36 CFR Part 1192 Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) Accessibility Guidelines for Transportation Vehicles (2016 Non-Rail Vehicle Guidelines) - Preamble

T103 Definitions

In the 2010 NPRM, the Access Board proposed to remove several outdated or redundant definitions in the existing guidelines, including the definition of the term “common wheelchairs and mobility aids.” Three transit agencies recommended that the Access Board retain this definition in the final rule, while another urged the Board to work with the Department of Transportation (DOT) to update the definition of “wheelchair” in DOT’s own regulations for ADA-covered vehicles. One transit agency described the term as serving as a “reliable measure” for transit operators.

The Access Board believes that commenters’ concerns about removal of this term from the transportation vehicle guidelines are misplaced. Deletion of the phrase “common wheelchair and mobility aids” will not leave transit agencies or others without guidance on what constitutes a “wheelchair” or other mobility aid. Rather, the practical effect of removing this definition means that the 2016 Non-Rail Vehicle Guidelines will, instead, look to the definition of “wheelchair” in DOT’s regulations for ADA-covered transportation vehicles. See T103.2 (providing that undefined terms, if expressly defined in DOT regulations, shall be interpreted according to those meanings). DOT’s definition of “wheelchair,” in turn, is similar to the definition of “common wheelchairs and mobility aids” in the existing guidelines, with the exception that its definition does not provide spatial and weight specifications for wheelchairs or mobility aids. Compare 49 CFR 37.3 (DOT definition of “wheelchair”) with 36 CFR 1192.3 (definition of “common wheelchairs and mobility aids” in existing guidelines).¹⁵

The Board is aware that some transit agencies have, in the past, used the definition of “common wheelchairs and mobility aids” inappropriately to exclude certain wheelchairs and mobility devices from buses or vans, even when such devices could be accommodated within the vehicle. To the extent transit agencies are concerned that deletion of this definition in the Access Board’s transportation vehicle guidelines will mean they can no longer determine what size wheelchairs or mobility devices are eligible for bus service, existing DOT regulation already address this issue: “The entity may not deny transportation to a wheelchair or its user on the ground that the device cannot be secured or restrained satisfactorily by the vehicle's securement system.” 49 CFR 36.165(d). If DOT wishes to include a definition for “common wheelchair” in its regulations for other reasons, DOT can certainly do so. Comments on this subject should be directed to DOT when it commences a rulemaking to update its own regulations for ADA-covered transportation vehicles. 

To provide clarity and consistency, several new terms have also been added to the definitions section (T103) in the 2016 Non-Rail Vehicle Guidelines. These terms are: boarding platform, fixed route service (or fixed route), large transit entity, large non-rail vehicle, small non-rail vehicle, and non-rail vehicle. Generally speaking, these terms (or their related concepts) were present in the proposed rule, but appeared in scattered scoping or technical provisions. For convenience and clarity, these terms are now centrally defined in T103. Each term is briefly discussed below.

“Boarding platform” is a new term for which definition was needed because the final rule, for the first time, addresses accessibility requirements for level boarding bus systems. A “boarding platform” is defined as a platform “raised above standard curb height in order to align vertically with the transit vehicle entry for level boarding and alighting.” (Though not expressly defined, the 2010 NPRM used the term “station platform” in the context of requirements for level boarding bus systems.)

“Fixed route” is defined in the 2016 Non-Rail Vehicle Guidelines because the existing definition (which is incorporated from DOT regulations) references “fixed route systems,” whereas the final rule refers to fixed route “services” or simply “fixed routes.” In all other respects, the definition of “fixed route” has the same meaning as the existing guidelines.

The term “large transit entity” has been added in order to simplify the scoping and technical requirements for automated announcement systems, but it does not alter their meaning or application. As before, only public transportation providers that operate 100 or more buses in annual maximum service for all fixed route bus modes, as reported to the National Transit Database, are subject to the automated announcement system requirement.

“Large non-rail vehicle” and “small non-rail vehicle” had previously been defined in Chapter 2’s scoping provisions. For clarity, these “definitions” were moved to the definitions section in the final rule. In all respects, however, the terms have the same meaning as in the proposed rule. “Large non-rail vehicles” are vehicles more than 25 feet in length, as measured from standard bumper to standard bumper, and “small non-rail vehicles” are vehicles equal to or less than 25 feet in length. In the existing guidelines, 22 feet is the maximum length for small vehicles. A manufacturer noted, in response to the 2010 NPRM, that newer van designs have safety bumpers and frontal crash protection features that increase the vehicle length beyond 22 feet, but provide no additional passenger space. Consequently, while their currently available production models of vans and small buses qualify as large vehicles under the existing 22-foot threshold, compliance with certain accessibility requirements applicable to large vehicles (e.g., provision of two wheelchair spaces) is not practical due to limited interior space. This commenter recommended that the Access Board increase the threshold for distinguishing between small and large vehicles from 22 feet to 25 feet. The Access Board believes this commenters’ concerns are well taken, and, accordingly, has increased the size threshold for large non-rail vehicles in the final rule. The Board does not expect this change to have a cost impact. Rather, this revision to the regulatory definition of “large non-rail vehicle” is only intended to address the problem of small vans or buses being inadvertently “reclassified” as large vehicles due to exterior safety features that increase a vehicle’s bumper-to-bumper length without any accompanying expansion of interior passenger space.

Lastly, a definition of “non-rail vehicle” has been added to the final rule to clarify that this term, when used in the context of the 2016 Non-Rail Vehicle Guidelines, is intended to collectively refer only to those types of transportation vehicles that are addressed in these revised guidelines—namely, buses, OTRBs, and vans. By so defining “non-rail vehicle” in the final rule, potential confusion is avoided with the far broader definition of the term in DOT’s existing regulations for ADA-covered transportation vehicles, which includes, among other things, public rail transportation. See 49 CFR 37.3.