Disability Access Lifts Everyone Up

The Americans with Disabilities Act was signed into law on July 26, 1990, after a decades-long fight by disability activists seeking equitable access to our civic commons. As we pass the 34th anniversary of this landmark legislation, we take a moment to appreciate the way ADA improvements benefit people of all abilities, particularly in transit. And it’s also a good time to reflect on how far we have to go.

Removing barriers, providing opportunities

The ADA has four sections, requiring equal opportunity from employers; access to state and local government programs, services, activities, and facilities as well as public transportation; access to public accommodations such as businesses; and provision of telephone relay services. The public transportation section requires service providers to buy accessible vehicles and provide paratransit services.

The ADA caused changes in building standards that have made our built environment — especially newer buildings, buses, and transit stations — more broadly accessible. Still, 34 years later, barriers remain for people with disabilities. 

Everyone benefits from a more accessible world

Everyone benefits from improved access for those who most need it. If you’ve ever rolled a stroller or a bicycle down a curb cut, you’ve benefited from the ADA. If you’ve ever taken your bike to a BART platform using the elevator, you’ve benefited from the ADA. 

People in the disability community say that the rest of us are temporarily able-bodied. We will all get older and appreciate a kneeling bus. Whether permanent or temporary, many of us will have times when we need a helping hand, and the ADA makes that possible.

We also all benefit indirectly from improving access. We benefit from the creativity, humor, insights, and company of our neighbors and friends when we build a world with curb ramps, accessible buses, station elevators, level train entries, and other improvements brought to us by the ADA.

We still have a long way to go

The disability justice ecosystem in California is woefully under-resourced, often excludes the voices of directly impacted people, and is underrepresented in the transportation planning space. While important progress has been made in the disability justice movement, accessible transportation remains stubbornly excluded and has shown little improvement in the past few decades. Living in a world that denies access to the nearly 25% of Californians who live with a disability denies all of us the valuable contributions of those community members. A substantial investment in the movement to focus on accessible transportation is necessary if we are to make progress for this community’s ability to meet their needs and live full lives. 

Last year, we spoke with disability advocates from the Silicon Valley Independent Living Center and Community Resources for Independent Living and a planner from the Metropolitan Transportation Commission about how to make public transit more accessible. They pointed out that the ADA is “a floor, not a ceiling,” and accessible design must go farther. And they emphasized the importance of the disabled community having seats at the table when decisions are being made about transit access. As the community says, “Nothing about us without us.”

In Transform’s new strategic plan, we make a point of giving power and voice to those historically impacted by racist disinvestment in housing and transportation. Empowering and investing in the voices of the disability community is fundamental to our theory of change. And it’s also fundamental to a more accessible world for everyone.