Secretary Anthony Foxx
Americans with Disabilities Act 25th Anniversary Event
Washington, D.C. – July 29, 2015
Good morning, everyone. It is wonderful to be with you. This is a great day in the history of our country. It’s a great day in the history of the U.S. Department of Transportation. I want to thank all of our USDOT folks who’ve devoted their careers to ensuring that our nation’s transportation system serves everyone.
It is fitting that we are here under a tent this morning because what we are celebrating is the fact that 25 years ago our friends, our neighbors, our colleagues with disabilities were brought under the tent and they were made to be part of our nation’s transportation system in a way that no generation before ever had. And we celebrate that today – people like Trish Day and Allon Yomtov. Let’s give them a hand. Let’s give them a hand.
I want to also acknowledge other folks who are here representing industry. I want to acknowledge the many disability advocates who have worked tirelessly to advance accessibility in transportation: people like Marilyn Golden, Jim Weisman, Curt Decker, Jennifer Dexter, Billy Altom, Tim Sheehan. Thank you all so much.
All of you are part of the reason that this 25th anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act is truly a cause for celebration. You are why today we can look back and say that because of this act and because of how it was implemented there are literally tens of millions of Americans who are no longer cut off from the mainstream of America. We can say there are now tens of millions of Americans who can now participate fully in society and achieve their potential.
There are really two points I want to make today. And when I was thinking about how I could best frame them, I remembered this story I read about happening back in 1984 in Chicago.
There was a group of men and women who were wheelchair users and who all gathered at a bus stop. And when the bus pulled up to the curb, they all rolled out into the street and positioned themselves right in front of the bus. They refused to move.
You see, the city had just purchased 363 new public buses. But not one of those new buses had been equipped with wheelchair lifts. So these men and women got in place and were willing to block the bus until police came and intervened. Protests like this one happened all over the country. And I mention this particular act of defiance, though, because every single person who participated wore a name tag. And that name tag read, “My name is Rosa Parks.” My name is Rosa Parks.
So folks, my first point is that, yes, today we’re celebrating historic legislation that brought about historic changes in disability rights. But what we’re really talking about is the fact they were really standing up for civil rights, too. Disability rights are civil rights.
Our advocates who are here with us get this. So do heroes who are no longer with us, people like Michael Winter and Justin Dart. They all knew this. They all taught us this.
The second major point I want to make today is that the heart of the Americans with Disabilities Act is access to transportation. This is what unified the movement. This is what led to the groundswell of protests and activism that got this bill written and passed and implemented.
As one activist put it, “How could you go to school or go on a date or volunteer somewhere if the only trips deemed worth funding for you were medical trips? How could you only get a job if you could get 3 rides a week” or if the bus was never on time?
After the act was passed in 1990, the only provision that went immediately into effect was the one mandating access to public transportation. Back then there was basically a zero percent compliance rate. You had practically no public transit facilities that were ADA compliant. Back then if you were to roll up to a bus stop in a wheelchair, the odds that the next bus would be able to accommodate you were slim to none. It was like playing the lottery.
But this department, our Federal Transit Administration, folks in industry, disability advocates kept on pushing. They kept pushing all the way to today where we nearly have a compliance rating closing in on 100 percent. Today, 99.8 percent of buses are accessible to people with disabilities. So are 98 percent of key transit stations across the United States. And yet, we know our work is not done. I’ll just mention some of the initiatives our Department is currently advancing in this area.
One of our rules that recently went into effect clarifies that public transportation providers must make reasonable modifications to ensure services are accessible.
Our Federal Highway Administration is helping states improve pedestrian safety.
Our National Highway Traffic Safety Administration will soon issue a final rule on sound requirements for electric and hybrid vehicles so people who are visually impaired can hear them coming. They’re also advancing vehicle technologies such as automation that could make driving a reality for more people with disabilities.
Our Federal Railroad Administration is working with the Department of Justice to ensure that Amtrak brings all of its station into compliance.
We will not step until we get to 100 percent in every way people move in this country.
I have two announcements I want to make this morning.
Today I am directing my senior leadership team to develop a DOT-wide system for travelers to submit their concerns about accessibility on our nation’s sidewalks, buses, trains, and planes.
The President’s National Council on Disability recommended this to us – and we’ve heard them and we are following through. People need a simple way to contact us so that we can hear their concerns, and we will put that into place.
Second, we are issuing a final rule on airport accessibility that will require airports to have relief areas in each airport terminal for service animals. It will require airports to have high-contrast captioning and to work with carriers to provide lifts if boarding bridges used to ensure level boarding are not available.
But let me also say there are other kinds of bridges we need to be providing – that’s bridges that cover those first and last miles of every trip. Trips don’t start at the bus stop. Trips don’t start at the station. We have a responsibility to make sure that folks with mobility issues can get to the terminal and get to the bus stop and get to the rail station in the first place.
Rules are important. Standards are important. Compliance is important. But what about neighborhoods in places like Detroit where bus services are so sporadic that one man took it upon himself to walk 21 miles a day to get work? What about Prospect Avenue in Kansas City where I saw holes in the sidewalks that looked like craters? What about the communities all over the country where ADA-inspired improvements like curb cuts and accessible pedestrian signals and parking places and warning strips and bus stop announcements are still missing?
The directive I am issuing today will make it easier for people to bring these issues to our attention. And I do want to mention that our Department produced a reauthorization bill – Congress still time has to pass it – that I believe would help address many of these deficiencies in our transportation system and help close the opportunity gap. It is called the GROW AMERICA – and I often say it’s the first true 21st century transportation bill. Because it would do things like provide a 76 percent increase in transit funding. It would provide Amtrak with resources to improve its stations. And it would give the country the funding and policy framework that it needs to start the next push for more equity in transportation in every way that can be measured.
I’ll make one final point. Those folks in wheelchairs who refused to give an inch weren’t just fighting for a transportation system that was better them. They were showing us something.
They were fighting for a transportation system that’s actually better for everyone and for every community.
Access, as they said, is a civil right, and so is transportation. And if this philosophy continues to be the North Star we follow, every day we are going to move closer towards a society where everyone has a shot and where no one’s cut off from the 21st century economy.
So to my colleagues here at the U.S. Department of Transportation, I have a very simple message. Keep on pushing. Keep on pushing for accessible transportation. Keep on pushing for access. Keep on pushing for policies and programs and procedures that will help us move the dial further to that 100 percent goal. And listen – listen to what we hear through this new channel of communication.
Thank you all very much. It’s great to be with you.
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