Section 15-C. Accessible public transportation

1. Definitions. When used in
  this section:
    a.   "Transportation   provider"   shall  mean  the  Niagara  frontier
  transportation   authority,   the    Rochester-Genesee    transportation
  authority,  the  capital  district transportation authority, the central
  New York regional transportation authority, the Utica transit authority,
  the metropolitan suburban bus  authority,  Suffolk  county,  Westchester
  county and Broome county.
    b.  "Committee" shall mean the committee for accessible transportation
  established pursuant to subdivision two of this section.
    c. "Transit-disabled person" shall mean any individual who, by  reason
  of illness, age, injury, or congenital malfunction or other permanent or
  temporary   incapacity   or   disability,  is  unable,  without  special
  facilities, special planning or design, to utilize  mass  transportation
  facilities as effectively as members of the general public.
    d.  "Para-transit"  shall  mean  a transportation service specifically
  designed to serve the needs of transit disabled  persons  using  special
  vehicles operating on demand.
    e.  "Accessible  fixed-route service" shall mean a regularly scheduled
  fixed-route bus service  operated  by  a  transportation  provider  with
  lift-equipped transit buses.
    2.  Establishment  of committee. a. To assist in the development of an
  accessible   transportation   system,   a   committee   for   accessible
  transportation  shall  be  established for each transportation provider.
  Each  committee  shall  consist  of   seven   persons,   including   the
  commissioner  of transportation and the state advocate for the disabled,
  or their designee, and five persons appointed by the governor  including
  one  member  from the transportation provider and three transit-disabled
  persons. If the member appointed from the transportation provider ceases
  to be a member of the provider, such member shall at the same time cease
  to be a member of the committee. The commissioner of transportation,  or
  the commissioner's designee, shall serve as chairperson.
    b.   Members   of  the  committee,  other  than  the  commissioner  of
  transportation and the state advocate for the disabled, shall  serve  at
  the  pleasure  of the governor. If at any time there is a vacancy in the
  membership  of  the  committee  by   reason   of   death,   resignation,
  disqualification, or otherwise, such vacancy shall be filled in the same
  manner as the original appointment.
    c.  A  majority  of the whole number of members of the committee shall
  constitute a quorum for the transaction of the committee's business. The
  committee shall have the power to act by a majority vote of the members.
    d. Meetings of the committee shall take place no less than once  every
  two  months  for a period of fifteen months following the effective date
  of this section unless waived, in writing, by a  majority  vote  of  the
  members  of  the  committee.  Within  such  fifteen  month  period,  the
  committee shall, in addition to its regular meetings, hold no less  than
  two  public  meetings  at  which  the  committee shall receive testimony
  concerning service needs. Thereafter, regular meetings of the  committee
  shall  take  place  no  less  than  every three months unless waived, in
  writing, by a majority vote of the members of the committee.
    3. Committee responsibilities. a. Each committee shall, by July first,
  nineteen  hundred  ninety-one,  develop  an  accessible   transportation
  services  plan  to  provide  for accessible transportation services at a
  level sufficient to meet demand in an  economic  and  efficient  manner,
  which   coordinates,   to   the   maximum  extent  possible,  accessible
  fixed-route services, para-transit, accessible rapid transit, and  other
  transportation   services  available  to  transit-disabled  persons,  as
  appropriate.

    b. The accessible transportation services plan shall  include  service
  criteria for the provision of para-transit services.
    c. The plan shall also include:
    (i)   service   areas  and  routes  which  shall  reflect  residential
  distributions of transit-disabled persons  and  existing  transportation
  services  operating  in  the transportation provider's service area that
  are accessible to transit-disabled persons;
    (ii) eligibility for use of para-transit;
    (iii) hours and days of operation;
    (iv) available financing, including farebox revenue;
    (v) passenger and mileage data;
    (vi) vehicle hours of operation;
    (vii) a financial analysis and comparison  of  projected  capital  and
  operating  costs,  a  revenue  plan to cover any additional costs within
  resources otherwise available  to  the  transportation  provider  and  a
  determination   of   the   effectiveness   of  any  proposed  accessible
  fixed-route service and alternative para-transit; and
    (viii) any other information deemed appropriate. The  committee  shall
  consult  on  such  plan with the metropolitan planning organization, and
  following  such  consultation,  shall  recommend   the   plan   to   the
  transportation provider for implementation.
    4. Required level of fixed-route accessibility. a. Each transportation
  provider   shall   provide   access   to  one  hundred  percent  of  its
  regularly-operated buses that provide  local,  fixed-route  service.  To
  implement  this  requirement  on  and  after  the effective date of this
  section, all buses purchased, leased or otherwise brought  into  service
  on  the bus lines of each transportation provider shall be lift-equipped
  except any bus which a provider has under contract of purchase  on  July
  first,  nineteen  hundred  ninety  for  delivery  after  that date. Such
  lift-equipped  buses  shall  be  properly  operated  and  maintained  to
  facilitate their use by transit-disabled persons.
    b.  The  provisions of paragraph a of this subdivision shall not apply
  to buses that are purchased, leased or otherwise  brought  into  service
  that have a useful life of six years or less.
    5. Required level of para-transit service. a. Within thirty days after
  the  submission  of  the  accessible  transportation  services plan, the
  transportation provider shall, with respect to that portion of the  plan
  setting  forth  service  criteria for para-transit service, approve such
  criteria, request amendments to the criteria or reject such criteria. If
  the transportation provider approves the criteria, it shall  proceed  to
  implement   such  criteria.  If  the  transportation  provider  requests
  amendments to the criteria, the committee shall  consider  such  request
  and,  no  later  than  thirty days following such request, submit either
  amended criteria or the initial criteria. Within fifteen  days  of  such
  submission,  the  transportation provider shall either approve or reject
  the criteria, as resubmitted. If the transportation provider rejects the
  criteria, it shall be subject to the provisions of paragraph b  of  this
  subdivision.  This  schedule  may  be  modified by mutual consent of the
  committee and the transportation provider.
    b. If a transportation provider rejects the service criteria submitted
  by the committee, the transportation  provider  shall,  subject  to  the
  provisions  of  paragraphs  c  and  d  of  this subdivision, provide the
  following minimum level of para-transit service:
    (i)  For  transportation  providers  operating  up  to  fifty   buses,
  para-transit services shall operate with a para-transit fleet of no less
  than  ten  percent  of the provider's fixed route fleet, but in no event
  less than one vehicle;

    (ii) For transportation providers operating fifty-one to  one  hundred
  buses,  para-transit services shall operate with a para-transit fleet of
  no less than eight percent of the provider's fixed route fleet,  but  in
  no event less than five vehicles;
    (iii)  For  transportation  providers operating one hundred one to one
  hundred  fifty  buses,  para-transit  services  shall  operate  with   a
  para-transit  fleet  of no less than six percent of the provider's fixed
  route fleet, but in no event less than eight vehicles; and
    (iv) For transportation providers operating in excess of  one  hundred
  fifty  buses,  para-transit  services  shall operate with a para-transit
  fleet of no less than five percent of the provider's fixed route  fleet,
  but in no event less than nine vehicles.
    c.   Each  provider  shall  begin  implementing  the  requirements  of
  paragraph a of this subdivision upon the committee's  submission  of  an
  accessible  transportation  service  plan and shall fully implement such
  requirements no later than three years  thereafter;  provided,  however,
  that  each  provider  must fully implement such requirements by December
  first, nineteen hundred ninety-four.
    d. In no event shall  the  amount  of  a  provider's  expenditures  on
  para-transit services be less than the amount allocated for para-transit
  services  in  a  provider's budget for the year nineteen hundred ninety,
  unless agreed to by the committee.
    6. Committee reports. On or before February  first,  nineteen  hundred
  ninety-three,  each committee shall submit a report to the governor, the
  president pro tem of the senate, and the speaker of the assembly,  which
  details  the  progress of the committee in addressing the transportation
  needs of persons with disabilities and  which  presents  the  accessible
  transportation  services plan developed by the committee and recommended
  to  the  metropolitan  planning  organization  and  the   transportation
  provider.
    7.   Technical  assistance.  The  committee  shall  receive  technical
  assistance from the metropolitan planning organization,  the  department
  of  transportation,  the  transportation  provider,  the  office  of the
  advocate for the disabled, and any other state agency that it determines
  appropriate.
    8. The committee may, by vote of two-thirds of its  members  cease  to
  exist   at  any  time  after  December  thirty-first,  nineteen  hundred
  ninety-five.
    9. The commissioner of  transportation  is  authorized  to  promulgate
  regulations to carry out the provisions of this section.