Special Needs Transportation NAICS 485991

Mar 13, 2025 - Paratransit Rideshare Advocates Oppose New FTA Drug-Test Rule

• Paratransit services nationwide could hit a speedbump in 2025 if the Federal Transportation Authority (FTA) adopts a proposed rule requiring rideshare companies who participate in paratransit programs to drug test drivers. Paratransit - demand-driven, door-to-door public transportation services for those with disabilities - is required under the Americans with Disabilities Act. Recent partnerships with rideshare companies like Lyft and Uber to broaden paratransit offerings beyond buses and trains are now available in about 80 cities across the US. The FTA said it erred in not making rideshare driver testing a condition of partnering with a transit agency to offer paratransit services. Industry pushback against the change has been aggressive, with many rideshare companies arguing they already have safety procedures in place and the FTA rule adds a redundant safety layer and increases costs, which could force them to end paratransit partnerships.
• The US Department of Energy/Energy Information Administration (DOE/EIA) retail diesel fuel price decreased 37.3 cents per gallon during the 52-week period ending on December 30, 2024, to $3.503 per gallon. The benchmark retail diesel price was $3.876 a gallon on January 1, 2024. The relative stability of the recent market alongside the overall weakness of prices this year can be seen in the fact that the December 30 DOE/EIA price is the highest in four weeks, even as it is also the fifth lowest recorded in 2024, according to FreightWaves.

• About 96% of transit agencies surveyed by the American Public Transportation Association reported a workforce shortage, and 84% of those reporting a shortage said that it is affecting their ability to provide service. Shortages are most acute at entities serving large, urbanized areas and/or with greater ridership, but reports from across the country indicate that the shortage has forced service reductions regardless of ridership size, service area population, or fleet. Shortages of operators and mechanics are particularly acute.
• Total revenue for transit and ground passenger transportation increased 22.9% year over year and 8.1% quarter over quarter in the second quarter of 2024, according to the US Census Bureau. Special needs transportation industry employment increased slightly while average wages for nonsupervisory employees decreased moderately during the first nine months of 2024, according to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics. Special needs transportation industry sales are forecast to increase at a 5.67% compounded annual rate from 2024 to 2028, faster than the growth of the overall economy, according to Inforum and the Interindustry Economic Research Fund, Inc.