The ADA Specifies Three Categories of Eligibility
To qualify for Paratransit service, a person must meet the criteria of at least one category. Eligibility for Complementary Paratransit Service is directly related to the inability of a person with a disability to use the existing fixed-route service.
Category 1
Paratransit eligibility under Category 1 includes those persons who are unable to use fully accessible fixed-route services. This would include any person who is unable, as a result of a physical (including vision) or mental impairment, and without the assistance of another individual to access, board, ride and disembark from the fixed-route system.
Category 2
Eligibility under Category 2 includes individuals who need the assistance of a wheelchair lift or other boarding assistance device, and are able with such
assistance to board, ride and disembark from any vehicle which is readily accessible.
Category 3
Eligibility under Category 3 includes any individual with a disability who has a specific impairment-related condition which prevents such an individual from traveling to a boarding location or from a disembarking location on such a system.
Any of these categories include temporary or permanent disabilities that can be verified by a qualified health care professional or rehabilitation professional. This includes having a disability that prevents you from doing things such as identifying your bus
Eligibility depends on the nature of the disability and the routes you wish to travel. Eligibility may be permanent or temporary depending on the disability and whether or not you could learn to use the fixed-route system by participating in travel training.
How To Apply: ADA Certification and ADA Paratransit Service
Individuals interested in using Paratransit must first be determined eligible for the service. The eligibility review considers each person’s functional ability to use the fixed-route bus. If a disability or health condition prevents you from using the fixed-route bus under any condition, you might be determined “fully” eligible. If you can use the fixed-route buses some of the time, but not at other times, you will be determined “conditionally” eligible for those trips that you cannot make by bus.
To receive information about the ADA eligibility process or start the process, call
the Center for Independent Living (CIL) at (352) 378-7474, and ask to make an ADA certification appointment. If you need translation services for the ADA certification appointment, please make that request when the ADA appointment is booked and state the language that is needed.
If there is enough time before your appointment, ask to be mailed or faxed a “Professional Verification Form.” This form is used to help the CIL make the
determination as to whether your disability will qualify you to be ADA certified and must be signed by a healthcare professional.
The appointment will take approximately one hour. If the Professional Verification
Form was sent to you before your appointment, and you have had your doctor
complete the form, you will need to bring it with you to your appointment. You also need to bring a current picture ID, if available.
If you are not able to get the Professional Verification Form filled out and signed
prior to your appointment, the CIL staff can fax or mail it to your healthcare
provider. Once you have made the Certification appointment with the CIL,
call RTS at (352) 393-7433 option 1 for customer Service and tell the reservationist you have a certification appointment at the Center for Independent Living. Be prepared to give them your address, phone number and the date of your trip. RTS will provide one roundtrip on paratransit at no charge to the Center for Independent Living (CIL).
When the healthcare provider returns the completed form, the application completed with the CIL staff will be reviewed and your ADA eligibility will be determined.
After your application is completed, a professional verification form is signed and
your disability is verified, the CIL has up to 21 days to determine your ADA eligibility. Most of the time it does not take the full 21 days to complete the eligibility process; however, if it takes longer than 10 business days, the professional verification is usually the reason.
Once the CIL has determined your eligibility, they will mail you a written
notification, and if you are determined eligible, also your identification card. This
card will specify your expiration date and whether you are eligible for a personal care attendant (PCA). The CIL Transportation Program Director makes the final
determination of eligibility in all cases.
Applicants are granted presumptive eligibility if a determination of eligibility has not been made within 21 calendar days of the submission of a completed
application and completed professional verification form. Service for the applicant will be provided and the applicant will be presumed eligible until and unless the determination is complete and the person is found to be ineligible. An application is considered to be complete once the person has provided all of the information required, and the applicant’s healthcare provider has completed the professional verification form. Once all information has been received, the 21-day review process will begin.
If You Are Not ADA Eligible
You may appeal any decision that declares you ineligible. Instructions for filing an appeal will be included in your notification letter. All appeals will be heard by an independent appeals committee. If you do not wish to have the in-person hearing, you may waive the in-person hearing and proceed on the basis of a written presentation. If the eligibility determination takes longer than 30 days
to decide after completion of the appeals process paratransit service will be provided from that time until a decision to deny the appeal is issued.