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Beranda / Album / ADA 1990 61
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New York Times NATIONAL Tuesday March 13, 1990 Bill Barring Discrimination Against Disabled Hits Snag By STEVEN A. HOLMES, Special to The New York Times WASHINGTON, March 12 — Having strongly supported a comprehensive bill in the Senate to extend civil rights protections to 43 million Americans with physical and mental disabilities, the Bush Administration is balking at efforts to toughen penalties against businesses that do not comply. Officially, the White House has not withdrawn its support for the bill, which would require all new buildings and services used by the public to accommodate the disabled. “We do support the legislation," the White House spokesman, Marlin Fitzwater, said today. "We‘re very supportive of their rights and their cause." But other Administration officials said President Bush was reluctant to support the measure if its backers persisted in seeking penalties for job discrimination that are harsher than those in the Civil Rights Act of 1964. That law bars discrimination on the basis of race, sex and national origin and limits penalties to court injunctions directing a business to stop discriminating and to reinstatement and back pay for those dismissed or not promoted as a result of bias. Both the disabilities bill passed by the Senate and one pending in the House state that penalties for violating the anti-discrimination provisions will be the same as those in the Civil Rights Act. Letter From Attorney General But a new bill introduced in both the House and the Senate last month would toughen the penalties in the 1964 law to allow for compensatory and punitive damages. Thus it would affect those in the disabilities bill as well. Sponsors say chances for passage of the proposed changes in the Civil Rights Act are good. Attorney General Dick Thornburgh, in a letter sent tonight to Representative Steny H. Hoyer, Democrat of Maryland, the chief sponsor of the House bill, said the Administration would seek to amend the disabilities bill to delete any link to the 1964 act and to lay out specifically what the employer sanctions would be. A spokesman for Mr.Thornburgh, David Runkel, said tonight that the Administration does not want the penalties in the disabilities act to go beyond the court injunctions and reinstatement and back pay now in the 1964 law. Senior Administration officials said the White House may withdraw its support from the bill if it is unable to delete any reference to the 1964 legislation. The disabilities measure, which passed the Senate in September by a vote of 76 to 8, has 246 sponsors in the House and passage seems virtually assured. Alixe Glen, a White House spokeswoman, declined to say whether the President would veto the bill if it continues to be linked to the civil rights laws. Rally by Disabled People The maneuvering over the bill came as more than 250 disabled people, many of them in wheelchairs, held a rally at the White House and then moved on to the steps of the Capitol to press for prompt House passage of the disabled rights bill. "Too often disabled people are seen as objects of charity or pity," Bob Kafka, a quadriplegic from Austin, Tex., said. "We're here to change that image. And we're here to send a message to the President and to Congress that this bill needs to be passed with no weakening amendments." If passed in its current form, the Americans with Disabilities Act would be the most sweeping civil rights law enacted since the landmark 1964 act. It mandates that all new buildings used by the general public, including restaurants, lodgings, places of entertainment, doctors’ offices and other establishments, provide the disabled with the means to enter and exit and that existing businesses make appropriate modifications if that can be done without creating a financial burden. The bill would also require that new railroad and subway cars and buses purchased by public and private transportation companies be accessible to people with disabilities and that telephone companies provide public telephones that can be used by persons with speech or hearing impairments. It was to gain the support of the White House and Senate Republicans that the bill's backers agreed to link the penalty provisions to those in the 1964 civil rights law. The bill's supporters had wanted to allow disabled people who proved they were victims of intentional and willful job discrimination to sue for compensatory and punitive damages. But the Administration argued that the disabled should not receive protections that were greater than those accorded to women and minorities. With the Administration's backing, the Senate approved the bill. But as it worked its way through House committees, a separate measure, the Civil Rights Act of 1990, was introduced in Congress with the backing of a coalition oi civil rights organizations that includes groups representing people with disabilities. The new measure amends the 1964 law to permit compensatory and punitive damages for victims of job discrimination. ENLARGED TEXT INSERTED INTO THE ARTICLE: How tough should the penalties against businesses be? PHOTO (The New York Times/George Tames): Three women in wheelchairs (Paulette Patterson, Christine Coughlin, and Lillibeth Navarro) across a sidewalk roll in front of a large white pillared government building [part of the White House complex]. The closest woman is holding a small bull horn and chanting; she is being pushed by another woman with an ADAPT headband and T-shirt. The other two women are in power chairs, the one in the middle has a placard that says something about Rights, and she is carrying the ADAPT flag and chanting. All four women look very determined and strong. Caption reads: Hundreds of handicapped people demonstrated in Washington yesterday to press for passage of the Americans With Disabilities Act.
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3/13/90 Capitol Steps Climbed in Protest by Disabled WASHINGTON (AP) — Using her arms to drag her small body up the Capitol steps, 8-year old Jennifer Keelan joined some 60 disabled Americans Monday in lobbying for legislation to guarantee their civil rights“. “l‘ll take all night if I have to," Jennlfer said to others crawling along side her. She paused just past the halfway point for a sip of water on a bright and unseasonably hot March day, then resumed pulling herself up the rest of the 83 marble steps. Keelan, a ‘blond-haired second grader from Denver, was the youngest of about 60 people with disabilities who left their wheelchairs and crawled up the West Front of the Capitol. They were making a symbolic protest to demand passage of a key bill now pending in the House that would extend civil rights to disabled persons. She and the others climbed the Capitol steps after about 1,000 people walked or rode in wheelchairs down Pennsylvania Avenue from the White House to the Capitol and held a rally at the base of the Capitol steps. The were demanding passage of the Americans with Disabilities Act, which passed the Senate last year but has been bogged down in the House this year, despite widespread predictions of its ultimate passage. The measure would outlaw discrimination based on physical or mental disability in employment, access to buildings, use of the telephone system, use of public and private transportation systems, and in other areas. Although the hill has the support of the Bush administration and congressional leaders, some supporters have begun questioning the administration‘s commitment in recent weeks. At the White House, Bush press secretary Marlin Fitzwater denied that the support was slipping and said the administration was negotiating over the bill with key members of Congress. "We do support the legislation," Fitzwater said. "We're very supportive of their rights and their cause. President Bush has spoken out on that in the past." Rep. Pat Schroeder, D-Colo, a supporter of the bill, told the rally that pressure was building for the bill and that the House Energy and Commerce Committee had scheduled its vote on the measure for Tuesday as a result.
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3/14/90 Disabled demonstrators arrested at U.S. Capitol WASHINGTON (AP) — Police arrested disabled demonstrators who chanted slogans and chained their wheelchairs together in the Capitol on Tuesday in a protest demanding quick passage of a bill guaranteeing their civil rights. The arrests came after deliberate arts of civil disobedience by the demonstrators and a confrontation in the Capitol's cavernous Rotunda with House Speaker Thomas S. Foley and Minority Leader Robert H. Michel. Some 75 protesters were arrested, many of them in their wheelchairs. Removing the demonstrators and loading them into vans look police about two hours. Those who could walk were handcuffed, and some in wheelchairs were strapped into their seats by police. Those arrested were charged with two misdemeanors, unlawful entry and demonstrating within the Capitol, said police spokesman GT Nevitt. Both carry maximum sentences of six months in jail. In addition, those convicted could be fined $100 for unlawful entry and $500 for demonstrating in the Capitol. The arrests marked the second day of dramatic lobbying by people with disabilities, who are seeking passage of the Americans with Disabilities Act. On Monday, some 60 people crawled out of their wheelchairs and up the West steps of the Capitol to underline their demands. PHOTO (The Associated Press): Three people in wheelchairs sit smiling at one another amid the crowd at the plaza at the bottom of the steps on the West front of the Capitol. Behind them the ADAPT flag flies, with it's wheelchair symbol made out of stars and the stripes like the American flag. Behind the flag is the dome of the Capitol against the sky. Caption: A group of handicapped people gather outside of the U.S. Capitol to draw support for a bill pending in the House that would extend civil rights to disabled persons.
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3/14/90 Wheelchair-Bound Protesters Arrested WASHINGTON (AP) -— Police arrested disabled demonstrators who chanted slogans and chained their wheelchairs together in the Capitol on Tuesday in a protest demanding quick passage of a bill guaranteeing their civil rights. The arrests came after deliberate acts of civil disobedience by the demonstrators and a confrontation in the Capitol’s cavernous Rotunda with House Speaker Thomas S. Foley and Minority Leader Robert H. Michel. Police said 104 people were arrested. Removing the demonstrators and loading them into vans took police about two hours. Those who could walk were handcuffed. and some in wheelchairs were strapped into their seats by police, many of whom wore surgical gloves. Those arrested were charged with two misdemeanors, unlawful entry and demonstrating within the Capitol, said police spokesman G.T. Nevitt. Both carry maximum sentences of six months in jail. In addition, those convicted could be fined $100 for unlawful entry and $500 for demonstrating in the Capitol. The arrests marked the second day of dramatic lobbying by people with disabilities, who are seeking passage of the Americans with Disabilities Act. On Monday, some 60 people crawled out of their wheelchairs and up the West steps of the Capitol to underline their demands. The Senate passed the bill last year but the measure has bogged down in the House despite widespread predictions of ultimate approval. While the demonstration was in progress, the House Energy and Commerce Committee approved the bill 40-3 at a meeting in another building. But the measure still must go to two other committees before reaching the full House. Demonstrators gathered in the center of the Rotunda and began to chant slogans, including some from the civil rights movement of the 1960s. They also chanted “ADA Now” and “Access Now," referring to their demand for access to transportation and other accommodations. “Access is a civil right," the last protester, who identified herself only as Gail Love, shouted as she was taken out. Police used large snipping tools to break chains that some of the demonstrators had used to bind their wheelchairs together.
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LOS ANGELES TIMES WEDNESDAY, MARCH 14, 1990 Washington, DC Officers Arrest 104 Disabled Protesters Police in Washington said they arrested 104 disabled demonstrators who chanted slogans and chained their wheelchairs together in the Capitol in a demand for quick passage of a bill guaranteeing their civil rights. Those who could walk were handcuffed, and some were strapped into their wheelchairs by police. Those arrested were charged with two misdemeanors, unlawful entry and demonstrating within the Capitol police said.
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Rocky Mountain News 3/14/90 AROUND TOWN Disabled protesters held Police arrested disabled demonstrators who chanted slogans and chained their wheelchairs together in the Capitol yesterday in a protest demanding quick passage of a bill guaranteeing their civil rights. The arrests came after deliberate acts of civil disobedience by the demonstrators and a confrontation in the Capitol’s cavernous Rotunda with House Speaker Thomas S. Foley and Minority Leader Robert H. Michel. Some 104 protesters were arrested, many of them in their wheelchairs.
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PHOTO (Tom Olin): A man (George Roberts) is seated at the bottom of the flight of stairs up to the Capitol building. His feet are cross and legs tense from CP. A couple of standing people are getting ready to assist him by lifting him up the steps, apparently one at a time; they each are holding one of his arms. Higher on the flight a woman and a child in light blue ADAPT shirts are heading up the steps. Still higher, a couple of men in suits are lifting a manual wheelchair (without a person in it) up the stairs. Still higher someone on a crutch is climbing the steps and someone else is crawling up by the railing in the middle of the stairs as a camera-man films. Still higher a few others are reaching the top of the flight of stairs. The white Capitol dome and building are set against the blue sky.
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The Tampa Tribune, Wednesday, March 14, 1990 PHOTO (Associated Press photograph): A man in a suit (Thomas Foley) is surrounded by group of women, some in wheelchairs, and others who are hard to make out in the darker background. One woman appears to be signing. The picture is very blurry. Demanding their rights House Speaker Thomas Foley meets with disabled protesters in Washington's Capitol Rotunda Tuesday. Later, police arrested 75 demonstrators who chained their wheelchairs together and chanted slogans demanding quick passage of a bill guaranteeing their civil rights.
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THE BOSTON GLOBE SATURDAY, MARCH 25. 1989 AN APPEAL FOR ACCESS PHOTO (Globe staff photo Wendy Maeda): A man (Mike Muehe) in manual wheelchair sits looking straight ahead, smiling. He wears glasses, short hear a jacket, and gloves. Beside him facing in the opposite direction is a woman (Sybil Feldman) in an electric wheelchair wearing a white hat or hood, a winter coat, and gloves. In her left hand she holds a large poster that covers her lap and reads "President Bush: Don't Appeal." The man and woman are clasping hands or give each other a fist bump. Caption reads: Demonstrators clasp hands during a vigil outside the Federal Transportation Department building in Cambridge yesterday. People with disabilities urged the Bush administration to let stand a US Court of Appeals ruling would mandate all public transit systems receiving federal aid to purchase vehicles that are accessible to disabled people. Similar demonstrations were held in 12 other cities.
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WHEN IS TOO MUCH: "Helping" the Disabled by Mary McKnew Just as airplane pilots want assurance that a plane's steering wheel won‘t come off while flying over Europe, people utilizing a bus wheelchair lift deserve to expect that the lift will operate in a safe and predictable manner. However, I have to admit that too much focus on “safety” issues has me a little worried. To some transit officials, “safety” issues in providing transportation services for people with disabilities raise old stereotypes of helplessness and can quickly become a rationale for imposing paternalistic policies. For example, here in Olympia, the local Intercity Transit Authority and the state's Department of General Administration are co-sponsoring a shuttle service between the capitol and downtown Olympia with routes passing other major states offices. With the local parking problem, this system is extremely convenient. From the beginning, all vans used in the service have been equipped with wheelchair lifts. All this, of course, is very commendable. So, what's the problem? Unfortunately, the van's tie-down system, lack of grab-bars and driver policies reflect a paternalistic attitude towards disabled passengers by promoting dependence in the name of safety. The tie-down system is one of the most primitive I have ever encountered. It uses straps to bind each of a wheelchair's four wheels to the floor in a rather intricate system that takes the driver approximately five minutes to accomplish. To tie-down a wheelchair, the driver must get on his or her hands and knees. Thus, it is not possible for even very mobile wheelchair users to accomplish this independently. However, once the straps are in place, none of the wheels will move even a centimeter. During this five minute routine, other van passengers wait outside (some glancing at their watches) until the driver folds the lift back in place and allows them to board. After being strapped down, the driver then will place a seat-belt around the wheelchair user. Seat belts are not available for other passengers. If the wheelchair user decides to reject use of a seat belt, the driver will attempt (sometimes loud) persuasion, finally telephoning into the office to report that the passenger has refused use of the belt. I use a wheelchair for mobility due to a low and incomplete spinal cord injury. I object to many of the features in the Intercity Transit system that, to me, are designed on the premise that people with disabilities will always need a lot of assistance from the driver. Although the driver should be trained and willing to provide assistance if it is requested, the system should be designed to promote maximum independence. Most tie-down systems can be easily manipulated by most wheelchair uses with finger movement. Although some wheelchair users need a seat belt due to problems with balance, drivers should not assume they are needed by all such passengers. A policy that requires a driver to phone in to report a passenger's rejection of the seat belt is founded on the belief that people with disabilities are incapable of making sound decisions regarding their own safety. Additionally, although grab-bars are located along the ceiling walls of other seats, none are available near the tie-down area. Thus, if the bus lurches while enroute, a wheelchair passenger has nothing to hold onto. I suppose this makes it more likely a wheelchair passenger will comply with the seat belt policy, recognizing that a passive restraint is better than none at all. Intercity Transit has been providing paratranslt services to people with disabilities for a number of years. They have moved into the provision of mainline transportation services (i.e., access to the regular bus service) only recently. It appears that they have simply shifted their operating policies and procedures from one system to the other without considering if these are applicable to the new service. I have brought my objections to Intercity Transit’s attention. Although the staff disagree with most, they are reconsidering others. Safety is a concern to people who use wheelchair lifts. However, we cannot allow it to become a convenient rationale for either eliminating the service or instituting restrictive policies that treat people with disabilities in a disparate manner from other passengers. PHOTO (by Tom Olin): A large crowd marches downhill on a wide street. In the front row a little girl in a wheelchair (Jennifer Keelan) is pushed by her mother (Cindy). Beside them a woman in a motorized wheelchair (Diane Coleman) and a long skirt and white jacket has a sign behind her reading "we the people." Beside her a man in a manual wheelchair (Bob Kafka) with a big salt and pepper beard rolls along. In the row behind, between Bob and Diane, is a woman in a wheelchair (Mary McKnew) and a man who walks (Lannie Schuman) are visible and next to them another man marches behind Diane. Behind Jennifer and Cindy is Tari Susan Hartman. Rows of marchers go further and further back up the street to the top of the hill and presumably beyond. Caption reads: Just to the right at the placard Washington residents Lannie Schuman and Mary McKnew participate in a San Francisco demonstration for transportation rights. ABOUT THE AUTHOR... In 1987, Mary McKnew tried to get arrested for the first time. She sat in front of a San Francisco police van and refused to move. She sat in her wheelchair directly under the wheels of a bus and refused to move. "I did many illegal things." she says wryly. What she did, she did in the name of accessible public transportation for people with disabilities... a personal and political quest McKnew has been following for the past 12 years. Although McKnew wasn't arrested at that demonstration (in spite of her civil disobedience efforts), many others were. More than 500 people organized by the American Disabled tor Accessible Public Transportation (ADAPT) marched through the streets oi San Francisco to the city hall to protest the continuing discriminatory policies supported by the American Public Transit Association (APTA). ADAPT has been a persistent thorn in the side of APTA for many years. Fortunately, their persistence paid off. With the final signing of the Americans With Disabilities Act (ADA) expected any day, ADAPT—- and McKnew — will see many of their demands for fair, accessible transportation become reality. But McKnew says that just because you pass laws doesn't mean you quit being an activist. "The ADA will bring private transit companies under regulations just like public ones," she says, "but just passing a law doesn't mean we solve the problem. implementation is a whole other thing." In part, McKnew was referring to the possibility that some private companies may reduce the seating capacity in some of their smaller vehicles in order to side-step the accessibility requirements mandated by the ADA. "What the ADA will do is provide a clear avenue for lawsuits," she says. Is McKnew planning on handling some of those lawsuits herself? It may be too early to tell. Currently an executive policy assistant in the Office of the Governor, McKnew is also a second-year law student at the University of Puget Sound. (This story continues in the original format on 571 but is included here in its entirety for ease of reading.)
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This is the continuation of the story in 572, and its text is completely included there, for ease of reading.
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Rocky Mountain News - Fri., July 27, 1990 Mayor vows action on accessibility law Pena says city will help businesses comply By Ann Carnahan, Rocky Mountain News Staff Writer Denver Mayor Federico Pena promised yesterday to help business owners comply with new legislation requiring them to make offices and stores accessible to the disabled. Facing a roomful of people in wheelchairs, the mayor said he would review the city's permitting system to eliminate “unnecessary obstacles” that owners could face in making modifications. “We don't want to be a stumbling block,” Pena said. “We are evaluating the full range of options available . . . everything from making adjustments to fees to making adjustments to other criteria we have.” A recent University of West Virginia study showed that the average job accommodation cost is less than $500, officials said at the press conference. President Bush yesterday signed into law a measure barring discrimination against 43 million Americans who are disabled or have AIDS. Within two, years, businesses must be made accessible to disabled workers and customers. Public accommodations must comply within 18 months. “There are going to be some in the private sector who will argue that this costs too much, that this is an unfair burden," Pena said. “I say we are losing money because we have . . . Americans who cannot participate fully in the economic life-stream of this country because our buildings are not accessible." Denver has a reputation among the handicapped of being one of the most accessible cities in the country, said Laura Hershey, director of the Denver Commission for People with Disabilities. Prior to yesterday, modification requirements applied only to federal programs, Hershey said. But in Denver, all public buildings constructed since 1983 must be accessible to the handicapped. High spirits marked the press conference yesterday in Pena’s office as the mayor congratulated the disabled who have lobbied many years for this legislation. “This is freedom. It's acceptibility,” said Sueann Hughes, who has multiple sclerosis. “For the first time in a long time, we don't have to worry about being discriminated against." Pena also outlined several other steps the city is taking to help the disabled: * Co-sponsoring - a conference on April 30, 1991, that will address the new law's impact on Colorado. * Examining the city's employment system to determine whether there are ways to recruit and hire more people with disabilities. * Stepping up the city's curb ramp construction program with increased funds under the bond issue projects.
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Disabled occupy House offices; 59 are arrested By Frank Wolfe and Sonsyrea Tate The Washington Times 3/15/90 About 300 disabled demonstrators from 40 states occupied two congressional offices and the House Judiciary Committee room in the Rayburn House Office Building for about five hours yesterday before Capitol Police began making arrests. The participants at times discarded wheelchairs and dropped to the floor in one representative's office as part of their demonstration for passage — without weakening amendments — of the Americans with Disabilities Act. Last night, 59 persons were arrested for unlawful entry when they refused to leave the building after the House ended its session about 8 p.m., Capitol Police said. The rest of the demonstrators left peacefully. Police, some wearing optional rubber gloves, carried the demonstrators out. The protest began about 3:15 p.m. when the activists, including 101 arrested Monday in the Capitol Rotunda, occupied the offices of Reps. Hamilton Fish Jr., New York Republican, and Bud Shuster, Pennsylvania Republican. Members of the group also occupied the meeting room of the Judiciary Committee, which is slated to consider the bill. It has passed the Energy and Commerce Committee by a 40-3 vote. But one of the amendments would make flexible the requirement that mass-transit authorities provide lift-equipped transportation for disabled people. Authorities could choose instead to provide “paratransit" services such as minivans. Protest leaders are concerned that such flexibility would lead to “segregated busing" in many states, said Mike Auberger, co-founder of American Disabled for Accessible Public Transportation and one of the protest organizers. Mr. Shuster was in a meeting of the House Select Committee on Intelligence yesterday afternoon and belatedly learned of the protest. Mr. Fish, ranking minority member of the House Committee on the Judiciary, offered his support for the bill with no weakening amendments and said he would use all measures available to him to defeat any such amendments, according to Ed Tessier, a quadriplegic who helped to organize the protest. Those assembled in Mr. Fish’s office then left. Later in the afternoon, demonstrators occupied Mr. Shuster‘s office, demanding to see the congressman and hoping to make it difficult for staff employees to leave. Mr. Shuster, a member of the House Public Works and Transportation Committee, acknowledged the demonstrators’ grievances and said the proposed transportation budget is severely lacking in money allotted for mass transit. “My heart goes out to them," the congressman told The Washington Times in a telephone interview. “I'm in a unique position. My mother was a double amputee in a wheelchair. I have more intimate experiences with the plight and problems of the disabled than perhaps any other member of Congress." The bill is slated for two other House committees, the House Committee on the Judiciary and the House Committee on Public Works and Transportation — committees the two congressmen sit on - before reaching the floor of the House. Mr. Shuster said that 100 percent federal mandate" wheelchairs would add 10 percent to the cost of buses and would provide “zero accessibility" for the thousands of disabled who need more comprehensive para-transit services, such as the minivan to transport them to bus stops. "This is a feel-good bill," he said. “There is no money accompanying the bill to pay for the costs it is proposing." He cited New York City, where he said there is, on average, one wheelchair rider per 19 buses, as an example of the need for a mix of lift—equipped buses and paratransit services. If there is a federal mandate on lift-equipped buses, he said, there would be a reduction in services for handicapped riders and for the general public.
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METRO Magazine March/April 1991 This article is on 568, 555,551 and 547 and is included here in its entirety for ease of reading. Disabilities Act Forces Sweeping Transit Changes Public, private operators must comply with new ADA law. Uncle Sam hustles to fine tune countless provisions. By Lenny Levine The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) will force sweeping changes on the transit industry, both public and private, and the battle to implement it is just being joined. When President Bush signed ADA into law last July shortly after overwhelming approval by Congress, it was the culmination of a decade-long struggle by advocates for the 43 million handicapped Americans and others to provide equal access for the disabled. The law affects transit buses, passenger trains, motorcoaches, stations and how the people who run them do business. Much is known about the law. Indeed, many in transit have long anticipated its provisions and made pieces of their operations “accessible,” the operative word. More, however, is not known. A slew of federal agencies is tuning the law. The name of the tune will unfold with time. What is known is this: Public agencies must make accessible all new vehicles purchased after last Aug. 25. Transit systems buying used vehicles must demonstrate “a good faith effort" to get accessible vehicles. Agencies that remanufacture vehicles to extend their life at least five years must make them accessible. All criteria, much of which has yet to be spelled out, must be implemented regardless of cost. All that also applies to private operators contracting with public agencies. There is some wiggle room, however. Waivers may be obtained in certain cases. That, too, will be spelled out as ADA is further refined. Motorcoach operators have more wiggle room, years of it. ADA says small private operators have six years after enactment of the law to become accessible, large operators, seven. But there begins the bureaucratic snafu. “What ‘small’ and ‘large’ mean haven't even been defined for us yet," said Steve Sprague, vice president for governmental affairs of the United Bus Owners of America (UBOA). He said “large” will probably be defined as Interstate Commerce Commission Class I operators. But the definition is a long way off. That definition — and countless other details that will govern the motorcoach industry —— will come from an old friend of bus folk. It is, ta da: THE STUDY. ”The study was mandated by ADA to govern the motorcoach industry. It is to be conducted by a broad-based committee of government, industry and technical people and advocates for the disabled over three years. Then the secretary of transportation reviews it for a year, and public comment is collected after that. Problem is, the study’s birth is overdue, wrapped up in Washington's womb of bureaucracy. Sprague, a member of the study’s committee, explained the delay like this: The committee is to be set up by the Office of Technology Assessment (OTA), an arm of Congress. OTA has never conducted such a study. And Congress has not yet given OTA money to do the study, although “the powers that be at OTA are trying to get the money." Sprague predicted the end result of the study will be that “overall, access must be provided for the disabled" by private operators. That could take many forms, Sprague said: There could be a subsidized pool of over-the-road vehicles regionally; the public fleet could be subcontracted to private operators; and, of course, private operators could make their vehicles accessible, one way or another. QUOTE highlighted from text: "It's a good thing we were given time to get things done" —Steve Sprague Charter law prevents public agencies from doing charter business if private charter buses are available, Sprague said, and it will remain so, for now. And there’s still the definition of what “access” means. UMTA is drafting rules and regulations. And the federal Architectural and Transportation Barriers Compliance Board has been holding hearings around the nation and must publish a final rule by April 26 on access to buildings and terminals, but not buses. In the meantime, while waiting for the federal government to define "access," Sprague said the secretary of transportation cannot demand wheelchair lifts on motorcoaches, but can only say buses must be accessible; that could be lifts, ramps or free assistance in boarding. “So it doesn’t necessarily mean there will be a bunch of new lifts," Sprague said, “because the secretary could not demand physical changes in equipment while the studies are under way. He can just say, ‘Don't discriminate.”’ With all the expected changes due, Sprague said, “It’s a good thing that we were given time to get things together.” If private operators have a few years to get things together, public transit agencies face Armageddon July 26. That’s when UMTA publishes a final rule on access. The notice on the rule will be published in March, said Richard Centner, UMTA director of public affairs, and there will be 60 days for public comment. Included in this complicated rulemaking process is input from federal agencies previously mentioned, plus the Federal Railroad Administration, Justice Department and other agencies within the Department of Transportation. An interagency task force has been formed, Centner said, to make sure all segments of the bureaucracy are on the same track. APTA recently was cosponsor of a seminar on accessibility, and is collecting data. For more information, phone Deborah Dubin at 202/ 898-4098. Transit agencies around the nation have long been providing service to the disabled, be it with paratransit, demand-responsive service or accessible buses. Some were doing it before ADA became a buzzword, others in anticipation of it. The Rapid Transit District in Los Angeles, for example, recently celebrated a decade of accessible service to the disabled. In 1974 the RTD became the first transit agency in the nation to begin buying all new buses with wheelchair lifts. “Today, 97 percent of RTD’s bus fleet of more than 2,600 buses are equipped with a wheelchair lift, and in the next couple of years the entire fleet will be lift equipped," said RTD General Manager Alan F. Pegg. Three percent, or 40,000, of RT D’s 1.3 million daily riders are disabled. Wheelchair boardings average 400 a day. In 1986 half the proceeds from a San Francisco Muni senior citizen fare increase were earmarked for paratransit. In 1989 San Francisco voters followed the lead of other voters in the area and approved a local sales tax increase for transportation, with eight percent of it set aside for paratransit. The Toledo Area Regional Transit Authority in Ohio recently began a program to help visually-impaired bus passengers. Cards are provided displaying the passenger’s bus route in a number large enough for a driver to see. The Central Ohio Transit Authority and a local group will share a $42,000 grant from Project ACTION to create and demonstrate cooperative methods for improving accessible public transportation. A local steering committee has proposed: mobility fairs where passengers can get training in using lifts; training for drivers; tapes to train passengers to become independent when using the transit system; and hosts and hostesses on the agency’s 41 new lift-equipped buses to help new riders. In addition to changing the face of transportation, ADA is also spawning a host of products. New wheelchair lifts and securement devices are only the beginning. One new product, Luminator’s large-format GTI Matrix Sign, is nearly double the size of the company’s MAX sign system. The new system has 16 rows by 112 columns and can display characters 9.5 inches high on a single-line message or two lines of characters 4.1 inches high. Luminator, of Plano, Texas, promotes the system as beneficial to riders who have limited vision. Remember ADAPT? “We've gotten everything we wanted in public transit,” said Wade Blank, founder of a group called ADAPT. Blank’s group was a driving force behind ADA and he and his colleagues have been a fixture for years demonstrating at APTA conventions. “I missed the intrigue of this year's convention," Blank admitted. ADAPT is still active in the rulemaking process for buses and trains, working with UMTA on an advisory task force.... Blank said, though, there is still some work to be done in the private sector. He said he is negotiating with Greyhound to allow a wheelchair on its buses instead of stowing the wheelchair and having an attendant put the wheelchair passenger in a regular bus seat. Blank also noted that it might not cost much more to build all buses from scratch with wheelchair lifts. He said, “We have agreed to accept the regulatory process and accept the five or six years" it will take to implement ADA for private operators, but “we really don't need five or six years. "The writing is on the wall." Although Blank may miss the intrigue of bus conventions, his group is taking on a new public giant. The group has changed its name from Americans Disabled for Accessible Public Transit to Americans Disabled for Attendant Programs Today. ADAPT is tackling the nursing home industry, which Blank said gets $19 billion yearly from Medicaid. Blank would take S5 billion of that and put attendants in homes of the elderly to care for them, thus keeping them out of nursing homes. Many questions remain on implementing ADA They involve more than just making buses and trains accessible to wheelchairs. Are elderly people, for example, considered “disabled?” There will be detailed regulations devised to accommodate the blind and the deaf. That could include special markings on vehicles and terminals. Route signs, handrails and fare boxes must be “accessible.” What about securement devices? And ADA specifies new employment provisions. Beginning July 26, 1992, employers with 25 or more employees cannot discriminate against qualified people with disabilities in job application procedures, hiring, promotion, firing, pay and job training. The employer must also make “reasonable accommodation" to disabled workers such as making existing facilities accessible, job restucturing, part-time or modified work hours and the provision of qualified readers or interpreters. On July 26, 1994, the provisions extend to employers with 15 or more workers. Transit people “are concerned about implementing ADA without cutting service," said an industry insider. “People candidly ask what will happen it they don’t (implement ADA)? lt will be a given there will he a lot of lawsuits if they don't, but we're all working together on this." "... in the next couple of years the entire fleet will be llft equlpped." -- Alan F. Pegg PHOTO: Close up of Wade Blank. He is wearing tinted, wire-rimmed, round glasses and his long hair falls from the part in the middle of his head. Caption reads: Blank. PHOTO: Close up on sign on the front of a bus reads "FLXIBLE" and an access symbol on one side. Caption reads: Luminaior's new matrix sign with letters 9.5 inches high is easier to read for passengers with vision problems.
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Rocky Mountain News Weds., May 23. 1990 (There are 2 articles here. The first article starts here on 567 and continues on 565, the whole story is included here for ease of reading. The second article comes after the first one.) WORLD & NATION News Editor 892-2634, John Davidson, National Editor 892-2731 Clifford D. May, International Editor 892-2739 House OKs rights bill for disabled Measure would ban discrimination Scripps Howard News Service WASHINGTON — The House yesterday passed legislation to outlaw discrimination against 43 million disabled Americans. The 403-20 vote in favor of the bill, regarded as the most sweeping civil rights legislation in a quarter-century, sends it to conference with the Senate, which passed its version 76-8 last fall. The measure is backed by President Bush, who campaigned on the Americans with Disabilities Act in the 1988 presidential race, when few voters had heard of the bill. Rep. Steny Hoyer, D-Md., who shepherded the legislation through the House, hailed it as “the most significant civil rights legislation since the Civil Rights Act of 1964.” The 1964 law barred discrimination based on race, sex, religion, color or national origin in private employment, public accommodations and government service. The Americans with Disabilities Act would extend civil rights protections to the disabled as well. Passage came despite opposition from business groups, which have complained about the potential for lawsuits along with the cost of adapting offices, plants and stores for disabled workers and customers. Sponsors counter that keeping the disabled out of the economic mainstream costs $170 billion a year in government benefits; they say this bill has been changed to take account of business concerns: Companies with 25 or more workers would have two years to comply with the employment provisions, with four years allotted firms with as few as 15 workers. To ease the expense of making smaller stores, restaurants and other public accommodations accessible to the disabled, the House voted to give small businesses at least two years to conform and exempted firms with fewer than 10 workers for 30 months. In Colorado According to Randy Chapman, director of Legal Services for The Legal Center Serving People with Disabilities. the expected passage or the American Disabilities Act will affect the state in three key ways: protect people with mental disabilities, allow disabled people to collect attorneys fees when challenging discrimination and require private businesses to provide reasonable accommodations for people with disabilities. A state law protecting people with mental disabilities is expected to take effect in about a year, but a federal law would take effect immediately, he said. Chapman said businessmen's fears that the law will cost them in litigation and renovations are somewhat unfounded. "Most (businesses) need little or no accommodations . . . and there was substantial litigation when a similar law (for employers receiving federal funds) was passed." Michael Auberger, co-director of the Colorado-based Atlantis Community for disabled citizens, said, "The law will open up the job market, the retail market . . . it will make us a legitimate class that has protection under the law that we never had before." —- Diane Goldie