In enacting the landmark civil rights legislation the Americans with Dis-abilities Act (“ADA”), Congress recognized that accessible public transportation was “the linchpin which enables people with disabilities to be integrated and mainstreamed into society.” S. Rep. No. 101-116, at 13 (1989). Yet more than 30 years after the passage of the ADA, not one legacy public transit system in the United States is fully accessible to people with mobility disabilities. Boston (76% accessible), Chicago (71% accessible), Philadelphia (74% accessible), and New York City (31% accessible) have failed to provide complete stair-free access despite multiple federal laws designed for that very goal. Disability rights advocates fought for decades for the expansive protections of the Americans with Disabilities Act and its predecessor, Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act. This Article explains how excessively narrow judicial decisions have nevertheless contributed to the current state of widespread inaccessibility.
Part I of this Article considers the importance of accessible transportation as a civil right essential to ending pervasive and longstanding discrimination against people with disabilities. Part II examines the long history of disability rights advocacy that led to federal legislation and regulations in-tended to remedy persistent discrimination in transportation against people with disabilities. Part III reviews the ADA’s transportation mandates. Part IV highlights how courts have interpreted these laws too narrowly to actually achieve transportation accessibility. Part V surveys the effect of inadequate federal enforcement in practice in Boston, Chicago, Philadelphia, and New York, and the resulting inaccessibility today. Finally, Part VI suggests strategies for advocacy to remedy this enduring discrimination.