The following article is excerpted from the N.O.D./Harris 2000 Survey of Americans with Disabilities. See below to order a copy of the full report.


Accessible transportation is often a powerful positive predictor not only of employment, but also of several other important quality of life indicators such as political participation, access to entertainment, socializing, and religious attendance. Likewise, inaccessible transportation limits the ability of people with disabilities to participate in these activities.

In the year 2000, the accessibility and availability of transportation remains an obstacle that confronts people with disabilities in getting to work and socializing outside the home. The transportation gap is a significant 20 percentage points. Though a minority, 3 out of 10 people with disabilities (30%) still have a problem with inadequate transportation – and 16% cite inadequate transportation as a major problem. By contrast, only 1 out of 10 people without disabilities (10%) have a problem with inadequate transportation – and only 4% say it is a major problem.

Not surprisingly, inadequate transportation is an even greater obstacle for people with severe disabilities. People with somewhat or very severe disabilities are more than three times as likely to think transportation is a problem (34% and 36% respectively) than people without disabilities (10%) and twice as likely as people with slight disabilities (17%).

The presence of a disability is not the only determining factor in whether transportation is a problem; income also seems to play a large role. People with annual household incomes of $15,000 or less, whether with disabilities or without disabilities, are much more likely to say transportation is a problem than people with annual household incomes of $50,000 or more. Therefore, the transportation gap between people with and without disabilities appears to be due, at least in some part, to the income differences between the two populations.

Trends
The transportation gap between people with disabilities and people without disabilities has actually widened by 7 percentage points since 1998, when N.O.D. and Harris began collecting this data. Although people without disabilities are having fewer problems with transportation, the issue remains the same for people with disabilities, which explains the larger gap. Perhaps, the higher incomes of people without disabilities in 2000 have allowed them to be less concerned about transportation.


Defining Disability
Disability was defined in the same manner as in the 1998, 1994, and 1986 surveys. This survey only looked at non-institutionalized individuals with disabilities, and a person was included in the sample of people with disabilities if he or she currently:

• Has a disability or health problem that prevents him or her from participating fully in work, school, or other activities; or
  
• Reports having a physical disability, a seeing, hearing or speech impairment, an emotional or mental disability, or a learning disability; or
  
• Considers himself or herself to have a disability or says that other people would consider him or her to be a person with a disability.