Accommodations Legally Required for Disabled Travel

If one seeks to travel as a disabled person, there are various laws which require accomodations for disabled travel.  The following provides a basic overview of these laws.

Air Carrier Access Act

Under the Air Carrier Access Act, there are extensive protections for disabled persons.  While the following list is not all inclusive, some of the primary protections include the following:

• an airline cannot refuse air transportation on the basis of a disability
• an airline may not mandate that a disabled person give 90 days notice of traveling
• an airline cannot limit the number of disabled people on a given flight
• aircrafts which are new must include certain types of accomodations for disabled persons
• an airline cannot force a disabled person to travel with another, unless a very narrow exception applies
• an airline must provide storage for a disabled persons adaptive equipment, such as a wheelchair
• an airline must provide assistance with boarding and deboarding an aircraft
• an airline must provide training to assist with disabled passengers

Architectural Barriers Act

Under the Architectural Barriers Act, buildings which are built, renovated or leased with federal funds have to be accessible to disabled persons.  If the building is open to the public during one's travel, it must be accessible. This could include buildings as museums or any other governmental building open to the public.

Americans With Disabilities Act

Under Title III of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), businesses and entities which provide transportation services must provide accomodations to disabled persons.  For instance, hotels, restaurants, retail stores, stadiums, movie theaters, zoos and more must offer accomodations to assist the disabled.  In addition, private transportation providers must also provide accomodations.

Furthermore, Title II of the ADA may apply to those disabled persons traveling who use the public transit system in their travel plans. Under Title II, all city buses and public rail transit systems may not discriminate against people with disabilities.  In addition, if the system offers "paratransit," which is a service offered to those with physical and/or mental impairments, paratransit must be offered if the service does not present an undue burden to the public entity. This could also be helpful to a disabled person who requires the service during his or her travels if it is available and can be arranged prior to traveling.

Getting Legal Help

If one has been denied a guaranteed right when traveling as a disabled person, one should consult with an experienced disability attorney.  An attorney can help one determine whether there is a case and what course of action to take.