About John Cleveland, Ph.D.
Dr. John Cleveland is a transportation civil rights consultant with Cleveland Civil Rights Consulting, LLC. He specializes in training, program and policy development and federal compliance, as well as expert witness services. He served as a senior instructor for the National Transit Institute (NTI) at Rutgers University teaching transit civil rights and safety courses, serving in that capacity for nine years. In January 2018 he began working as an instructor for the Community Transportation Association of America (CTAA) developing and instructing a new two day course on Reservations Scheduling and Dispatching for paratransit systems. He conducts this course throughout the country.
Dr. Cleveland has over 26 years experience in transit and transportation civil rights, and expert witness services. He is considered an expert in the proper boarding, deboarding and securement of passengers in mobility devices and in the use of occupant restraint systems. He specializes in the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), and accessibility requirements for transit passengers with disabilities. He is designated by CTAA’s National Certification Council as a Certified Safety and Security Officer. He is a recognized expert on the following federal regulations:
• 49 CFR Part 37 – Transportation Services for Individuals with Disabilities
• 49 CFR Part 38 – Transit Vehicle Accessibility Requirements
• 49 CFR Part 571 – Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards
• 49 CFR Part 39 – Transportation for Individuals with Disabilities: Passenger Vessels
• 28 CFR Part 35 – Nondiscrimination on the Basis of Disability in State and Local Governments
• 28 CFR Part 36 – Nondiscrimination on the Basis of Disability by Public Accommodations and Commercial Facilities
• 36 CFR Part 1191 – ADA Accessibility Guidelines for Buildings and Facilities
• 36 CFR Part 1192 – ADA Accessibility Guidelines for Transportation Vehicles
• 14 CFR Part 382 – Nondiscrimination on the Basis of Disability in Air Travel
Dr. Cleveland has taught over 110 deliveries of technical workshops for transportation agencies around the country both with NTI, CTAA and his own company, Cleveland Civil Rights Consulting, LLC. He is an expert in taking complicated federal regulations, circulars and guidelines and applying them to unique and challenging situations that transportation providers face every day “on the street” in their provision of service, in their contracting and in their workplace. Dr. Cleveland has an inventory of 25 different transportation courses that he teaches for Cleveland Civil Rights Consulting. These courses are predominantly in the subject area of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), but also include courses on bus stop accessibility, transit board management, bus operations, policy development and creating effective demand response service standards. His specialty includes teaching transit agencies best practices in ADA Eligibility for ADA Complementary Paratransit Service and ADA Sensitivity for people with disabilities in day to day “street scenarios”.
Dr. Cleveland is an expert in accessibility guidelines for wheelchair mobility devices and sensitivity to people with disabilities that depend on them for independence and accessibility to all services for the general public. He has served as an expert witness in 21 litigation cases around the country having been deposed seven times and testified in jury trials twice. Dr. Cleveland completed over 40 deliveries of the Advanced Mobility Device Securement course for NTI around the country, training transit providers on the proper securement of wheelchairs to the floor of the transit vehicle and placement of occupant restraint systems on passengers with disabilities. Additionally, he completed 12 two-day deliveries of his own design, for 160 LA Metro instructors on Advanced Mobility Device Securement.
Dr. Cleveland served for seven years with the City of Phoenix Public Transit Department as the regional Civil Rights Manager. In that capacity, he provided compliance oversight for Department of Transportation (DOT) transit civil rights regulatory requirements for the Phoenix Metropolitan Area. These civil rights requirements included the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), Disadvantaged Business Enterprise (DBE) participation in DOT funded projects, Title VI of the 1964 Civil Rights Act, Environmental Justice, and Equal Employment Opportunity.
In this capacity, he provided guidance to twelve subrecipient cities, Maricopa County, the Regional Public Transportation Authority, METRO Light Rail, and seven bus contractors regarding federal civil rights compliance.
Prior to working for the City of Phoenix, Dr. Cleveland served with the United States Air Force as a Personnel Manager and Planner, retiring as a Lt. Colonel. He holds a Ph.D. in Public Administration from Arizona State University.
Dr. Cleveland’s 25 training courses are described in detail in the Training Tab of this website. His Areas of Expertise are expanded in detail in the Areas of Expertise Tab of this website.
