Regardless of age or ability, persons want to maintain a level of freedom in their daily activities to ensure self-sufficiency and a desirable quality of life. Unfortunately, mobility and accessibility are two key elements of this freedom that often are compromised for older Americans and persons with disabilities because of non-compliant infrastructure and/or transportation services. To help improve these elements, TOA has assisted federal, state, and local agencies in implementing the provisions of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) of 1990 and subsequent revisions, and also has conducted numerous projects concerning accessible transportation systems and facilities, and innovative service designs.

TOA staff are certified by the International Code Council to conduct ADA compliance accessibility inspections and professional plans review, and offer a unique level of qualification to provide transit agencies with professional design and construction review services. TOA's plans review for ADA compliance consistently has saved clients time and money through discovery of non-compliance issues or omissions at early stages of design. Additionally, accessibility assessments have been completed for 400+ rail transportation facilities at more than 35 public transit agencies for the Federal Transit Administration (FTA) and thousands of bus stops for public transit providers, as well as for numerous public- and employee-use facilities of various configurations. Such assessments include review of all aspects of ADA-required accessibility elements, including accessible route; parking facilities; clearances, reach ranges, and clear path; elevators, stairs, ramps, curb ramps, and walkways; doorways, landings, and hardware; equipment access and use; entrance and egress routes; emergency evacuation; signage; and ADA-mandated operational requirements, among others. TOA also has extensive experience working with the disability community and has organized many successful public outreach activities. Staff also provides expert witness services with regard to ADA compliance.

A selection of TOA's ADA compliance and accessibility projects are provided below:

• FDOT Central Office Statewide Transit Accessibility Facilities Design Course (2010)
• FDOT District 1 Transit Facilities Design and ADA Training (2009)
• Maryland Transit Administration, ADA Technical Consulting Services (2009-ongoing)
• SFRTA ADA Technical Evaluation & Design Recommendations for Ticket Vending & Fare Collection Equipment (2009)
• MacDill AFB Building 153 ADA Design Review (w/TranSystems, 2008)
• Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority, ADA Vertical Transportation Project (2008-ongoing)
• TECO Streetcar Stations (Tampa) ADA Assessment & Remediation Report (w/TranSystems, 2008)
• HART Bus Stop & Facility Accessibility Study (2007)
• South Eastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority ADA Technical Oversight (w/Urban Engineers, 2005-ongoing)

Additional Information

TOA Florida Transit Experience (PDF)

TOA National Transit Experience (PDF)

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