehicle may be dispatched to pick up several passengers at different pick-up points before taking them to their respective destinations and may even be interrupted en route to these destinations to pick up other passengers. The following types of operations fall under the above definitions provided they are not on a scheduled fixed route basis:
• Many origins - many destinations
• Many origins - one destination
• One origin - many destinations
• One origin - one destination

See Demand Response and Fixed Schedule Service in the Operations and Planning section of the Transit Manager’s Toolkit.

General Requirements

Before reviewing the requirements specific to demand response service, readers are advised to review the general requirements for ALL service types that are summarized in the General Requirements section of this Toolkit.

All vehicles acquired for use in providing demand response service must be accessible to and usable by individuals with disabilities, including wheelchair users (see 49 CFR Part 38). Inaccessible vehicles may only be acquired for demand-responsive service if the service, when viewed in its entirety, provides equivalent service to individuals with disabilities, including individuals who use wheelchairs, according to specific regulatory standards.

If inaccessible vehicles are acquired for demand-responsive service, the service provided to individuals with disabilities must be equivalent to the service provided to other individuals with respect to the following service characteristics [Section 37.77(c)]:



• Response time
• Fares
• Geographic service area
• Hours and days of service
• Restrictions or priorities based on trip purpose
• Availability of information and reservation capability
• Any constraints on capacity or service availability

The transit agency must demonstrate equivalency according to these criteria prior to any acquisition of inaccessible vehicles. While the standard FTA certifications and assurances contain an equivalent service certification form, transit agencies must be able to provide proof of service equivalency upon request (such as during a triennial review or other compliance review conducted by FTA or the State DOT).

On-demand service to the general public is covered by ADA requirements. All vehicles must be accessible to and usable by persons with disabilities, including wheelchair users, unless the service, when viewed in its entirety, provides equivalent service to persons with disabilities according to specific regulatory criteria that include fares, response time, service area, and hours and days of service. Service provided under contract or other arrangement or relationship with a private entity, including a grant, subgrant, or cooperative agreement, must meet the same regulatory requirements as service provided directly by the public entity. This means that if a rider can reserve an on-demand trip using a service operated under any kind of arrangement between a public entity, such as a transit agency, and a private entity, such as a taxi operator or transportation network company (TNC), the same service must be available on the same basis to persons with disabilities, including wheelchair users.



The same is true of fixed route services. Some transit agencies have entered into arrangements with private operators to provide what amounts to flag-stop service, where the vehicles follow a fixed route but stop to pick up riders only when requested by a rider via an app. Public operators of fixed route service must ensure that all vehicles are accessible to and usable by persons with disabilities, including wheelchair users; therefore, any such service provided under contract or other arrangement or relationship must also consist of only accessible vehicles. Appendix D to the DOT ADA regulations makes it clear that the existence of an interaction with a rider to obtain service, such as flagging down a bus to board, does not render an otherwise fixed route demand-responsive. See Commingled Fixed Route and Paratransit Service under the Route Deviation section of this Toolkit.

In some cases, transit operators are engaging the services of private entities such as transportation network companies (TNCs) or taxi operators to supplement their ADA complementary paratransit service. Again, the requirements applicable to the public entity would apply. Some transit operators use these services to provide paratransit service on a real-time basis. While this is expressly permitted under the ADA, it is important to understand that real-time service must be provided to all paratransit riders using the service, not just to ambulatory riders. Wheelchair users and others who require an accessible vehicle must be provided with the same level of service.

Some transit agencies contract for some or all of their demand response services with taxi providers, transportation network companies (TNCs) such as Lyft and Uber, or other private operators. If an agency relies on external transportation providers to provide any portion of their demand response services, the agency needs to ensure that individuals with disabilities are provided with an equal level of access based on the seven service characteristics (equivalent service standards) listed in Section 37.77(c) and referenced above. This could be achieved by requiring the contracted private provider to provide equivalent accessible service (e.g., requiring a taxi provider to operate an adequate number of accessible vans as part of the contract), by the transit agency providing its own accessible service, or contracting with another entity. 

U.S. DOT has issued guidance specific to using taxis and TNCs to provide part of a transit agency’s services. A “Dear Colleague” letter on shared mobility issued by U.S. DOT on December 5, 2016 affirms that transit agencies that rely on external transportation providers to provide any portion of their demand response services need to ensure that people with disabilities are provided with an equal level of access based on the seven required operating characteristics. FTA has published to its website frequently asked questions on shared mobility guidance and ADA.

See TCRP Report 188: Shared Mobility and the Transformation of Public Transit for an examination of the relationship between public transportation (demand-responsive transit and complementary ADA paratransit) and shared modes, including transportation network companies (TNCs) and microtransit.

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