RTC Eligibility
Application | Eligibility Criteria | Participating Agencies | Questions and Answers

If you do not qualify for Basic Eligibility, you must be medically certified by one of the following licensed professionals listed below.

A Note to Medical Certifiers

The purpose of the RTC Discount ID Card Program is to ensure that only eligible individuals receive fare discounts as mandated by state and federal law. An individual's eligibility is based on their inability to use fixed-route transit (i.e., regular accessible buses, light rail, commuter rail or BART) without special facilities, planning or design. [49 US § 1608 (c)(4), Section 99206.5, CA PUC]

Local commuter transit operators are not reimbursed for these discounts by state and federal governments.

We are requesting your help to ensure that recipients meet the eligibility criteria.  If you have questions, contact your local  transit agency listed on the "Where to take Application" page or contact the Discount ID Card Program Office at (510) 208-0200. 

You may certify eligibility only in the catagories related to the field of practice in which you are licensed in the State of California to diagnose:

• Licensed physicians with an M.D. or D.O. degree, licensed physician's assistants and nurse practitioners may certify in all categories in which they are licensed to diagnose;

• Licensed chiropractors, categories 1, 2, 3 and 4;

• Licensed podiatrists, disabilities involving the feet under categories 1, 2, 3 and 4;

• Licensed optometrists, category 9;

• Licensed audiologists, category 10;

• Licensed clinical psychologists and licensed educational psychologists, categories 12, 15, 16 and 17;

• Licensed marriage and family counselors (MFCC) and licensed clinical social workers (LCSW), category 17.

You may qualify in this category if your disability meets one of the following:

Section 1:  Non-ambulatory Disabilities.
Impairments that, regardless of cause, require individuals to use a wheelchair for mobility.

Section 2:  Mobility Aids.
Impairments that cause individuals to walk with significant difficulty, including individuals using a leg brace, cane, walker or crutches to achieve mobility.

Section 3:  Musculo-Skeletal Impairment (Including Arthritis).
Musculo-skeletal impairment such as muscular dystrophy, osteogenesis imperfecta or any type of arthritis; such as functional Class III or anatomical Stage III.

Section 4:  Amputation.
Persons who suffer amputation of, or anatomical deformity of (i.e., loss of major function due to degenerative changes associated with vascular or neurological deficits, traumatic loss of muscle mass or tendons and x-ray evidence of bony or fibrous ankylosis at an unfavorable angle, joint subluxation or instability): (a) both hands; or (b) one hand and one foot; or (c) amputation of lower extremity at or above the tarsal region (one or both legs).

Section 5:  Cerebrovascular Accident (Stroke).
With one of the following: (a) pseudobulbar palsy; or (b) functional motor deficit in any of two extremities; or (c) ataxia affecting two extremities substantiated by appropriate cerebellar signs or proprioceptive loss post 4 months.

Section 6:  Pulmonary Ills.
Respiratory impairments of Class 3 and 4. Class 3: FVC between 51 percent and 59 percent of predicted; or FEV between 41 percent & 59 percent of predicted. Class 4: FVC less than or equal to 50 percent of predicted; or FEV less than or equal to 40 percent of predicted.

Section 7:  Cardiac Ills.
Cardiovascular impairments of functional Class III or IV. Functional Classification: Class III: Individuals with cardiac disease resulting in marked limitation of physical activity. They are comfortable at rest. Less than ordinary physical activity causes fatigue, palpitation, dyspnea or anginal pain. For instance, inability to walk one or more level blocks or climbing a flight of ordinary stairs. Class IV: Individuals with cardiac disease resulting in inability to carry out any physical activity without discomfort. Symptoms of cardiac insufficiency or of the anginal syndrome may be present even at rest. If physical activity is undertaken, discomfort is increased.

Section 8:  Dialysis.
Individuals whose disability requires the use of a kidney dialysis machine.

Section 9:  Sight Disabilities.
Those individuals whose vision in the better eye, after best correction, is 20/200 or less; or those individuals whose visual field is contracted (commonly known as tunnel vision): (a) to 10 degrees or less from a point of fixation; or (b) so the widest diameter subtends an angle no greater than 20 degrees; and (c) individuals who are unable to read information signs or symbols for other than language reasons.

Section 10:  Hearing Disabilities.
Deafness or hearing incapacity that makes an individual unable to communicate or hear warning signals, including only those persons whose hearing loss is 70 dba or greater in the 500, 1000, 2000 Hz. ranges.

Section 11:  Disabilities of Incoordination.
Individuals suffering faulty coordination or palsy from brain, spinal or peripheral nerve injury and any person with a functional nerve injury and any person with a functional motor deficit in any two limbs or who suffers manifestations which significantly reduce mobility, coordination or perceptiveness not accounted for in previous categories.

Section 12:  Mental Retardation.
Refers to subaverage general intellectual functioning which originates during the developmental period or as the result of illness or accident later in life and is associated with impairment in adaptive behavior (a general guideline is an IQ which is more than two standard deviations below the norm).

Section 13:  Cerebral Palsy.
A disorder dating from birth or early infancy or as the result of illness or accident later in life, non-progressive, although if not treated there is marked regression in functioning characterized by examples of aberrations of motor functions (paralysis, weakness, incoordination) and often other manifestations of organic brain damage such as sensory disorders, seizures, mental retardation, learning difficulty and behavioral disorders.

Section 14:  Epilepsy (Convulsive Disorder).
A clinical disorder involving impairment of consciousness, characterized by seizures (e.g., generalized, complex partial, major motor, grand mal, petit mal or psychomotor), occurring more frequently than once a month in spite of prescribed treatment, with (a) diurnal episodes (loss of consciousness and convulsive seizure); (b) nocturnal episodes which show residual interfering with activity during the day; or (c) a disorder involving absence (petit mal) or mild partial (psychomotor) seizures occurring more frequently than once per week in spite of prescribed treatment with: 1) Alteration of awareness or loss of consciousness; and 2) Transient post-ictal manifestations of conventional or antisocial behavior. Persons exhibiting seizure-free control for a continuous period of more than six (6) months duration are not included in the statement of Epilepsy defined in this section.

Section 15:  Infantile Autism.
A syndrome described as consisting of withdrawal, very inadequate social relationships, language disturbance and monotonously repetitive motor behavior. Many children with autism will also be seriously impaired in general intellectual functioning. This syndrome usually appears before the age of 6 and is characterized by severe withdrawal and inappropriate response to external stimuli.

Section 16:  Neurological Impairment.
A syndrome characterized by learning, perception and/or behavioral disorders of an individual whose IQ is not less than two standard deviations below the norm. These characteristics exist as a result of brain dysfunctions (any disorder in learning using the senses), neurologic disorder or any damage to the central nervous system, whether due to genetic, hereditary, accident or illness factors. This section includes people with severe gait problems who are restricted in mobility.

Section 17:  Mental Disorders.
Individuals whose mental impairment substantially limits one or more of their major life activities. This includes inability to learn, work or care for oneself. A principal diagnosis from the DSM IV classification in one of the following areas is required for eligibility: Organic Mental Disorders, Schizophrenic Disorders, Paranoid Disorders, Psychotic Disorders not elsewhere classified, Affective Disorders, Somata Form Disorders, Dissociative Disorders, Adjustment Disorders, Psychological Factors Affecting Physical Condition, and Post Traumatic Stress Syndrome. These diagnoses must be at Class 3 to 5 levels:

• Class 3 - Moderate Impairment. Levels compatible with some, but not all, useful functions.

• Class 4 - Marked Impairment. Levels significantly impede useful functioning.

• Class 5 - Extreme Impairment. Levels preclude useful functioning.

(NOTE: If a person's disorder is in remission or primary incapacity is acute or chronic alcoholism or drug addiction, they will be specifically excluded from discount fare eligibility.)

Section 18:  Chronic Progressive Debilitating Disorders.
Individuals who experience chronic and progressive debilitating diseases that are characterized by constitutional symptoms such as fatigue, weakness, weight loss, pain and changes in mental status that, taken together, interfere in the activities of daily living and significantly impair mobility. Examples of such disorders include: (a) Progressive, uncontrol-lable malignancies (i.e., terminal malignancies or malignancies being treated with aggressive radiation or chemotherapy); (b) Advanced connective tissue diseases (i.e., advance stages of disseminated lupus erythematosus, scleroderma or polyarteritis nodosa); (c) Symptomatic HIV infection (i.e., AIDS or ARC) in CDC defined clinical categories B and C.

Section 19:  Multiple Impairments.
This category may include, but not be limited to, persons disabled by the combined effects of more than one impairment, including those related to age. The individual impairments themselves may not be severe enough to qualify as a Transit Dysfunction; however, the combined effects of the disabilities may qualify the individual for the program.

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