99155.5. (a) The Legislature intends that dial-a-ride and paratransit services be accessible to disabled persons, as defined in Section 99206.5. It is intended that transportation service be provided for employment, education, medical, and personal reasons. Transportation for individuals with disabilities is a necessity, and allows these persons to fully participate in our society.
The Legislature finds and declares that the term “paratransit,” as used in the federal Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (Public Law 101-336), refers to transportation services with specific criteria of quality and quantity, and which are required to be made available to limited classes of persons based on eligibility categories; this is often referred to as “ADA paratransit” or “complementary paratransit.” The Legislature finds and declares that the terms “paratransit” and “dial-a-ride,” as used in the laws of this state, apply to a broader range of transportation services and that not all individuals with disabilities under the laws of this state are eligible for “ADA paratransit” under the federal law.
(b) Each transit operator, for profit or nonprofit, which provides, or contracts for the provision of, dial-a-ride or paratransit service for individuals with disabilities and which receives public funding pursuant to the Mills-Alquist-Deddeh Act (Chapter 4 (commencing with Section 99200)) for that service shall provide the service without regard to either of the following:
(1) Whether the person is a member of a household which owns a motor vehicle.
(2) Whether the place of residence of the person who requests transportation service is within the service area of the provider. To the extent that they are eligible for the specified service requested, all persons requesting transportation service in the service area of the provider shall be provided service on the same terms and at the same price that service is provided to other persons residing within the service area of the provider.
(c) Subdivision (b) does not preclude a provider from offering a subscription service, and does not require a reduction in the amount the provider charges other public or private agencies.
(d) Except as required by the federal Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (Public Law 101-336) and federal regulations adopted pursuant thereto or by higher standards prescribed by the laws of this state, nothing in this section requires any transit operator which provides service to individuals with disabilities in a manner consistent with subdivision (b) to make those services available outside the operator’s established operating service area, or requires the operator to make the presentation of identification a condition to using the service.
(e) A transit operator shall honor any current identification card which is valid for the type of transportation service or discount requested and which has been issued to an individual with disabilities by another transit operator.
(f) Any person who believes an operator has violated Section 99155 or 99155.5 may file a report of the alleged violation with the transportation planning agency or county transportation commission. Any individual with disabilities may request the Attorney General to resolve any dispute as to compliance with Section 99155 or this section.
(Amended by Stats. 2012, Ch. 769, Sec. 5. (AB 2679) Effective January 1, 2013.)
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