TRANSPORTATION

THE ALABAMA DISABILITIES ACTION COALITION
2003 ISSUES AND POSITIONS

Facts about ADAC

The Alabama Disabilities Action Coalition is a non-partisan coalition of individuals with disabilities and organizations representing them. ADAC was founded in the early 1990's as a local Birmingham group organized to conduct candidates' forums to inform local and state officeholders about issues and needs of individuals with disabilities. ADAC seeks to build a broad based statewide coalition of all people with disabilities in order to bring about positive changes in attitude among people without disabilities.

ISSUE

Implementation of Accessible Public Transportation

In Alabama, there are many individuals with a chronic illness or disability who do not have access to a car or can no longer drive. To maintain high quality of life, people with disabilities need the services of an effective public transportation system in order to access jobs, public services and goods and services of private businesses. Although some of the larger communities provide some transportation services, most areas of Alabama have no access to public transportation. Currently, Alabama is one of only seven states that receives no state funds for this much needed service. Alabama’s Senator Richard Shelby has secured millions of dollars of federal money for public transit. However, Alabama cannot use this money until state funds are provided for the federal match.

ADAC is currently working with other organizations to organize a state program for transportation advocacy.

Transportation facts provided by Alabama ARISE Citizens’ Policy Project:

• Nearly 700,000 Alabamians are defined as “transportation-disadvantaged.”
• Currently, 17 counties, with over a fourth of the state’s population, are not served by fixed route transit systems. Most of these counties are rural, but the list also includes Mobile, Montgomery, and Tuscaloosa, which have city transit systems that can’t deliver residents to jobs outside the city limits.
• Rural transit providers surveyed by the Federal Transportation Administration reported that employment and human service agencies were the leading destinations for rural riders. One fifth of all trips were work-related; 17% provided access to human services, including nutrition programs; and 14% were connected to health care. Providers reported that most passengers en route to healthcare facilities were elderly or disabled.
• 47% of urban riders are “unable to drive” because of “physical disability.”
• The American Public Transportation Association estimates that 54.4% of trips on urban public transit are for the “purposes of making a living.”

The ADAC Position

Members of ADAC support adequate funding for a transportation system throughout Alabama that is fully accessible to everyone and incorporates universal design. ADAC supports a constitutional amendment that would allow fuel and gas taxes to be spent on public transportation, which would provide the state match necessary to securing federal money. ADAC also supports a system of light rail between all major cities in Alabama.

According to the Federal Highway Administration, only 1.8% of Alabama’s highways were in “poor” or “mediocre” condition in 1996. The argument that our “crumbling” highways require all of the $440 million generated by uses taxes is open to challenge.