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7 <br /> Orange County Transportation Services ADA Paratransit Plan <br /> I. Introduction <br /> A. Orange County Transportation Services Background: <br /> Orange County Transportation Services (OCTS) is a separate department of the Orange County <br /> government that operates fixed-route, demand-response, Mobility-on-Demand, and subscription <br /> services throughout OCTS, for both general public and human service transportation needs. <br /> OCTS service area generally involves all areas of Orange County excluding the Chapel Hill Transit service <br /> area located in the southeastern portion of the county. The population of this service area is roughly <br /> 148,696 persons and involves both rural outlying portions of the county and more urbanized areas <br /> located along the 1-40/1-85 and U.S. 70 corridors extending through the central part of the county. OCTS <br /> provides specialized demand-response, Mobility-on-Demand and subscription service to persons <br /> deemed eligible for such services within this area. OCTS fixed routes connects the service area to the <br /> other regional transit providers like Go Triangle and Piedmont Authority on Regional Transportation <br /> (PART). <br /> In the spring of 2015, OCTS expanded the general public fixed-route and other services by a total of <br /> approximately 6,560 service/revenue hours per year, a 238% increase in service/revenue hours over <br /> what is currently provided. Of these additional service hours, 5,000 service hours are purely general <br /> public fixed-route service. When fixed-route service is provided, complementary paratransit service is <br /> federally mandated by the ADA. This document shall serve as the plan for complying with ADA <br /> paratransit requirements. Orange County Public Transit uses accessible small passenger cutaway buses <br /> that are high floor with wheelchair lifts. <br /> B. Legal authority and requirements <br /> 1. Transit Requirements of ADA <br /> The Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA) requires that public entities that operate non- <br /> commuter fixed-route transportation services also provide complementary paratransit service for <br /> individuals whose disabilities make them unable to use the fixed-route system. In addition, public <br /> entities subject to the ADA regulations must develop and administer a process for determining if <br /> individuals who request service meet the regulatory requirements for eligibility. <br /> Essentially,the ADA requires that paratransit service be "comparable"to the fixed-route service in terms <br /> of service levels and availability. There are six (6) service criteria that are used to evaluate ADA <br /> paratransit service comparability to the fixed route. These criteria only represent the minimum service <br /> standards and can be exceeded if the local governing body so chooses. The six (6) basic criteria for <br /> determining ADA comparability to fixed-route service are as follows: <br /> 1) Availability in the same area served by fixed routes. Specifically, service must be made available <br /> to all origins and destinations within a width of% of a mile on each side of each fixed route. This <br /> includes an area within % of a mile radius at the end of each fixed route as well; <br /> Orange County Planning Department Page 1 <br />