  Transportation agencies across the United States have the responsibility of
providing transportation services for all travelers. Paratransit services which
are designed to meet the needs of disabled travelers have been available to a
certain extent for decades, but under the Americans with Disabilities Act
mandate of 1990, uniform requirements were adopted across U.S. agencies. Most
of these paratransit operators offer services which must be scheduled at least
a day in advance. And, provision of these services by accessible busses is
generally very expensive. Therefore, many agencies are considering
sub-contracting some services to approved ride-hailing or taxi services. The
purpose of this work is to examine the opinions of various public agencies with
respect to the adoption of sub-contracted services through the use of secure
technologies. Our research provides insight into the future of these
partnerships. Agencies expressed interest in the use of privacy preserving
secure technologies as well as a strong desire for better software solutions
for paratransit passengers and operators. The on-line survey received thirty
responses for a completion rate of 19.1%. Our primary findings are that a major
concern of agencies for this sort of arrangement is the lack of Wheelchair
Accessible Vehicles offered by taxis and TNCs and about 36% of the surveyed
agencies have not considered such partnerships.
