http://www.loc.gov/mods/v3 http://www.loc.gov/standards/mods/v3/mods-3-2.xsd
public transportation under the Americans with Disabilities Act
vii, 151 leaves : illustrations ; 28 cm.
This dissertation examines the diffusion of regulatory
compliance in the context of public transportation and the
Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). Time-of-compliance
with ADA paratransit requirements by Metropolitan Transit
Authorities (MTAs) has varied widely. The timing of
regulatory compliance makes a difference in when a particular
benefit or program becomes available. Given the multi-year
implementation periods of some regulations, the impact of
early compliance is significant. Time-of-compliance is
examined using data from 182 MTAS, representing 30 states and
eight of the ten Federal Transit Administration (FTA)
Regions. Regression analysis is used to identify two
candidate models composed of level of service, organizational
efficiency, character of service, and either organizational
size or constituency size. Further explanation is provided
by characterizing ADA as "radical" policy (meaning moral and
beyond the normal pluralist compromise based process), and
analyzing it as a problem in the distribution of benefits and
costs set in an advocacy coalition framework. The synthesis
of the three approaches (regression, distribution of benefits
and costs, and advocacy coalition framework) produces a view
of the time of ADA compliance by MTAs as essentially a
rational risk minimization strategy which is confounded by
the unique nature of the ADA as "radical" policy. An
empirically derived ideal type of regulatory compliance is
developed. Practical applications beyond ADA are suggested,
"Major Subject: Urban and Regional Science".
Issued also on microfiche from University Microfilms Inc.
Includes bibliographical references: pages 94-101.