8.17.22 OUTBoard Packet - Laserfiche WebLink

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Orange County Transportation Services ADA Paratransit Plan Orange County Planning Department Page 12 requirements, there are also provisions relating to the transportation of personal care attendants, other traveling companions, and persons visiting from other areas. 1. Requirements of Transit System: As previously noted, there are three (3) major categories of individuals who are required to be served based on their functional disability upon interacting with conditions of the service and the surrounding environment. Persons who are unable to board, ride, or disembark from accessible fixed-route vehicles as a result of their disability. This includes persons with mental or visual disabilities who cannot navigate the transit system. Persons who could use accessible fixed-route services, but such services are being operated using vehicles that are not fully accessible. This includes persons who require a lift or ramp to board a bus. Because OPT uses 100% accessible vehicles for its general public and specialized services, this category of persons is inapplicable. Persons who cannot travel to or from a bus stop because their disability prevents it. This includes persons whose path of travel between their origin or destination and the bus stop is inaccessible, such as persons who use wheelchairs but cannot get to or from the bus stop because there is no sidewalk or the sidewalk is blocked (by lack of accessible curb cuts or a barrier that reduces the width of the sidewalk to less than three (3) feet). It also includes persons whose specific disability otherwise prevents them from traveling to or from or waiting at a bus stop, such as persons whose health would be endangered by certain weather conditions during this phase of the trip. Orange Public Transportation’s ADA paratransit service eligibility application screens for functional disability in order to control service demand and reserve assistance for eligible persons who are prevented from reaching fixed-route stops due to their disability. It is important to emphasize that only those persons who are prevented from using fixed-route services because of their disability are required to be served by ADA paratransit, rather than individuals who would have difficulty using fixed-route services but could use it. A formal ADA eligibility determination process is part of federal ADA paratransit requirements. As such, OPT’s ADA eligibility application is used to determine ADA paratransit eligibility. There are also requirements for transporting personal care attendants (PCAs), other traveling companions, persons visiting from other areas on ADA paratransit, and the eligibility determination process itself. The application requires certification from a certified and/or licensed professional as to the presence of a permanent or temporary disability preventing the applicant from reaching public transportation fixed routes. The application also collects personal care attendant (PCA) information and information explaining the eligibility determination process. 2. Determination of Eligibility: A determination of whether individuals with disabilities are certified eligible for service is made by completing the attached application and submitting it to the OCTS administrative offices. Applications are taken by phone, email, fax, or in-person by OCTS staff. Applicants are required to provide verification of their disability from a certified and/or licensed professional (doctor, psychiatrist, social worker, case 22