ALEXANDRIA, Va. -- With the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration more closely scrutinizing motorcoach operators compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act, the United Motorcoach Association is working with a non-profit group to develop ADA training programs for the industry.

Open Doors Organization, which trains companies in ADA compliance to both meet the requirements of the law and also to increase business within the disability community, and UMA conducted their initial ADA training program in late January in Platteville, Wis., to seven motorcoach operators from Wisconsin and Iowa.

Helping lead the training was Godfrey LeBron, vice president of Paradise Travel in Amityville, N.Y., a UMA board member and president of the Bus Association of New York Sate.

The UMA-Open Doors training is available industry-wide upon request, according to Laurel Van Horn, director of programs at Open Doors Organization.

"Its a course that covers everything that has to do with meeting service requirements and meeting all the requirements of ADA rules," she said.

The training consists of a comprehensive one-day session. The morning component is designed for front-line staff, including management, sales personnel and drivers, and includes a disability awareness module.

The afternoon session is designed to assist managers with compliance issues, such as creating the proper policies, procedures, record-keeping regimens and other administrative requirements mandated by ADA.

The program is designed to be a "train-the-trainer" program, so employees who have taken the training can take the materials and lessons back to their company and provide further training, she noted.

In addition to the classroom-like training, UMA and ODO are working to develop an online ADA learning program, Van Horn said. That program is not yet available but should be later this year through the UMA's Bus & Motorcoach Academy.

There is an upsurge in demand within the motorcoach industry for ADA-related training because the FMCSA now includes an ADA review as part of its safety compliance audits, Van Horn said. Carriers that have not been paying attention to ADA requirements are now being caught and fined.

There is also confusion within the industry because of recent U.S. Department of Justice regulations implementing ADA provisions, some of which at first glance could appear to conflict with U.S. Department of Transportation ADA regulations.

In fact, there was sufficient confusion over DOJs regulations regarding service animals and the definition of wheelchairs, which took effect in March 2011, that the Federal Transit Administration subsequently issued a "technical assistance note" stating in part:

"These changes to DOJs regs do not affect the DOT ADA regulations, which cover transportation (both public and privately-operated). The DOJ regs do not compel transit operators to make any changes to their service animal policies or the manner in which they regard mobility devices, nor should transit operators elect to make any changes on this basis. In fact, because the DOT and DOJ regulations now read differently in this regard, changes to accommodate DOJ regulations could result in a grantee being out of compliance with the DOT ADA regulations."

Therefore, motorcoach operators should continue to abide by the USDOTs definition of service animals: "any guide dog, signal dog or other animal individually trained to work or perform tasks for an individual with a disability."

"If you are not sure if the animal is a service animal, you may ask if it is a pet or a service animal," Van Horn advised in a note to Bus & Motorcoach News.

"You may also ask what type of tasks the service animal is trained to perform. Do not ask about the individuals disability. Certification or identification for the animal is not required. The service animal does, however, have to be properly behaved and under the owner's control at all times."

So-called emotional support animals are not, by definition, service animals and therefore not required to be allowed onto a bus, she continued, but a company may set its own policies and should consider exceptions in the best interest of a customer.

Psychiatric service dogs, however, must be accepted since they have been trained to perform a specific task for their owners.

Operators have also expressed confusion over when and where to deploy their lifts in compliance with ADA rules, especially if conditions at the bus stop are not conducive to deploying the lift.

Those rules remain unchanged, according to Van Horn.

"Passengers who require a lift must be allowed the same opportunity to embark and disembark as other passengers, including at intermediate and rest stops," Van Horn stated.

The regulations state the only exceptions are if the lift cannot be deployed, the lift will be damaged if deployed, or if temporary conditions at the stop preclude the safe use of the stop by all passengers.

"In practical terms, this may mean moving the bus a short distance from the usual disembarkation point to safely deploy the lift," Van Horn stated.

Another area of confusion involves whether a disabled passenger may choose to transfer to a seat or to remain in a wheelchair or scooter.

The passenger has the right to make that choice, Van Horn said, even if advised being in a seat may be safer, and the driver should contact dispatch to document it in case a problem subsequently arises.