[Massachusetts-NFB] Submitting Public Comments on Federal Transit Administration Policy that Could Elliminate Ride Flex Uber and Lyft Offering Comment Required Today Thursday 2/13/25

Thu Feb 13 21:58:59 UTC 2025

Thank you Mika for acting on this and providing clear direction to everyone. It is a big loss to have that taken away from us.

Rashad
Sent from my iPhone. Please excuse brevity and typos.

On Feb 13, 2025, at 3:47 PM, Mika Pyyhkala via Massachusetts-NFB <massachusetts-nfb at nfbnet.org> wrote:

Hello,

Thanks to Rashad Saadieh of the Cambridge chapter for bringing this issue to our attention. There is a public comment period that ends today Thursday 2/13/25 regarding possible reductions in the MBTA Ride Flex Uber Lyft program and similar programs across the country.

In simple terms, the Federal Transit Administration FTA is considering adding alcohol and drug testing requirements to transportation network companies, TNC’s, like Uber and Lyft that provide paratransit services to riders with disabilities. Its likely that TNC’s like Uber and Lyft will elect not to perform this alcohol and drug testing of their independent contractor drivers. This could result in the MBTA and similar agencies around the country no longer being able to offer programs like Ride Flex that provide paratransit on demand same day service to riders with disabilities. In fact, the transit agency in New Jersey has already advised its consumers that the TNC partnership will end on 06/30/25 based on this proposed policy.

If programs like Ride Flex end in Boston and across the country, you may have to once again book your trips 24 hours in advance, and at very specific times set up in advance. There may also be a large economic cost if you continue to pay for TNC Uber and Lyft rides on your own without the MBTA subsidy. You may have out of pocket costs of $3,000 to $18,000 a year if you were to have to pay for these services on your own instead of using the $3 discounted ride Flex subsidized trip model. It may also take you a lot longer to get a ride in any given situation. For many, it could cause isolation and lack of ability to participate in many types of activities in the community from health care to shopping to employment to recreation.

If you want to ensure that you have continued uninterrupted paratransit subsidized access to Uber and Lyft, you may want to file a public comment and sign the petition below

Here are the basic instructions for you to first sign the petition which is quite simple, and then on filing a public comment through the FTA web site.

Option 1:
Sign the Petition! Tell the FTA to protect your access to transit rides
https://p2a.co/lTnFI0F
On this page, you will fill out basic information like your name, zip code, and email address. I found I had to enter my zip code before the page would accept the name field.
Once you sign the petition, you will be directed to the official public comment page, where you can optionally file a public comment. You can also reach that page through the web address shown below.

Option 2:
Access the Federal Register Web Page:
Federal Register :: Notice of Proposed Policy Statement Regarding the Applicability of FTA's Drug and Alcohol Testing Program to Transportation Network
Companies:
https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2024/12/30/2024-30966/notice-of-proposed-policy-statement-regarding-the-applicability-of-ftas-drug-and-alcohol-testing

Once on this page, activate the submit a public comment link, and follow the prompts to enter a comment.

You can read a lot more about this issue and preview other public comments on this page if you wish.

Note that if you have technical difficulties with either web  page, you can use a service like Aira to file the comment on your behalf.

Also again thanks to Rashad Saadieh for bringing this to our attention. Its an issue that is still off the radar for many people even who follow blindness public policies for a living as often happens given the volume of notices that are published in the federal register.

Mika Pyyhkala

Dir. of Digital Accessibility - BVI Workforce Innovation Center

Envision, Inc.

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