SUPERSHUTTLE INTERNATIONAL, INC. TO IMPROVE SERVICE FOR TRAVELERS WHO USE WHEELCHAIRS UNDER AGREEMENT WITH JUSTICE DEPARTMENT

WASHINGTON, D.C. - The Department of Justice and SuperShuttle International, Inc. have signed a settlement agreement designed to ensure that the nation's largest door-to-door airport shuttle company provides the same level of service to wheelchair users as it provides to the general public. This is the first agreement reached with a national company that provides transportation on demand, as opposed to transportation along a fixed route on a fixed schedule.

The Department opened a nationwide compliance review of SuperShuttle after receiving complaints against its Dallas/Ft. Worth subsidiary for failing to provide accessible transportation. The settlement covers the company's 11 facilities in Phoenix, Los Angeles, Sacramento, San Francisco, Orange County, Baltimore, Washington, D.C., New York City, Denver, Dallas/Ft. Worth and Tampa Bay.

"It is important to ensure that the level of service available to customers who use wheelchairs is equal to that enjoyed by the general public" said Ralph F. Boyd Jr., Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights. "SuperShuttle has fully cooperated with the Department and as a result will improve its much needed service to travelers who use wheelchairs."

The settlement requires SuperShuttle to acquire additional accessible vehicles at its 11 corporately owned facilities, to collect comparative data on the timeliness and quality of service, and to revisit with the Department after 18 months whether additional action is necessary in order to maintain an equivalent level of service for individuals who use wheelchairs.

Under the agreement, the company will have two accessible vehicles at each of the 11 locations within a year, as well as standing subcontracts with accessible transportation providers to meet overflow demand. It will track the timeliness of pick-ups for the general public as compared to wheelchair users and will conduct quarterly customer surveys of each group of riders in each city. Additional vans and/or subcontracts may be required if a review of the data after 18 months indicates that the traffic in any locality warrants such action.

Title III of the Americans with Disabilities Act gives people with disabilities the right to full and equal enjoyment of public transportation services provided by a private entity that is primarily engaged in the business of transporting people and whose operations affect commerce.

People interested in finding out more about the ADA or the agreements can access them through the ADA home page http://www.usdoj.gov/crt/ada/adahom1.htm or call the toll-free ADA Information Line at (800) 514-0301 or (800) 514-0383 (TTY).

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