37.61 Public transportation programs and activities in existing
facilities.
(a) A public entity shall operate a designated public transportation program
or activity conducted in an existing facility so that, when viewed in its
entirety, the program or activity is readily accessible to and usable by
individuals with disabilities.
(b) This section does not require a public entity to make structural changes
to existing facilities in order to make the facilities accessible by individuals
who use wheelchairs, unless and to the extent required by 37.43 (with respect
to alterations) or 37.47 or 37.51 of this part (with respect to key stations).
Entities shall comply with other applicable accessibility requirements for
such facilities.
(c) Public entities, with respect to facilities that, as provided in paragraph
(b) of this section, are not required to be made accessible to individuals
who use wheelchairs, are not required to provide to such individuals services
made available to the general public at such facilities when the individuals
could not utilize or benefit from the services.
This section implements section 228(a) of the ADA and establishes
the general requirement for entities to operate their transportation facilities
in a manner that, when viewed in its entirety, are accessible to and usable
by individuals with disabilities. The section clearly excludes from
this requirement access by persons in wheelchairs, unless these changes would
be necessitated by the alterations or key station provisions. This
provision is intended to cover activities and programs of an entity that
do not rise to the level of alteration. Even if an entity is not making
alterations to a facility, it has a responsibility to conduct its program
in an accessible manner. Examples of possible activities include user
friendly farecards, schedules, of edge detection on rail platforms, adequate
lighting, telecommunication display devices (TDDs) or text telephones, and
other accommodations for use by persons with speech and hearing impairments,
signage for people with visual impairments, continuous pathways for persons
with visual and ambulatory impairments, and public address systems and clocks.
The Department did not prescribe one list of things that would be appropriate
for all stations. For example, we believe that tactile strips are a
valuable addition to platforms which have drop-offs. We also believe
that most larger systems, to the extent they publish schedules, should make
those schedules readily available in alternative formats. We encourage
entities to find this another area which benefits from its commitment to
far-reaching public participation efforts.