---
kind: "section"
citation: "42 U.S.C. § 12184"
title: "42"
title_heading: "The Public Health and Welfare"
number: "12184"
heading: "Prohibition of discrimination in specified public transportation services provided by private entities"
release: "119-102"
date: "2026-07-12"
url: "https://uscodex.org/usc/42/12184"
units:
  - "Chapter 126 — Equal Opportunity for Individuals with Disabilities"
  - "Subchapter III — Public Accommodations and Services Operated by Private Entities"
---

# §12184. Prohibition of discrimination in specified public transportation services provided by private entities

- (a) **General rule—** No individual shall be discriminated against on the basis of [disability](/usc/42/12102.md?p=1) in the full and equal enjoyment of [specified public transportation](/usc/42/12181.md?p=10) services provided by a [private entity](/usc/42/12181.md?p=6) that is primarily engaged in the business of transporting people and whose operations affect [commerce](/usc/42/12111.md?p=7).
- (b) **Construction—** For purposes of [subsection (a)](#a), discrimination includes—
  - (1) the imposition or application by a[^1] entity described in [subsection (a)](#a) of eligibility criteria that screen out or tend to screen out an individual with a [disability](/usc/42/12102.md?p=1) or any class of individuals with [disabilities](/usc/42/12102.md?p=1) from fully enjoying the [specified public transportation](/usc/42/12181.md?p=10) services provided by the entity, unless such criteria can be shown to be necessary for the provision of the services being offered;
  - (2) the failure of such entity to—
    - (A) make reasonable modifications consistent with those required under [section 12182(b)(2)(A)(ii) of this title](/usc/42/12182.md?p=b-2-A-ii);
    - (B) provide [auxiliary aids and services](/usc/42/12103.md?p=1) consistent with the requirements of [section 12182(b)(2)(A)(iii) of this title](/usc/42/12182.md?p=b-2-A-iii); and
    - (C) remove barriers consistent with the requirements of [section 12182(b)(2)(A) of this title](/usc/42/12182.md?p=b-2-A) and with the requirements of [section 12183(a)(2) of this title](/usc/42/12183.md?p=a-2);
  - (3) the purchase or lease by such entity of a new [vehicle](/usc/42/12181.md?p=11) (other than an automobile, a van with a seating capacity of less than 8 passengers, including the driver, or an [over-the-road bus](/usc/42/12181.md?p=5)) which is to be used to provide [specified public transportation](/usc/42/12181.md?p=10) and for which a solicitation is made after the 30th day following the effective date of this section, that is not readily accessible to and usable by individuals with [disabilities](/usc/42/12102.md?p=1), including individuals who use wheelchairs; except that the new [vehicle](/usc/42/12181.md?p=11) need not be readily accessible to and usable by such individuals if the new [vehicle](/usc/42/12181.md?p=11) is to be used solely in a [demand responsive system](/usc/42/12181.md?p=3) and if the entity can demonstrate that such system, when viewed in its entirety, provides a level of service to such individuals equivalent to the level of service provided to the general public;
  - (4)
    - (A) the purchase or lease by such entity of an [over-the-road bus](/usc/42/12181.md?p=5) which does not comply with the regulations issued under [section 12186(a)(2) of this title](/usc/42/12186.md?p=a-2); and
    - (B) any other failure of such entity to comply with such regulations; and[^2]
  - (5) the purchase or lease by such entity of a new van with a seating capacity of less than 8 passengers, including the driver, which is to be used to provide [specified public transportation](/usc/42/12181.md?p=10) and for which a solicitation is made after the 30th day following the effective date of this section that is not readily accessible to or usable by individuals with [disabilities](/usc/42/12102.md?p=1), including individuals who use wheelchairs; except that the new van need not be readily accessible to and usable by such individuals if the entity can demonstrate that the system for which the van is being purchased or leased, when viewed in its entirety, provides a level of service to such individuals equivalent to the level of service provided to the general public;
  - (6) the purchase or lease by such entity of a new [rail](/usc/42/12181.md?p=8) passenger car that is to be used to provide [specified public transportation](/usc/42/12181.md?p=10), and for which a solicitation is made later than 30 days after the effective date of this paragraph, that is not readily accessible to and usable by individuals with [disabilities](/usc/42/12102.md?p=1), including individuals who use wheelchairs; and
  - (7) the remanufacture by such entity of a [rail](/usc/42/12181.md?p=8) passenger car that is to be used to provide [specified public transportation](/usc/42/12181.md?p=10) so as to extend its usable life for 10 years or more, or the purchase or lease by such entity of such a [rail](/usc/42/12181.md?p=8) car, unless the [rail](/usc/42/12181.md?p=8) car, to the maximum extent feasible, is made readily accessible to and usable by individuals with [disabilities](/usc/42/12102.md?p=1), including individuals who use wheelchairs.
- (c) **Historical or antiquated cars—**
  - (1) **Exception—** To the extent that compliance with subsection [(b)(2)(C)](#b-2-C) or [(b)(7)](#b-7) would significantly alter the historic or antiquated character of a historical or antiquated [rail](/usc/42/12181.md?p=8) passenger car, or a [rail](/usc/42/12181.md?p=8) station served exclusively by such cars, or would result in [violation](/usc/42/2000e–16a.md?p=c) of any rule, regulation, standard, or order issued by the [Secretary](/usc/42/242q–4.md?p=2) of Transportation under the Federal [Railroad](/usc/42/12181.md?p=8) Safety Act of 1970, such compliance shall not be required.
  - (2) **Definition—** As used in this subsection, the term “historical or antiquated [rail](/usc/42/12181.md?p=8) passenger car” means a [rail](/usc/42/12181.md?p=8) passenger car—
    - (A) which is not less than 30 years old at the time of its use for transporting individuals;
    - (B) the manufacturer of which is no longer in the business of manufacturing [rail](/usc/42/12181.md?p=8) passenger cars; and
    - (C) which—
      - (i) has a consequential association with events or [persons](/usc/42/12111.md?p=7) significant to the past; or
      - (ii) embodies, or is being restored to embody, the distinctive characteristics of a type of [rail](/usc/42/12181.md?p=8) passenger car used in the past, or to represent a time period which has passed.

## Footnotes

[^1]: So in original. Probably should be “an”.
[^2]: So in original. The word “and” probably should not appear.

## Source credit

(Pub. L. 101–336, title III, § 304, July 26, 1990, 104 Stat. 359.)

## Notes

### Editorial Notes

### References in Text

For the effective date of this section, referred to in subsec. (b)(3), (5), see section 310 of Pub. L. 101–336, set out as an Effective Date note under section 12181 of this title.

The effective date of this paragraph, referred to in subsec. (b)(6), is 18 months after July 26, 1990, see section 310(a) of Pub. L. 101–336, set out as an Effective Date note under section 12181 of this title.

The Federal Railroad Safety Act of 1970, referred to in subsec. (c)(1), is title II of Pub. L. 91–458, Oct. 16, 1970, 84 Stat. 971, which was classified generally to subchapter II (§ 431 et seq.) of chapter 13 of Title 45, Railroads, and was repealed and reenacted in section 5109(c) of Title 5, Government Organization and Employees, section 54a of Title 45, Railroads, chapter 201 and sections 21301, 21302, 21304, 21311, 24902, and 24905 of Title 49, Transportation, and provisions set out as a note under section 20103 of Title 49 by Pub. L. 103–272, §§ 1(e), 4(b)(1), (i), (t), 7(b), July 5, 1994, 108 Stat. 862, 891, 893, 930, 935, 1361, 1365, 1372, 1379, the first section of which enacted subtitles II, III, and V to X of Title 49.

### Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries

### Effective Date

Section effective 18 months after July 26, 1990, but with subsec. (a) of this section (for purposes of subsec. (b)(3) only) and subsec. (b)(3) of this section effective July 26, 1990, see section 310(a), (c) of Pub. L. 101–336, set out as a note under section 12181 of this title.