HB 1673 2024
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F L O R I D A H O U S E O F R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S
A bill to be entitled 1
An act relating to transportation services for persons 2
with disabilities; creating s. 427.02, F.S.; providing 3
definitions; providing responsibilities of a 4
transportation service provider with respect to driver 5
background screening, driver training, installation of 6
video camera monitoring systems, and maintenance of a 7
website or mobile application that allows tracking of 8
certain motor vehicles; requiring a tr ansportation 9
service provider and the local government with which 10
the provider contracts to establish standards relating 11
to reasonable time periods between a request for 12
service and the arrival of the provider, limitation of 13
the duration of travel times, t ransparency regarding 14
the quality of service provided, and a system for the 15
reporting of adverse incidents; requiring reports of 16
adverse incidents to be submitted to the Agency for 17
Persons with Disabilities and the Department of 18
Transportation; requiring t he agency and the 19
department to establish requirements for the 20
investigation of adverse incidents; requiring such an 21
investigation to commence within a certain timeframe; 22
providing nonapplicability of provisions exempting the 23
purchase of contractual servic es from competitive 24
bidding requirements; providing an effective date. 25
HB 1673 2024
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F L O R I D A H O U S E O F R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S
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Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: 27
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Section 1. Section 427.02, Florida Statutes, is created to 29
read: 30
427.02 Transportation services for persons with 31
disabilities.— 32
(1) As used in this section, the term: 33
(a) "Immediate family member" means a spouse, child, 34
parent, sibling, grandparent, aunt, uncle, or first cousin of a 35
person or the person's spouse or a person who resides in the 36
primary residence of t he person. 37
(b) "Paratransit service" means transportation between 38
specific origins and destinations selected by an individual 39
user, with such service being provided at a time that is agreed 40
upon by the user and provider of the service. 41
(c) "Request for service" means a request made to a 42
transportation service provider by a person with a disability, 43
or by such person's immediate family member, for paratransit 44
service. 45
(d) "Transportation service provider" or "provider" means 46
an organization or entity t hat contracts with a local government 47
to provide paratransit service for persons with disabilities. 48
(2) A transportation service provider must: 49
(a) Require each driver of a motor vehicle used to provide 50
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F L O R I D A H O U S E O F R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S
paratransit service to persons with disabilities and each 51
applicant for employment as a driver to successfully pass a 52
level 2 background screening as provided in s. 435.04. Each such 53
driver and applicant for employment as a driver must meet level 54
2 screening standards as provided in s. 435.04 before 55
employment and as a condition of continued employment. 56
(b) Provide training to each driver of a motor vehicle 57
used to provide paratransit service to persons with disabilities 58
which, at a minimum, meets requirements established by the 59
Agency for Persons wit h Disabilities for training and 60
professional development of staff providing direct services to 61
clients of the agency. 62
(c)1. Install an interior video camera monitoring system 63
in each motor vehicle used to provide paratransit service to 64
persons with disabilities. Each component of the interior video 65
camera monitoring system must be mounted securely inside the 66
motor vehicle, must be located outside the head protection zone 67
as described in 49 C.F.R. s. 571.222, must be located in an area 68
in which the component is not likely to cause injury, and must 69
have no sharp edges or projections. 70
2. Upon request, provide access to footage captured by an 71
interior video camera monitoring system to the local government, 72
the Department of Transportation, the Agency for Pe rsons with 73
Disabilities, or a parent, legal guardian, caretaker, or 74
immediate family member of a person who receives paratransit 75
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F L O R I D A H O U S E O F R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S
service from the transportation service provider. 76
(d) Maintain a website or mobile application that allows 77
tracking of the location or movement of each motor vehicle used 78
to provide paratransit service to persons with disabilities 79
using a global positioning system or another mapping, 80
locational, or directional information system. Access to such 81
website or mobile application mu st be restricted to the local 82
government and the parents, legal guardians, caretakers, and 83
immediate family members of persons who receive paratransit 84
service from the transportation service provider. 85
(3) A transportation service provider, in collaborati on 86
with the local government with which the provider contracts, 87
shall establish: 88
(a) Reasonable time periods between a request for service 89
and the arrival of the transportation service provider at the 90
location specified in the request, taking into accoun t the 91
number of persons requesting paratransit service on the same 92
date, the distance between locations, usual or expected traffic 93
conditions during the provision of paratransit service, and any 94
other factor deemed necessary by the provider or the local 95
government. If a transportation service provider exhibits a 96
pattern of late arrivals based on such established reasonable 97
time periods, the local government may authorize another 98
provider to provide such paratransit service, including the 99
acceptance of any prepaid vouchers for future paratransit 100
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F L O R I D A H O U S E O F R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S
service, notwithstanding the terms of the contract with the 101
original provider. 102
(b) Best practices for limiting the duration of travel 103
times for persons receiving paratransit service. To avoid 104
unreasonably long trave l times, the provider and the local 105
government shall consider the level of service offered to 106
persons without disabilities by a public entity operating a 107
fixed route as compared to the level of paratransit service 108
offered by the transportation service prov ider in accordance 109
with 49 C.F.R. s. 37.121. 110
(c) Transparency regarding the quality of paratransit 111
service provided by the transportation service provider, 112
including, but not limited to, data relating to the timeliness 113
of paratransit service provided and the handling of complaints. 114
(d) An efficient system for the reporting of adverse 115
incidents occurring during the provision of paratransit service 116
to persons with disabilities. Such system may include the 117
assignment of a quick -response (QR) code to each m otor vehicle 118
used to provide such service for the purpose of reporting 119
adverse incidents with a smartphone or other mobile device. 120
Reports of adverse incidents received by the local government or 121
the transportation service provider shall be submitted to th e 122
Agency for Persons with Disabilities and the Department of 123
Transportation. 124
(4) The Agency for Persons with Disabilities, in 125
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F L O R I D A H O U S E O F R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S
collaboration with the Department of Transportation, shall 126
establish requirements for the investigation of adverse 127
incidents reported pursuant to paragraph (3)(d), including 128
periodic review of ongoing investigations and documentation of 129
final outcomes thereof. The investigation of a reported adverse 130
incident must commence within 48 hours after receipt of the 131
report by the agency an d the department. 132
(5) The provisions of s. 287.057 which exempt the purchase 133
of contractual services from competitive bidding requirements do 134
not apply to contracts entered into by local governments and 135
transportation service providers for the provision of 136
paratransit service to persons with disabilities under this 137
section. 138
Section 2. This act shall take effect July 1, 2024. 139