Uruguay's State Ordered to Guarantee Free Bus Travel for People with Disabilities

Uruguay's Justice has mandated the State to provide free bus transportation for individuals with disabilities, enforcing a decade-old law that had remained largely unimplemented. The ruling specifically addresses people with Down syndrome, autism spectrum disorder, and blindness.

The court ordered the State to apply Article 83 of Law 18.651, which guarantees free public transport for people with disabilities. This decision follows a legal challenge filed by approximately 40 individuals with disabilities against the Ministry of Transportation and Public Works and the Ministry of Public Health.

While the law, passed in 2010, obligates all national land passenger transport companies to offer free travel, its implementation was stalled. A 2021 decree required individuals to obtain a "free transport pass" by proving their disability through a certification department within the Ministry of Public Health. However, this department had not been established, preventing eligible individuals from accessing the benefit.

The ruling, issued by Judge María Eugenia Ferrer Sugo, clarifies that bus companies must provide free transport, including a seat or reserved space, for people with disabilities on both suburban and interdepartmental routes. To obtain the pass, individuals must apply through the Ministry of Public Health's certification department and present the resulting card to transport companies. The validity of the pass will depend on the permanence of the disability, as determined by the Ministry.

The National Directorate of Transportation and Public Works will be responsible for overseeing the use of these passes. The judicial precedent for this ruling was set by Felipe Freire, a young man with autism who successfully obtained his free transport pass through a similar legal action. His father, Andrés Freire, has continued advocating for broader access to this benefit.