Accessible Community Transportation In Our Nation

America is home to more than 54 million people with disabilities who work, play, shop, vote, pursue an education, raise families, and volunteer in their communities. In 1990, Congress passed the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), the civil-rights law that ensures individuals with disabilities access to employment, education, state and local government programs and services, businesses, telecommunications, and public transportation.

Congress originally commissioned Easter Seals Project ACTION in 1988 as a research and demonstration project to improve access to public transportation for people with disabilities. With the passage of the ADA two years later, our goals expanded to help transportation operators implement the law's transportation provisions.

Helping Two Groups Achieve One Goal
Funded through a cooperative agreement with the U.S. Department of Transportation, Federal Transit Administration, Easter Seals Project ACTION promotes cooperation between the transportation industry and the disability community to increase mobility for people with disabilities under the ADA and beyond. We offer numerous resources, as well as training and technical assistance, in an effort to make the ADA work for everyone, everyday. Almost two decades after our creation, our goal - and our name - remains unchanged: Accessible Community Transportation In Our Nation (ACTION).

General Resources

• Easter Seals Project ACTION 800 line
  Information and resources are available Monday-Friday 9:00 a.m.-5:00 p.m. (Eastern Time) at (800) 659-6428 (voice). The Easter Seals Project ACTION staff can answer questions about ADA rights and responsibilities, direct callers to additional resources, and help members of the disability and transportation communities address diverse accessibility issues.
  
  
• Easter Seals Project ACTION newsletters
  Easter Seals Project ACTION offers two free newsletters. The quarterly Update spotlights promising practices and providing news on accessible transportation for people with disabilities, including new publications and research. The monthly Extra provides the latest information on ESPA resources and training opportunities. Click here to subscribe to these free publications. 
  
  
• Easter Seals Project ACTION Store
  Our store offers free print, video, and audio resources on numerous topics, including:
• ADA complementary paratransit
• ADA rights and responsibilities
• bus stops
• coordination
• funding for accessible transportation services
• mobility aids
• motorcoach services
• operator training
• pedestrian environment
• rural transportation
• service animals
• taxi services
• travel training

Training
To help put knowledge into action, our staff teaches individuals and communities how to build, use, and strengthen accessible transportation. We offer several training initiatives including:

• The annual Mobility Planning Services Institute (MPS), which convenes teams from communities across the U.S. to work together to develop action plans for improving the accessibility of transportation services in their community.
• Distance Learning opportunities, a series of free audio conferences with guest speakers on a current topics in accessible transportation.

Our trainers also speak at transportation and disability conferences nationwide. In all cases, our staff members work with transportation providers and members of the disability community to develop practical applications of the ADA and beyond. Learn more about upcoming training opportunities.

Technical Assistance
Technical assistance is available to communities that seek to develop and enhance accessibility for people with disabilities in their local transportation system. Easter Seals Project ACTION provides the in-depth support they need to make positive, long-term changes in their community's transportation system. Easter Seals Project ACTION training participants often use our technical assistance to reinforce what they learn in our sessions and further the modification efforts they begin there. Because Easter Seals Project ACTION does not enforce ADA compliance, our staff can provide equal support to transportation providers and members of the disability community to solve accessibility problems, assess community needs, build coalitions, and develop strategic plans.