The Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA) stipulates the provision of complementary paratransit to people unable to use regular public transportation. With the emergence of a wide range of public transportation services, problems have occurred for public transit agencies, especially the rising costs of providing services for paratransit. Even though paratransit services are one of the most efficient ways to help move people with disabilities and the elderly, they are the most expensive and the most difficult to coordinate and operate. The purpose of this thesis is to define different types of paratransit services and their characteristics, expound major paratransit expense issues, describe the existing conditions of paratransit in Richmond, Virginia, and make policy and strategy recommendations for the Greater Richmond Transit Company (GRTC) based on a comparative analysis of fifteen case studies of paratransit agencies in the country.