Arizona Center for Disability Law

In July 2005, U.S. District Court Judge John Roll approved, in an order,  a  Settlement Agreement between the Arizona Center for Disability Law (Center) and the City of Tucson (City) ending a class action lawsuit filed against the City over three years ago.  Plaintiffs in this case are individuals with disabilities who utilize Van Tran, the City’s paratransit service.  Paratransit is a comparable public transit service required by the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) for persons with disabilities who are unable to ride the city bus system because of their disabilities.

The Center brought the lawsuit after receiving numerous complaints about poor service including: numerous denials of requests for paratransit rides; denial of next-day paratransit service; too early or too late pick ups on a substantial number of occasions; excessive trip lengths; and refusal to schedule paratransit rides at the time of request.

The Settlement Agreement provides for:

w Jurisdiction by the U.S. District Court to enforce the terms of the settlement agreement.

w Performance standards for trip denial rates, on-time pick ups, and trip lengths.

w Annual Center input in the City’s paratransit budget and planning process.

w Submission of monthly compliance reports to the Center to verify operating performance.

The 23-page Settlement Agreement also includes a denial of wrongdoing by the City as well as an acknowledgment that the City has made significant, good faith efforts to improve Van Tran before and after the lawsuit was filed.