Stephanie Speaker has spent the past eight years campaigning for expansions to paratransit, the accessible bus system for people with disabilities. This year, the state has committed $750,000 to study the NFTA's paratransit system.
The main focus of Speaker's advocacy has been the range that paratransit travels. Paratransit buses will pick people up from locations within three-fourths of a mile of a bus-metro route or station. It is designed to provide access for riders, along the route of regular NFTA busses.
The problem, Speaker says, is if you don't live within this range, or have a safe location you can be picked up from within this range, paratransit is not accessible.
Speaker has been pushing for the state to expand the range, which is currently at the federal minimum, to three miles. State Sen. Tim Kennedy sponsored the bill, known informally as "Stephanie's Bill" or S5092 in the State Senate, in 2021.
There are previous versions of this bill, including:
- Senate Bill S6027A, introduced by Robert Ortt in 2017, would have expanded the range to 1.5 miles. This bill made it as far as the transportation committee and was co-sponsored by Kennedy and Patrick Gallivan.
Senate Bill S510, introduced by Kennedy in 2019, would have also expanded the range to 1.5 miles. This also made it to the transportation committee, and the committee voted 14-1 in favor. It was co-sponsored by Ortt, Gallivan, Chris Jacobs, and then Sen. Michael Ranzenhofer.
The current bill has also made it to the transportation committee, and was voted on, 13-0 in favor. The bill has also gained new co-sponsors in addition to Ortt and Gallivan's continued support. George Borrello, Andrew Gounardes, Daphne Jordan, Todd Kaminsky, John Mannion, Zellnor Myrie, and Rachel May have now joined as co-sponsors.
