Flex seating: fold-away seats that open wheelchair positions
Flex seating is a wheelchair van layout in which some passenger seats fold, flip up, or tip out of the way to open wheelchair securement positions, then fold back down for seated riders. One van can then run a wheelchair-heavy route in the morning and a full seated load later. Folding seats still have to meet federal seat standards, and the space they fold away from must stay clear.
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How flex seating works
Flex seating trades fixed seats for seats that can get out of the way. When a wheelchair rider is booked, the seat folds or flips up and the floor underneath becomes a securement position. When the run is all seated riders, the seat comes back down. The designs include:
- Flip-and-fold mid-row seats in minivans. BraunAbility’s Flip-N-Fold, for example, adds a mid-row seat to a lowered-floor van. A latch releases it, and it folds up against the sliding door to clear the cabin for the wheelchair.
- Foldaway seats in full-size vans and small buses. Wisconsin’s human service vehicle rules describe these as single or double seats whose back folds down or bottom folds up, including assemblies that lock flat against the side wall.
- Automatic flip-up seats. A seat that springs upright whenever nobody is sitting on it. Wisconsin allows these at a side emergency door, with a covered mechanism and a design that keeps limbs from getting caught.
The rules that apply
Seat strength and latches. Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard 207 covers seats in cars, multipurpose passenger vehicles, trucks, and buses. In a van designed for 10 or fewer people, each occupant seat other than a side-facing one must withstand a force of 20 times its own weight, forward and rearward. A hinged or folding seat must have a self-locking device, and a release control when there are seats behind it. That control has to be within easy reach of the person in the folding seat, and of the rider behind as well when they need it to get out. Once engaged, the latch may not let go at 20 g. Seats not meant to be used while the vehicle moves must be labeled that way.
The bus exception. Federal rules define a bus as a vehicle designed for more than 10 people. Passenger seats on a bus that is not a school bus are exempt from both the seat strength test and the folding-seat latch rule. Ask the upfitter which standards the seats were built and tested to.
The space the seat folds away from. The ADA vehicle specifications require a clear floor area of at least 30 by 48 inches at each wheelchair securement location. Fold-down seats may occupy that area when no wheelchair is there, as long as they leave the full space clear once folded.
State rules. Wisconsin requires foldaway seats in human service vehicles to meet FMVSS 207. In vehicles that need a 12-inch aisle to the emergency door, it measures that aisle from a foldaway seat in its fully open position. New Jersey requires every mobility assistance vehicle to meet ADA requirements, caps it at nine passengers, and bars any change to the interior layout after licensing without written approval from its Office of Emergency Medical Services.
Planning mixed loads
A flex van is only as useful as your plan for it. Set the layout before the van leaves the yard, and plan any midday change for a safe stop rather than a curb with riders waiting.
Example: a van with five fixed passenger seats and two fold-away double seats over two securement positions can run as nine seated riders, or as five seated riders plus two wheelchairs. Before Monday’s schedule goes out, dispatch has to decide which layout each van runs that day and build the routes around it.
A few habits help:
- Match the layout to the first run. Morning dialysis or day program routes set the mix. Plan midday trips around the layout the van already has.
- Count the straps, not just the floor. Each open position needs a full set of tiedowns and occupant belts on board.
- Leave time for changeovers. Folding a seat and setting four straps adds minutes to a stop, so schedule it where the van can stop safely.
- Keep the record current. If a seat is removed for repair, the van’s capacity changes until it goes back in.
HealthRide keeps each vehicle’s seat count and wheelchair spaces in Fleet, and dispatch compares a trip’s needs with those numbers before assigning it.
Frequently asked questions
- Do fold-away seats in a wheelchair van have to be crash tested?
- In a van built for 10 or fewer people, yes. Federal seat standard FMVSS 207 requires every occupant seat to withstand 20 times its own weight pulled forward and backward, and a folding seat needs a self-locking latch that holds at 20 g. On a bus, meaning a vehicle designed for more than 10 people, passenger seats that are not on a school bus are exempt from both tests, so ask the upfitter which standards the seats were built to.
- Can a fold-down seat sit inside a wheelchair securement area?
- Yes. The ADA vehicle specifications allow fold-down seats in a securement area for use when no wheelchair rider is aboard, as long as the folded seats leave the full clear floor space open. That space is at least 30 by 48 inches at each securement location.
- Can I change a van's seat layout after it is licensed?
- Check your state first. In New Jersey, once the Department of Health licenses a mobility assistance vehicle, its interior configuration may not change without written approval from the Office of Emergency Medical Services. Wisconsin requires replacement parts to meet the original standard and modifications to follow the federal and state rules in force at the time.
