Even before Transportation Alternatives' formation in 1980, TA President Ned Einstein was deeply involved in transportation policy and planning issues involving physically challenged individuals. In 1975, Mr. Einstein prepared the Summary of the National Survey of the Transportation Handicapped submitted to Congress. Transportation Alternatives was formed, in fact, to conduct the USDOT-sponsored analysis of special transportation systems for elderly and disabled individuals, which resulted in the Department's publication of a three-volume manual on planning and system design authored by Mr. Einstein. This publication was USDOT's effort to identify the variables which contributed to paratransit performance, and described the interrelationships among dozens of system variables endemic to the paratransit planning and system design processes. (See Principles of Paratransit Design.)

Apart from TA's system design, brokerage, management and operating efforts in the special paratransit field (see Operations and Operating Assistance and Transportation System Design), TA has been involved in a number of policy development, planning and study efforts related specifically to the transportation of physically and developmentally challenged individuals (see Policy Formulation and Analysis, Transportation Planning, Analyses and Studies, Coordination and Consolidation, Transportation of Special User Groups).

In support of its ADA and related planning activities, TA President Ned Einstein has authored a number of articles specifically about the transportation of elderly and disabled individuals (as well as schoolchildren) for several national trade publications, including School Bus Fleet, School Transportation News and Exceptional Parent magazines. And TA has participated as a consultant and expert witness in more than a score of accident cases involving disabled and other special users and their transportation services (see Expert Witness Consulting and Testimony).

See also:

^{Conference Design, Organization, Management and Presentation
Policy Formulation and Analysis
Transportation of Special User Groups}