Resolution 2023-02 Regarding Disability Determination for Transit Services

WHEREAS, many people who use ADA paratransit services have permanent disabilities; and

WHEREAS, only certain professionals, often medical professionals, can determine certain disabilities, such as blindness; and

WHEREAS, many people with permanent disabilities do not regularly see medical professionals about their disability, because these professionals have nothing to offer them; and

WHEREAS, these professionals often charge an exorbitant fee simply to sign the eligibility certification, causing financial hardship for some people with disabilities; and

WHEREAS, many public transportation providers, such as the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA), require that eligibility for disability services be determined again and again, regardless of whether the disability has been determined to be permanent; and

WHEREAS, other services that require evidence of disability determination, such as library services for the blind and print-disabled, do not require that disability be determined or certified more than once: Now, therefore,

BE IT RESOLVED by the National Federation of the Blind of Maryland assembled this eleventh day of November, 2023, that we demand that  transit service providers, including MTA and WMATA, consider people with medically certified permanent disabilities eligible for service as long as they meet all other eligibility requirements and eliminate any policy requiring such customers of their services to repeatedly seek disability determination and certification.