July-August 2022 - 10

We Can't See
the Work-Forest for
the Disabili-Trees
Equity for the disability community requires us to focus
more on what people can do as opposed to what their
disabilities might prevent them from doing.
By Christian Kent, contributor
W
e have known for years that a shortage
of qualified transit professionals
was looming, and we have seen
a generation of workers retiring in
great numbers. Exacerbated by the
pandemic, the workforce shortage
and loss of institutional knowledge
has become an epidemic of its own.
Meanwhile, within the paratransit
discipline, we have talked for decades
about " 20 percent of the U.S.
population consists of people with
disabilities and 70 percent are unemployed, "
and " many people with
disabilities can succeed in the workplace
with or without reasonable
accommodation or assistive technology,
but both are available upon
request. " Clearly, there are plenty
of people with disabilities
with the potential to
work, yet the unemployment
rate
in the disability community
remains unchanged, even with the
acute personnel shortages we are
now facing.
Another ubiquitous topic in the
industry right now is equity. In recent
years, inequities in race and
gender have captured the attention
of the country and the introspection
on equity has extended to the delivery
of public transportation services
to various constituencies. U.S.
Department of Transportation Secretary
Pete Buttigieg has added emphasis
to this issue by pointing out
the impact of inequitable highway
and transit investments on disadvantaged
populations and how profound
and long-lasting this impact
can be on economic development
and opportunities for those affected.
Secretary Buttigieg is attempting to
channel some of his generous infrastructure
budget toward righting
some of these wrongs and realigning
transportation investments to support
economic growth and access
to jobs and health care for disadvantaged
populations. This is encouraging,
but historically, the focus
on " disadvantaged " seems to target
low-income populations but without
10 | Mass Transit | MassTransitmag.com | JULY/AUGUST 2022
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July-August 2022

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of July-August 2022

Editor’s Notebook
People & Places
We Can’t See the Work-Forest for the Disabili-Trees
Forty under Forty
Products
July-August 2022 - 1
July-August 2022 - 2
July-August 2022 - 3
July-August 2022 - 4
July-August 2022 - Editor’s Notebook
July-August 2022 - People & Places
July-August 2022 - 7
July-August 2022 - 8
July-August 2022 - 9
July-August 2022 - We Can’t See the Work-Forest for the Disabili-Trees
July-August 2022 - 11
July-August 2022 - 12
July-August 2022 - 13
July-August 2022 - Forty under Forty
July-August 2022 - 15
July-August 2022 - 16
July-August 2022 - 17
July-August 2022 - 18
July-August 2022 - 19
July-August 2022 - 20
July-August 2022 - 21
July-August 2022 - 22
July-August 2022 - 23
July-August 2022 - 24
July-August 2022 - 25
July-August 2022 - 26
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July-August 2022 - 37
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July-August 2022 - 39
July-August 2022 - 40
July-August 2022 - 41
July-August 2022 - Products
July-August 2022 - 43
July-August 2022 - 44
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