CRAWFORD ET AL. v. CITY OF JACKSON (MS) AND CITY OF JACKSON PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION SYSTEM (JATRAN)
A CASE STUDY

On March 30, 2010 a consent decree was reached between the U.S. Department of Justice and the City of Jackson, Mississippi and their public transit system, JATRAN, addressing compliance with the transit provisions of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). This consent decree came as the result of a long and well planned campaign to address the city’s transit barriers for riders with disabilities.  Scott M. Crawford, Ph.D. and Living Independence for Everyone (LIFE) of Mississippi, a center for independent living headquartered in Jackson, were at the center of this campaign.
During the first few months of 2007, LIFE of Mississippi began receiving numerous transit-based complaints from their consumers who use the JATRAN bus system, particularly from consumers who were blind. The center noticed patterns in the complaints, and began to document and categorize those complaints. LIFE served as a state affiliate for the DBTAC Southeast ADA Center for many years and had received training on the transit provisions of the ADA. Consequently, staff members were very familiar with ADA transit requirements and frequently provided technical assistance on accessibility issues.
At the same time, Dr. Crawford, a retired clinical psychologist with progressive multiple sclerosis, had initiated his own individual advocacy campaign. He had recently moved to Jackson and experienced numerous problems in accessing the bus service. Crawford uses a power wheelchair and was regularly stranded on the side of the road when wheelchair lifts on the JATRAN fixed route buses malfunctioned and alternative transportation required by the ADA never arrived. He attempted to use JATRAN’s paratransit system but found it difficult to get through to the reservation line and found reservation operators unresponsive to his requests for next day service, a requirement of the ADA. They frequently told him they were already booked and had no space available. Crawford began making phone calls and writing emails and letters to various transit and city officials but saw no improvement. He then began taking his camera on transit outings and used it to document everything. He also researched the ADA regulations on accessible transit.
Meanwhile, LIFE of Mississippi, led by executive director Christy Dunaway and assisted by Rev. Sam Gleese, a LIFE consumer and JATRAN rider who is blind, decided to hold a public forum at LIFE offices in April of 2007, inviting representatives from JATRAN and the City of Jackson to meet with riders with disabilities to hear their concerns. JATRAN officials attended but City officials did not. During the forum, rider complaints were identified and LIFE presented potential solutions to address these concerns. Representatives from the Mississippi Council for the Blind Jackson Chapter attended the public forum on behalf of their consumers, starting a relationship between this organization and LIFE. At the forum, JATRAN officials responded to the complaints by stating that they were constrained by a lack of funding. Because of these funding limitations, Dunaway realized LIFE would have to turn their advocacy efforts toward the city where all funding decisions were made. Attempts were again made to contact the mayor, Frank Melton, who remained unresponsive.
Following the forum, LIFE and Dr. Crawford joined forces. Dr. Crawford proved to be a new, fresh, well-informed, articulate, energized rider with a disability who was ready to take the lead.  Crawford filed his first FTA complaint on June 21, 2007. Additional complaints to the FTA followed. Through his research Crawford discovered that basic ADA requirements were absent in the City of Jackson. The City did not have an ADA coordinator and had no grievance procedure, both of which are required by the ADA for all state and local government entities with 50 or more employees. Crawford made numerous inquiries of the city regarding an ADA coordinator. He spoke to city council numerous times. With no response from City Hall, Crawford and Dunaway filed their first complaint with the Department of Justice (DOJ) under Title II of the ADA on September 12, 2007. In the end, Crawford would file a total of 25 formal complaints with the FTA and DOJ. Crawford gave his first interview to the local newspaper in August 2007. Other media stories soon followed.
Dunaway continued to try to get an audience with the mayor but had no success. She and Crawford decided to hold a peaceful protest in front of City Hall on September 18, 2007. At this point, LIFE’s resources were a very valuable tool. LIFE organized their consumers for a strong showing at the protest. They focused on three demands: 1) appointment of an ADA coordinator for the city, 2) appointment of an ADA advisory council, and 3) a promise by the city to work more closely with LIFE to improve accessibility on the bus system. Dunaway took steps to ensure the presence of local media.
During the protest, Frank Melton, the mayor of Jackson, emerged and talked with the protestors on the steps of City Hall with media cameras rolling.  Mayor Melton promised that the city would meet all three of their demands. His promises were recorded on camera. 
On October 1, 2007, Rev. Sam Gleese was appointed as the ADA coordinator for the City of Jackson. An ADA advisory council was formed in October of 2007 which advised city administration on their general Title II ADA responsibilities as well as their ADA responsibilities related to transit.  In early 2008, LIFE of Mississippi entered into a contract with the City of Jackson to provide training to transit personnel in ADA transit regulations, lift and securement usage, and disability etiquette. These trainings began in mid-2008 and continue today.
Meanwhile, Dr. Crawford completed an audit of JATRAN bus stops and connecting public rights-of-way over four months in early 2008. LIFE donated several of their AmeriCorps volunteers to assist Dr. Crawford. The group identified inaccessible bus stops, missing and noncompliant curb cuts, unreachable crosswalk signals and non-compliant crosswalks, and non-existent and impassable sidewalks, all of which were requiring wheelchair users to navigate the streets for passage. Overall, the situation was unsafe. In fact, James Smith was killed on March 19, 2009 when he was struck by an SUV while riding his power wheelchair down the shoulder of a Jackson road. No accessible sidewalks were available.
Despite ongoing advocacy efforts, JATRAN continued to abandon Dr. Crawford on the side of the road because fixed route bus lifts frequently didn’t work. JATRAN often failed to send accessible vehicles to provide alternative service. Many other Jackson riders were still being denied paratransit services due to capacity constraints. In addition, the new ADA Coordinator made little progress because of the need to get approval from many different offices before proceeding. Meanwhile, the only response Dr. Crawford had received from the FTA to his ADA complaints was a letter stating that they would not be able to send an investigator to Jackson for another year.
Because of this lack of action, Dr. Crawford and ten other individuals, along with the Mississippi Coalition for Citizens with Disabilities and the Mississippi Council for the Blind Jackson Chapter, filed a class action lawsuit against the City of Jackson and the City of Jackson Public Transportation System (JATRAN) on September 23, 2008. LIFE of Mississippi was not named as a plaintiff because they already had a contractual relationship with the city to provide training to JATRAN personnel and felt that they could best contribute by working within the system. The plaintiffs held a press conference to notify the community about the lawsuit.
The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) sent a team from their Disability Rights Section to interview the plaintiffs in November 2008. On June 23, 2009 DOJ filed an unopposed Motion to Intervene and on July 27, 2009 filed its Complaint in Intervention. 
The Complaint in Intervention alleged that the City of Jackson and JATRAN violated Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act in the following manner:
1. Failure to maintain, promptly repair, and keep vehicle lifts in operative condition
2. Failure to promptly provide alternative transportation to individuals with disabilities in any case in which a vehicle is operating on a fixed route with an inoperative lift and the headway to the next accessible vehicle exceeds 30 minutes
3. Failure to train personnel to proficiency so that they operate vehicles and equipment safely and properly assist and treat individuals with disabilities who use the service in a respectful and courteous way
4. Failure to provide paratransit services to individuals with disabilities that are sufficient to provide a level of service which is comparable to the level of service provided to individuals without disabilities who use JATRAN’s fixed route system
5. Failure to schedule and provide paratransit service to any ADA paratransit eligible person at any requested time on a particular day in response to a request for service made the previous day
6. Failure to plan to meet paratransit demand
7. Capacity constraints significantly limiting the availability of service to ADA paratransit eligible persons, including substantial numbers of trip denials, missed trips, significantly untimely pickups for initial or return trips, trips with excessive trip length and telephone reservation capacity constraints, including busy signals and long telephone hold times.

A consent decree was reached March 30, 2010 and is effective for five years. The resulting settlement provides specific and detailed requirements addressing each of the above points including provisions regarding wheelchair lifts and ramps, preventative maintenance, alternative transportation, bus operator conduct, paratransit service, paratransit demand, training, ADA coordinator, complaint procedures, public outreach, and data maintenance and reporting.  For the full consent decree, please see http://www.ada.gov/jackson_transit.htm .

Since the consent decree, some progress has been made in Jackson while some issues remain unresolved and new issues have developed. Jackson riders with disabilities report that the purchase of new buses resulted in improved access to lifts and ramps and that the new management company has been more responsive. However, riders indicate that paratransit capacity has not increased and callers attempting to make reservations on paratransit are still being turned away. Also, the city and JATRAN have missed several deadlines established by the consent decree.
In December 2010, JATRAN’s threat of drastic cuts in routes and service across the board in response to budget problems met with community uproar. While not an ADA issue, riders with disabilities vehemently protested on the grounds that these cuts might impact compliance with the consent decree. As a result, the cuts were tabled. Nevertheless, budget problems persist so this dispute remains unresolved.
© Meeting the Challenge, Inc. 2011