49 CFR Parts 37 and 38 -- Transportation for Individuals With Disabilities at Intercity, Commuter, and High Speed Passenger Railroad Station Platforms; Miscellaneous Amendments, Preamble

NPRM

Under the Department's current ADA rule, transportation providers are required to permit only wheelchairs meeting the definition of a “common wheelchair” onto their vehicles. A common wheelchair is defined by weight (not more than 600 pounds, including the occupant) and dimensional (30 x 48 inches) criteria. The “common wheelchair” originated as a design concept, answering the question of what a vehicle lift should be designed to accommodate, but has also been applied as an operational concept, permitting a transit operator to exclude from its vehicles wheelchairs that do not meet the weight and dimensional criteria. This effect of the current regulation was confirmed in Kiernan v. Utah Transit Authority (339 F.3d 1217, 10th Cir., 2003), where the court determined that the transit authority could exclude from its vehicles a wheelchair that did not meet the common wheelchair criteria, even if the vehicle could physically accommodate the device. The NPRM asked for comment on this and related issues.