§12184 Prohibition of Discrimination in Specified Public Transportation Services Provided by Private Entities

Summary

Private companies that mainly carry people and do business across state lines must not treat people with disabilities unfairly when offering certain public transportation services. Unfair treatment includes using rules that screen out people with disabilities unless those rules are truly needed; failing to make reasonable changes, provide needed aids or remove barriers; and buying or leasing new vehicles, buses, vans, or rail cars that are not accessible to people who use wheelchairs. New vehicles or rail cars ordered more than 30 days after this rule takes effect must be accessible, except a new vehicle used only in a demand-responsive system or a new van with fewer than 8 seats can be exempt if the whole system gives people with disabilities service equal to the general public. Over-the-road buses must meet federal accessibility regulations. If making changes would seriously harm the historic character of an old rail car or a station served only by those cars, or would break safety rules under the Federal Railroad Safety Act of 1970, the company does not have to make those changes. A “historical or antiquated rail passenger car” is one that is at least 30 years old, whose maker no longer makes such cars, and that either has important ties to past events or people or shows the style of an earlier time (or is being restored to do so).