For people with disabilities, using public transportation often requires prior planning. This includes understanding accessibility features of transit facilities and vehicles, and ways to request rider accommodations and paratransit. Public transit websites are frequently used to get the information needed to plan a transit trip, making transit website information and accessibility key components for ensuring people with disabilities have equitable access to public transit.
The Public Transit Disability Dashboard evaluates and compares information and accessibility of public transit system websites. These data assess the information available to potential users, such as information about facility and vehicle accessibility features, policy and planning procedures, rider accommodation processes, and paratransit services. While these data do not represent individual experiences of transit users, such as real-time elevator outages, this dashboard provides insight on barriers to transit trip planning for people with disabilities.
Data on this dashboard scores information from public transit websites across six categories:
- Facility accessibility: average number of accessibility features of the transit facility listed on the transit website (e.g., elevators, hearing loops); maximum of 20 points
- Vehicle accessibility: average number of accessibility features of public transit vehicles listed on the transit website (e.g., audio announcements, securement devices); maximum of 10 points
- Inclusive policies: how people with disabilities were included in the public transit planning process (e.g., listing ADA coordinator, public participation opportunities); maximum of 12 points
- Rider accommodations: the number of modalities for submitting accommodation requests (e.g., online, telephone, TTY, etc.); maximum of 9 points
- Paratransit services: information about eligibility and use of paratransit services found on public transit websites (e.g., eligibility criteria, hours of operation, ride reservations); maximum of 6 points
- Website accessibility: usability of public transit website content for people with disabilities; maximum of 3 points
The Total Public Transit Score is the sum of these six total sub-category scores for each system. There is a maximum of 60 points. All scores were rounded to the nearest whole number. Once rounded, the scores were ranked from highest to lowest based on their rounded values. Higher scores indicate more accessible public transit information and more disability-inclusive transit practices.
The methodology used for this dashboard is summarized on the Public Transit Methods page, and full details the methodology are outlined in the associated manuscript. Public transit resources for people with disabilities and the source websites for these analyses are listed on the Public Transit Source Links page.
RESULTS SUMMARY
Overall accessibility and disability inclusion total scores:
- Access Service had the highest score: 46 out of 60 points
- Fort Worth Transportation Authority had the lowest score: 15 out of 60 points
Based on the sub-category scores (Table 1):
- Facility accessibility: 0 public transit systems scored 20 out of 20 points
- Vehicle accessibility: 0 public transit systems scored 10 out of 10 points
- Inclusive policies: 1 public transit systems scored 12 out of 12 points
- Rider accommodations: 0 public transit systems scored 9 out of 9 points
- Paratransit services: 11 public transit systems scored 6 out of 6 points
- Virtual accessibility: 26 public transit systems scored 3 out of 3 points
There are large differences in scores across public transit system websites, indicating that the ability for people with disabilities to make plans and use public transportation may depend on where they live.
Figure 1. Public Transit System Accessibility and Disability Inclusion: Total Scores among top 100 public transit systems receiving the most federal funding
| wdt_ID | Public Transit System | Abbreviation | Total Score (62 pts max) | Facility Score Rank | Facility Score (22 pts max) | Vehicle Score Rank | Vehicle Score (11 pts max) | Policy Score Rank | Policy Score (12 pts max) | Accommodations Score Rank | Accommodations Score (9 pts max) | Paratransit Score Rank | Paratransit Score (6 pts max) | Virtual Score Rank | Virtual Score (2 pts max) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Central Puget Sound Regional Transit Authority | SoundTransit | 41 | 3 | 13 | 8 | 6 | 2 | 10 | 6 | 7 | 21 | 3 | 3 | 2 |
| 2 | Valley Metro Rail, Inc. | ValleyMetro | 41 | 11 | 9 | 4 | 7 | 2 | 10 | 2 | 7 | 1 | 6 | 1 | 2 |
| 3 | San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency (MUNI) | MUNI | 40 | 5 | 10 | 2 | 8 | 1 | 11 | 21 | 4 | 1 | 6 | 6 | 2 |
| 4 | Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority | WMATA | 40 | 4 | 11 | 2 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 10 | 6 | 1 | 6 | 18 | 2 |
| 5 | Chicago Transit Authority | CTA | 39 | 11 | 9 | 1 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 1 | 6 | 20 | 2 |
| 6 | San Diego Metropolitan Transit System | SDMTS | 37 | 7 | 10 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 12 | 5 | 16 | 2 |
| 7 | Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority | SEPTA | 36 | 10 | 9 | 10 | 6 | 8 | 8 | 1 | 8 | 12 | 5 | 23 | 1 |
| 8 | Utah Transit Authority | UTA | 35 | 20 | 7 | 11 | 6 | 2 | 10 | 2 | 7 | 12 | 5 | 26 | 1 |
| 9 | San Francisco Bay Area Rapid Transit District | BART | 35 | 1 | 17 | 26 | 1 | 8 | 8 | 2 | 7 | 24 | 0 | 11 | 2 |
| 10 | Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority | Caltrain | 34 | 7 | 10 | 13 | 5 | 8 | 8 | 11 | 5 | 12 | 5 | 5 | 2 |
| 11 | Peninsula Corridor Joint Powers Board | VTA | 34 | 2 | 13 | 15 | 4 | 8 | 8 | 2 | 7 | 24 | 0 | 13 | 2 |
| 12 | Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority | MBTA | 34 | 5 | 10 | 9 | 6 | 21 | 6 | 17 | 4 | 1 | 6 | 4 | 2 |
| 13 | Tri-County Metropolitan Transportation District of Oregon | TriMet | 34 | 11 | 9 | 7 | 6 | 17 | 7 | 18 | 4 | 1 | 6 | 10 | 2 |
| 14 | Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority | LAMetro | 32 | 11 | 9 | 21 | 3 | 2 | 10 | 18 | 4 | 12 | 5 | 2 | 2 |
| 15 | New York MTA | NYMTA | 32 | 9 | 9 | 13 | 5 | 25 | 5 | 16 | 5 | 1 | 6 | 8 | 2 |
| 16 | New Jersey Transit Corporation | NJTransit | 30 | 15 | 8 | 5 | 7 | 17 | 7 | 11 | 5 | 23 | 2 | 7 | 2 |
| 17 | Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority | MARTA | 30 | 15 | 8 | 16 | 4 | 17 | 7 | 7 | 6 | 12 | 5 | 24 | 1 |
| 18 | Denver Regional Transportation District | RTD | 30 | 18 | 7 | 12 | 5 | 21 | 6 | 21 | 4 | 1 | 6 | 9 | 2 |
| 19 | The Greater Cleveland Regional Transit Authority | RTA | 28 | 18 | 7 | 23 | 2 | 6 | 9 | 11 | 5 | 18 | 4 | 25 | 1 |
| 20 | Dallas Area Rapid Transit | DART | 27 | 24 | 5 | 20 | 3 | 8 | 8 | 11 | 5 | 1 | 6 | 22 | 1 |
| 21 | Maryland Transit Administration | MDMTA | 27 | 21 | 6 | 17 | 3 | 6 | 9 | 23 | 3 | 18 | 4 | 15 | 2 |
| 22 | Minneapolis Minnesota Metro Transit | MNMetroTransit | 27 | 22 | 6 | 17 | 3 | 17 | 7 | 18 | 4 | 1 | 6 | 21 | 1 |
| 23 | King County Department of Metro Transit | KingMETRO | 26 | 23 | 5 | 22 | 2 | 8 | 8 | 11 | 5 | 18 | 4 | 19 | 2 |
| 24 | Metropolitan Transit Authority of Harris County, Texas | TXMETRO | 24 | 26 | 4 | 19 | 3 | 21 | 6 | 23 | 3 | 1 | 6 | 17 | 2 |
| 25 | Northeast Illinois Regional Commuter Railroad Corporation | METRA | 21 | 17 | 8 | 23 | 2 | 21 | 6 | 23 | 3 | 24 | 0 | 12 | 2 |
| 26 | Transportation & Public Work of Miami-Dade | Miami-Dade | 16 | 25 | 4 | 25 | 1 | 25 | 5 | 26 | 1 | 21 | 3 | 13 | 2 |
Citation
Citation for this data, figures, or graphs from this dashboard: The Johns Hopkins Disability Health Research Center Public Transit Dashboard (https://disabilityhealth.jhu.edu/transitdashboard/).
Contact Information
If you have questions or need the data in an alternate accessible format, you can contact us at [email protected].