The classifieds in this issue offer a diverse group of jobs including a transit general manager and several other executive positions!

First and foremost, the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) is civil rights legislation. Mobility and access provided through public transportation are key factors to fulfilling the promise of this legislation, but we need help in obtaining the funding to do the job right.

Part of what ADA accomplished was the development of a relationship between two groups. One, the disability community, was hostile and demanding, having been rebuffed for years. The other, the public transportation community, was reluctant and worried about funding. Over the last 20 years, most of us have learned to come together and work toward solutions. We have sat down together and crafted solutions providing mobility and access for millions of Americans.

All of our customers have benefited by our necessity to rethink public transportation and focus on our customers as individuals. The journey has not been easy—but it has been worthwhile. The journey is far from over. The work is not finished. We need to instill the spirit of ADA in everything we do.

Together we need to advocate for the passage of an authorization bill sooner rather than later. APTA is pursuing an Authorization level of $123 billion over six years because that is the funding level needed to provide mobility and access for all our customers.

Very few human endeavors exist without the opportunity to move from Point A to Point B. Public Transportation is the glue that holds our social fabric together. Public Transportation provides access for individuals to the myriad economic, medical, social, and other opportunities offered by our communities.

It should be a civil right for all Americans to have mobility and access—for all Americans to have an alternative to the automobile.

A wheelchair rider uses a ramp to exit a TARC bus. The agency operates 199 low floor buses with ramps in its active fleet.

 

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