How to apply for ADA paratransit: the application, the assessment, and appealing a denial

To apply for ADA paratransit, contact the transit agency that runs the bus or train where you live and complete its eligibility application. The agency may also ask a health professional to confirm your disability and ask you to come in for an interview or a functional assessment. Applying is free, and the agency has 21 days from a complete application to decide. This page is for case managers, social workers and family members helping someone through the process.

Who qualifies is covered in what ADA paratransit is. In short, the disability has to keep the person from using the regular bus or train, either on every trip or on some. Below is the process itself, from the first call to an appeal. Adults under 65 will also want to compare other ride programs for adults with disabilities, and the Medicaid, aging agency and PACE options for an older parent are in free rides for seniors.

Who do you apply with?

Apply with the public transit agency that runs paratransit for the area where the rider lives. Federal rules require paratransit from agencies that run fixed-route buses or trains, and commuter bus, commuter rail and intercity rail are exempt. Where several agencies share one regional paratransit service, FTA says it is appropriate to send an applicant to the agency that serves the applicant’s home address.

When you ask, the agency has to give you its forms and instructions. DOT’s guidance says the process may not impose unreasonable burdens on applicants and may not charge an application fee or any other user fee.

What can the agency ask for?

The agency can ask for the application, a statement from a professional who knows the applicant, and an assessment of the applicant’s abilities. FTA describes these as the three sources agencies generally use, alone or together:

• The form and an interview. FTA notes that a paper application is often not enough, especially to decide conditional eligibility, so many agencies add an interview by phone or in person.
• A professional’s statement. An agency may ask for confirmation of the disability, particularly when it is not apparent, as with a psychiatric condition or a seizure disorder. FTA’s suggested practice is to accept statements from many kinds of professionals, including orientation and mobility specialists, therapists, clinical social workers, job coaches and registered nurses, and to accept what the applicant already has from a professional. A case manager can ask the agency which professionals it accepts before sending anything.
• A functional assessment. The agency may ask the applicant to take part in an assessment of the abilities needed to use its fixed routes.

A diagnosis alone does not decide the outcome. DOT’s guidance calls eligibility a transportation decision more than a medical one, and the question is whether, as a practical matter, the person can use the regular service in his or her own circumstances. Two rules in FTA’s circular help applicants. The decision must rest on the person’s most limiting condition, so an agency cannot base it on a good day or on typical conditions. And an agency cannot deny eligibility only because a wheelchair is larger or heavier than its vehicles can carry, although the agency should tell the rider about its vehicle limits and what could change.

FTA lists requests it treats as unreasonable burdens: an interview on one day and an assessment on another, medical records unrelated to function, and a second trip to another place for an ID photo. If the process requires travel to an assessment center, the agency has to offer the ride free, which means waiving the paratransit fare if it uses its own service.

Materials have to be available in a format the applicant can use on request, such as large print, braille or audio. An agency that receives federal funds must also translate vital documents, including the eligibility application, for people with limited English, and in some cases provide an interpreter at no cost.

How long does the agency have to decide?

The agency has 21 days after it receives a complete application. These are the deadlines that matter:

Days are calendar days, and the clock starts when you have finished everything the agency requires. If the agency requires an interview and an assessment, the application is complete when those are done, not when the paper form arrives. FTA expects agencies to offer those appointments promptly after receiving the form, for example within 7 to 10 days, and treats long waits as an unreasonable burden. If the applicant asks for a later date, the delay is the applicant’s.

An application missing the information the agency needs for its decision can be returned. Secondary details, such as an emergency contact, can come later without stopping the clock. When someone sends the form but never comes to the interview, FTA recommends that the agency hold the file for a reasonable period and then ask the person to reapply. FTA also expects agencies to explain the 21-day rule in their public information or in the letter that acknowledges the application.

What does the decision letter have to say?

The decision has to be in writing. If you are found eligible, the paperwork must say “ADA Paratransit Eligible” and show the rider’s name, the transit provider, the telephone number of its paratransit coordinator, an expiration date, and any conditions, including the use of a personal care attendant. Many agencies also issue an ID card, but if the card leaves any of that out, the agency still has to send a letter with all of it.

A denial has to give reasons. DOT’s guidance says the reasons must connect the evidence to the eligibility rules, and that a bare statement that the applicant can use the regular bus or train is not enough. FTA treats anything short of full eligibility, meaning conditional or temporary eligibility, as a degree of denial, so the same duty to explain applies. The letter must also say how to appeal.

Full, conditional, or temporary eligibility

Agencies grant full or conditional eligibility, and either kind can be limited to a set period. The letter should say which applies.

• Full eligibility. FTA calls this unconditional eligibility. The rider cannot use fixed-route service under any circumstances and may take any trip by paratransit. FTA’s examples include a person with advanced dementia and a person who lost vision late in life and has not learned to travel independently.
• Conditional eligibility. The rider can use regular service in some conditions and is eligible for the other trips. FTA’s examples of conditions include a distance to or from the stop of more than four blocks, heat above a set temperature (it uses 80 degrees as an example), severe fatigue after treatment, and days when symptoms of a condition such as multiple sclerosis are worse. Conditions have to be specific and measurable, and they describe function, not trip purpose. FTA says “for dialysis trips only” is not appropriate and “when severe fatigue from your condition or treatment prevents you from using the fixed route” is. Using conditional eligibility is optional for an agency. If it does not use it, a person who qualifies only some of the time gets full eligibility.
• Temporary eligibility. Either kind can be granted for a set period, because the condition or the mobility device is expected to change. FTA’s examples are two months of treatment that causes severe fatigue, and a year of therapy after a stroke, with a review at the end.

Agencies cannot require travel training and cannot deny eligibility because an applicant might learn to ride the bus. FTA suggests granting temporary eligibility to someone who wants training, then deciding the longer term after the training.

How do you appeal a denial?

An appeal asks the agency to review its decision before a different decision maker. The agency may require that the request be filed within 60 days of the denial. It may also require the request in writing, but FTA says it may not require the request to give reasons. The appeal process has to include these rights:

1. A chance to be heard in person, and to present information and arguments in writing instead if you prefer.
2. A decision by someone who was not involved in the first decision.
3. A written decision with reasons.

The agency does not have to give you rides while the appeal is pending. But if it has not decided within 30 days after the appeal process is complete, it must provide service from then until it denies the appeal. FTA also says these rights apply to conditional and temporary decisions, and that an applicant who misses the 60 days can reapply at any time. A new decision made during an existing term of eligibility, after a rider asks to change conditions, can also be appealed.

How long does eligibility last?

Eligibility ends on the date on the letter, and the agency can ask you to recertify at reasonable intervals. DOT’s guidance says an interval between one and three years is probably reasonable, and FTA notes that many agencies use three to five years. FTA calls a reminder before the term ends a good practice, and many agencies send one 60 to 90 days ahead. Some agencies also offer a shorter form to riders whose abilities are not likely to change.

A rider can ask to change the conditions on eligibility at any time, for example after getting a power wheelchair or when symptoms get worse. An agency can ask someone to reapply after a significant change in function, but not because a driver or another rider casually noticed something.

Personal care attendants and companions

A personal care attendant rides free, and one companion pays the same fare as the rider. The application may ask whether the applicant travels with an attendant, and the answer does not affect eligibility. It is there so the agency can tell an attendant, who helps the rider with personal needs, from a friend or family member who is only coming along.

• Attendant. Someone designated or employed to help the rider meet personal needs. A family member or friend counts as an attendant only if the rider regularly uses an attendant and that person is acting in that role. The agency may not require that the attendant be paid or recognized as an attendant by a state agency, and may not require a rider to always travel with one.
• One companion. The agency has to carry one other person in addition to any attendant, and the companion pays the rider’s fare.
• More companions. They ride when there is space and no eligible rider is displaced.

Everyone riding together must start and end at the same places as the rider.

Visiting from another city

A visitor with a disability can ride a transit agency’s paratransit for any 21 days in a 365-day period without applying there. A rider who is already eligible at home brings the home agency’s letter or card, and the host agency has to accept it. Without one, the agency can ask for proof of where the rider lives and, if the disability is not obvious, proof of the disability, and then accepts the rider’s own statement that the regular bus or train cannot be used. A visitor who expects to stay longer than 21 days should apply for regular eligibility on arrival.

For ride companies that run paratransit trips

A transit agency decides who is eligible, and a contracted ride company carries the riders the agency has approved. The rules for that work are in working as an ADA paratransit contractor. Before an agency suspends a rider for no-shows, FTA’s circular recommends that it check the vehicle’s location and the arrival and departure times for each trip. HealthRide keeps pickup and drop-off times, GPS-recorded miles and recorded wait times on no-shows for every trip, and its recurring trips let a dispatcher set a standing ride once and keep it going.