Stepping Up, Pushing Limits, and Breaking Down Barriers
Disability is a natural part of the human experience, and it touches more lives than you might realize. In the US, more than 61 million adults — that’s 1 in 4 of us — report having at least one disability. That means millions of our friends, family, coworkers, and neighbors face barriers that affect their independence, health, education, careers, and ability to live the lives they envision for themselves.
That’s where CPARF comes in. People with kinds of disabilities have an urgent need for innovative solutions that can bridge gaps across every part of life, helping everyone participate vibrantly in their communities and pursue their dreams.
A stroke survivor wants to bake but can’t hold her utensils or steadily pour from measuring cups. A young man who can’t use his hands wants to use programs on his computer to connect with friends and apply for jobs. A blind person wants to safely walk to their destination.
Assistive tech supported by CPARF makes it happen, expanding access to cutting edges devices and services that help disabled people, folks with chronic conditions, and aging adults. Assistive tech helps people with mobility, communication, visual, hearing, learning, and other disabilities engage more in daily life and maintain or reclaim dignity.
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Together, we can help build a more inclusive and accessible world for everyone.
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Team Updates
The Three‑Quarter Mile That Leaves People Behind
31 Dec 19691,600 steps, or three-quarters of a mile, may not be a distance many people think about. It’s the walk to the coffee shop you like better than the one that’s closer to your office. It’s the loop around the block with the dog. It’s about 1,600 steps, which means you may have passed it today, probably before lunch.
It is also a line in federal law. Under the ADA, if a transit agency runs a bus route, it has to offer paratransit for people who need an alternative to standard bus transportation, typically for those with disabilities. But paratransit options are only required within three-quarters of a mile of a route. Live a mile away and you’re out of luck. You’re simply outside the system, with no right to a ride at all.
The radius is drawn from the bus route, not from anywhere you might actually need to go, and both ends of your trip have to fall inside it. So you can live comfortably within the boundary and still have no way to reach a clinic that sits just beyond it. The radius also moves. When a transportation agency cuts a route to save money, the paratransit boundary shrinks with it, and people lose service they have relied on for years.
What do you do when you are outside the line? Mostly, you ask someone. Among rural non-drivers with disabilities, 83.7% get around as a passenger in someone else's car, which means a family member gives up a shift or a friend becomes a scheduler. And when there is no one to ask, you stay home. In 2022, 40.2% of working-age adults with travel-limiting disabilities made no trips at all on the day they were surveyed. In rural areas, it was 48.3%.
The last time the federal government asked people directly why they never left home was 2002. About 560,000 people with disabilities said the reason was transportation. Nobody has measured it since.
When the bus doesn’t come to you, the next question is what or who does. There is a patchwork out there. It’s real and scattered over a dozen different agencies and programs. Most people find it by word of mouth or never find it at all. The gap between what exists and what people can locate is why we support new and innovative technologies through Remarkable US and why we built the Disability Tech Index, a free tool that helps people find the solutions that fit their situation and the funding paths that could pay for them.
The funds we raise during STEPtember support the work to close the knowledge gap and help people identify tools and services designed to improve everyday life, whether they live inside a three-quarter mile radius or not.