How to Fill Out and Submit the MTA Mobility Application Form

The MTA Mobility application is the two-part form you complete to apply for MobilityLink, the Maryland Transit Administration’s door-to-door paratransit service for people whose disabilities prevent them from using regular buses, light rail, or subway. You fill out Part A yourself, a licensed healthcare provider completes Part B (or a mental health professional completes Part C), and then you bring the finished form to a scheduled in-person interview at MTA’s Office of Certification. Mailed, emailed, and faxed applications are not accepted.¹

Before You Apply: Do You Qualify and Live in the Service Area

Federal regulations set three categories of paratransit eligibility, and you only need to fit one: you cannot board, ride, or exit an accessible transit vehicle without help beyond the operator; you need a lift or ramp but no accessible vehicle runs on your route or time; or a disability-related condition prevents you from getting to or from a bus stop or rail station.²

Most applicants fall under the third category. Environmental barriers like hills, distance, or weather do not qualify you on their own. What matters is how those barriers interact with your specific condition. Someone using a walker who cannot safely cross three blocks of uneven winter sidewalk has a qualifying interaction. Someone who simply finds the walk inconvenient does not.²

Service is limited geographically. MobilityLink runs within three-quarters of a mile of any local bus route in Baltimore City, Anne Arundel County, and Baltimore County, and within three-quarters of a mile of any Light RailLink or Metro SubwayLink station, measured in a straight line. MARC Train and Commuter Bus routes do not generate paratransit corridors. Both your pickup and destination must fall inside the boundary. If you are unsure about an address, call the Office of Certification at 410-767-3438 before applying.³

Getting the Form

Download the MTA Mobility Certification Application from the MTA Forms page. Both English and Spanish versions are available, and there is a separate recertification form for riders whose eligibility is expiring. If downloading is not an option, call 410-767-3438 to request a physical copy. There is no application fee.⁴

The application has two main parts. You complete Part A. A healthcare provider completes Part B. If your primary condition is a mental health diagnosis, your mental health professional completes Part C instead of, or in addition to, Part B.

Filling Out Part A

Part A is your self-assessment. Every section needs to be filled in — skipping fields slows processing or gets the application returned at the interview.

Application type: mark whether this is a new application or a recertification, and include your existing Mobility ID number if recertifying.
Demographic information: full legal name, home address, mailing address if different, home and mobile phone numbers, date of birth, and email. Your home address determines whether you fall within the service area.
Emergency contact: name, phone number, and relationship of someone MTA can reach during a trip.
Transit usage: whether you currently use MTA buses, light rail, or subway, whether you can reach transit stops, and what specific difficulties you face with fixed-route service.
Disability and health condition: your primary condition, when it was diagnosed, any additional conditions, whether symptoms fluctuate day to day, and whether the condition is permanent or temporary.
Mobility aids: wheelchair, power scooter, walker, cane, or other equipment. For a wheelchair or scooter, include width, length, and weight when occupied, since the vehicle must accommodate it.
Functional skills: your ability to understand instructions, cross streets safely, stand for 20 minutes, navigate curbs and uneven surfaces, keep your balance on a moving vehicle, transfer between vehicles, and the farthest distance you can travel outdoors.
Travel training: whether you have ever received training that teaches people with disabilities to use fixed-route transit.
Certification and signature: sign and date to certify that everything is true and correct.

The transit usage and functional skills sections carry the most weight. Be specific. “I have trouble with buses” tells the evaluator nothing. “I cannot stand for more than five minutes, and the nearest bus stop is a ten-minute walk with no bench” gives them something to work with. Answer functional questions honestly. Overstating your abilities can lead to a denial. Understating them can produce service expectations that don’t match your real needs.

Section 11 is optional. It lets you appoint someone to act on your behalf during the application, including authorizing them to access your health information. Pick an expiration date for that authorization.

Part B: Healthcare Provider Certification

Part B has to be completed by a licensed healthcare professional who knows your medical history well enough to describe how your condition affects your ability to use transit. Physicians, physical therapists, occupational therapists, psychologists, and other licensed practitioners can complete it. If your primary condition is a mental health diagnosis, your mental health professional fills out Part C.⁵

The provider records their license number, state of issuance, facility or agency, title, and contact information. The medical portion asks for your diagnosis using ICD-10 or DSM codes, how long you have had the condition, when they last saw you, what mobility equipment you require, whether your medications produce side effects that affect travel, and whether you have a cognitive disability or seizure disorder.

The most consequential portion is the provider’s assessment of your transit-related abilities: memory, ability to recognize and avoid dangers, capacity to seek help, and how environmental factors like temperature, snow, ice, or air quality affect you. A vague statement like “patient cannot use public transit” gives the certification office nothing to evaluate. The strongest applications connect the diagnosis to specific limitations. For example: “patient’s peripheral neuropathy causes loss of balance after standing for more than three minutes, making it unsafe to wait at an unsheltered bus stop or stand on a moving bus.”

Submitting the Application

You cannot mail, email, or fax the completed form. Once Part A and Part B (or Part C) are done, call the Office of Certification at 410-767-3438 to schedule your in-person interview. Bring the completed application with you.¹

Before the appointment, check that every section is filled in, all signatures are present, and the provider’s license number is included. An incomplete form at your interview means another trip back. Bring any additional medical documentation that supports the application, though the form and the provider certification are the primary documents.

What Happens at and After the Interview

A trained evaluator reviews your application at the interview and may ask follow-up questions about your functional abilities. MTA may also conduct an in-person functional assessment, where you perform tasks related to boarding a vehicle, navigating a simulated transit environment, or walking a measured distance. That assessment gives the evaluator objective data alongside the medical documentation.

MTA has 21 days from your interview or functional assessment to issue a determination. If no decision arrives within that window, you automatically receive presumptive eligibility and can start using MobilityLink until MTA issues a final ruling. The 21-day clock is a federal requirement.⁶

The written decision letter states one of four outcomes. Unconditional eligibility means you qualify for every trip. Conditional eligibility means you qualify only under specific circumstances the letter describes, such as when weather or the distance to a stop makes fixed-route travel impossible given your condition. Temporary eligibility covers short-term conditions like recovery from surgery, and it lasts for the duration of the condition or treatment period. The fourth outcome is denial. If approved, the letter lists any conditions of use and your certification’s expiration date.

If You Are Denied

You have 60 days from the date on your determination letter to file an appeal. After 60 days, the right to appeal that decision is gone.⁷

Send appeals to Mobility Appeals, Office of Equal Opportunity Compliance Programs, 6 Saint Paul Street, Baltimore, MD 21202. You can file in person, by phone, or in writing. MTA schedules your hearing within 30 days of receiving the request, and you can attend in person, by phone, or by video. MTA provides a free ride to the hearing if you need one.⁷

Current MobilityLink riders applying for recertification get temporary paratransit service while the appeal is pending, but only if the hearing request is filed within 10 calendar days of receiving the denial letter. New applicants do not get temporary service during the appeal. For any applicant, if MTA has not issued an appeal decision within 30 days of the hearing, paratransit service begins on day 31 and continues until a final decision.⁷

The person deciding the appeal cannot have been involved in the original denial. You can present information and arguments at the hearing, bring someone to speak for you, and submit additional documentation. Request a copy of your application file before the hearing by checking the appropriate box on the hearing request form, or submit a written request at least 10 days in advance. Reviewing the file shows you exactly what the evaluator relied on so you can address any gaps.⁶

Eligibility does not last forever. Your determination letter lists an expiration date, and a separate recertification form is available on the MTA Forms page. Start the recertification process as soon as MTA notifies you that your certification period is ending. If eligibility lapses before recertification is complete, you lose access to MobilityLink during the gap.⁴

1
Maryland Transit Administration. Contact MTA
2
eCFR. 49 CFR 37.123 – ADA Paratransit Eligibility
3
Federal Transit Administration. Complementary Paratransit Service – Three-Fourths of a Mile Requirement
4
Maryland Transit Administration. MTA Forms
5
Disability Rights Maryland. DRM Mobility Eligibility Guidance
6
eCFR. 49 CFR 37.125 – ADA Paratransit Eligibility Process
7
Maryland Transit Administration. Mobility