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Početna / Kategorije / Tagovi accessible transit + DOT 7
- ADAPT (368)
San Francisco Chronicle 10/1/87 PHOTO by Steve Ringman, the Chronicle: A line of wheelchair protesters file down a hallway lined by other wheelchair protesters and supporters. There is one man directing and a policeman looks on. The line of protesters is lead by Greg Buchannan, then Mike Auberger, then Stephanie Thomas, another woman, then Joe Carle. Media, supporters and onlookers line the hallway. Caption reads: Supporters cheered more than 100 wheelchair protesters as they rolled into court in San Francisco yesterday for arraignment. Boxed Text: 'They're our heroes. They're standing up for us and everybody.' Title: Wheelchair Protesters' Day in Court By Jack Viets and L. A. Chung The San Francisco protests by wheelchair demonstrators seeking better access to public transportation finally rolled to an end yesterday in a Hall of Justice courtroom. Since Sunday, a total of 134 of the demonstrators have been arrested during a series of protests that ranged from a rally at San Francisco's City Hall to a 2 1/2 hour shutdown of the city's historic Powell Street cable car line by a wheelchair army Tuesday. The protests were staged to oppose the policies of the American Public Transit Association, which ends four days of meetings today in San Francisco. Groups representing disabled persons contend that all transit vehicles, even the historic cable cars, should be accessible to wheelchairs. Although there were more demonstrations yesterday, there were no new arrests.' The 43 protesters who were held Tuesday night in a Hall of Justice gym on misdemeanor charges stemming from their arrests were all released yesterday. They had pleaded no contest to a charge of obstruction. Municipal Court Judge Phil Moscone waived $50 fines in light of the time they had spent in custody. Some 90 other protesters who had been cited but not booked also pleaded no contest and their fines also were waived. Outside the courtroom, the hallway echoed with cheers and applause from nearly 100 other persons in wheelchairs as the first group of 14 wheelchair defendants to appear before the judge were released. "They're our heroes," said Connie Arnold of San Rafael. "They're standing up for us and everybody." Inside the jammed courtroom, 6-year-old Jennifer Keelan — the youngest person to participate in the demonstrations — sat in her wheelchair and watched the proceedings with her mother, Cynthia. "I am her parent," her mother said. "But this is her disabled family and these are her brothers and sisters." Earlier in the day, during a bizarre demonstration of just how tough the access problems of the disabled really are, a band of people in wheelchairs were denied access to the federal Department of Transportation offices at 211 Main Street. The entire building is leased by the General Services Administration. When they rolled into the building's elevators to visit the 11th floor offices of the Urban Mass Transportation Administration and the secretary of transportation's regional representative, electrical power to the elevators was abruptly shut off. The visitors were informed by a man in a blue blazer that they were in a private building and not a public building, and that police would be asked to remove them if they did not leave. He identified himself as the building manager, but refused to give his name. Amid cries that they were experiencing George Orwell's "1984," the protesters began chanting: "We will ride. We will ride." However, the elevators did not move. Shortly after noon, San Francisco police warned the demonstrators that they were "on private property, and we ask you to disperse." If they failed to leave, the demonstrators would be arrested, officers said. Police did promise the wheelchair visitors that they would be given ample time to make their way out of the building. - ADAPT (613)
El Paso Times Tuesday, Feb. 14, 1989 p.6A [Headline] Court: New buses must have Wheelchair lifts Associated Press PHILADELPHIA — A federal appeals court Monday ordered the U.S. Department of Transportation to require transit authorities across the country to equip new buses with wheelchair lifts. Attorneys who brought the lawsuit that led to the ruling called it the most important decision ever handed down for handicapped people needing public transportation. The 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said a Transportation Department regulation requiring all new buses to accommodate wheelchairs conflicts with another allowing communities to offer only an alternative service, such as special vans, to the handicapped. The court said a rule requiring reservations 24 hours in advance for use of the alternative transportation hinders the spontaneous use of mass transit by the handicapped. As a result, the court ordered transit authorities to make “reasonable accommodations to their" programs, i.e. purchase wheelchair-accessible buses," The court also upheld a controversial decision requiring the Transportation Department to eliminate a cap on the amount of money transit authorities need to spend on making transportation accessible. A coalition of disabled people and 12 organizations called Americans Disabled for Accessible Public Transportation filed the lawsuit last year. The coalition contended that a provision of the federal regulations allowed authorities receiving federal transportation money to exclude the handicapped from “effective and meaningful" access. U.S. District Judge Marvin Katz overturned the provision in cases where the transit authority buys any buses. TEXT BOX INSERT: El Paso already buying buses with access El Paso already has a policy that requires wheelchair lifts on all buses, said Mark Dorfman, director of the city's Sun Metro bus service. The policy has been in effect since 1987, when voters approved a half-percent sales tax to finance the city's bus system. City officials promised voters that the additional money from the sales tax would allow all new buses to be equipped with wheelchair lifts, Dorfman said. “We’re getting ready to take bids for 84 new buses, and one of the specifications is that they have lifts,” he said. Dorfman said wheelchair lifts add an average of $15,000 to the cost of a bus. - ADAPT (608)
The NATIONAL DISABILITY ACTION CENTER Timothy M. Cook, Director For Immediate Release Contact: Timothy M. Cook 202/467-5730 DISABILITY GROUPS DELIGHTED BY DOT RULING ON ACCESSIBLE BUSES United States Transportation Department Secretary Samuel Skinner, stating his strong "support of policies that would substantially improve access to mass transit services for handicapped persons," today proposed a new regulation "requiring all new buses to be accessible,“ and "requiring supplemental paratransit service . . comparable to the service for the general public for persons who could not use the fixed route transit service." The regulation was issued in response to a court suit brought by Americans Disabled for Accessible Public Transportation (ADAPT) and twelve other national disability organizations. Wade Blank, head of ADAPT, stated that he was "delighted that the Administration finally has followed through on its commitment to persons with disabilities." The regulation will require all buses that are newly purchased or remanufactured to include wheelchairs lifts in their design and manufacture. According to Timothy M. Cook, of the Washington—based National Disability Action Center, the attorney for the disability groups, "this new rule will immensely enhance the lives of persons with disabilities throughout the country. It will open education, employment, and social opportunities heretofore closed to individuals with disabilities simply because they have had no way to get there." -30- - ADAPT (584)
Standard-Times New Bedford 3/06/86 [Headline] Want Better Access PHOTO (The Associated Press): Five protesters in wheelchairs sit a line, with some others behind them, in front of a large building. At the far end one holds up a large dark ADAPT banner with white lettering and the access logo. Three of the others have very large posters in their laps. The one closest reads "[something] kinder gentler nation." All are dressed in warm clothes and look away from the building. Caption reads: Members of the American Disabled for Accessible Public Transportation demonstrate outside the U.S. Department of Transportation office in Cambridge Friday in support of a ruling that would mean more buses that are accessible to the disabled. The two-hour demonstration in raw weather Friday was one of several in various parts of the country by disabled groups. - ADAPT (573)
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. - ADAPT (559)
Rocky Mtn. News Local Briefs [Headline] Wheelchair-lift issue in court’s lap, lawyer says U.S. Attorney Michael Norton yesterday told a group of disabled activists that the federal government’s appeal of a court ruling on bus wheelchair lifts was out of his hands. Norton appeared before 40 wheelchair-bound members of ADAPT, American Disabled for Access to Public Transit, who had camped several hours outside his 12th floor offices in Denver’s federal building. ADAPT members are angry about an appeal by the U.S. Justice Department on behalf of the Department of Transportation. The appeal seeks to overturn a federal court ruling requiring all local transit buses to be equipped with wheelchair lifts. Thirty protesters were arrested Monday for blocking the doors of the Radisson Hotel, where their target, the Urban Mass Transportation Administration, was holding a conference. - ADAPT (557)
Rocky Mountain News, Fri., March 23, 1990 U.S. plans to require handicapped-accessible buses Associated Press WASHINGTON — The government announced plans yesterday to require that all federally aided bus systems buy only vehicles that are accessible to the disabled and provide special door-to-door transit for those who can't make it to bus stops. Requiring both access and special services for all systems is expected to “increase significantly the amount and quality of service available to persons with disabilities," said a Transportation Department announcement. Groups representing the handicapped praised the announcement and a transit industry spokesman said bus companies are prepared for it. The proposed rule, expected to become final in September after a period for public comment, would match some of the requirements of legislation pending in Congress and meet the key transportation demands of disabled rights activists. More than 150 people were arrested in two incidents last week during demonstrations in Washington for the Americans With Disabilities Act. “The Bush administration is committed to policies that will ensure that people with disabilities have the opportunities available to other persons to use our mass transit system," said Transportation Secretary Samuel Skinner. Announcement of the proposed rule met the requirements of a Philadelphia federal court order that required the department to examine and change existing regulations but did not mandate what the changes should be. The order came in a suit by more than a dozen groups representating the handicapped. The department asked for comment on several options for exempting transit companies that would find it too costly to provide special door-to-door services for the handicapped. but no exemptions would be allowed for accessibility on all new buses. The rule does not require that wheelchair lifts or other devices be retrofitted onto existing buses but would apply to all new and refurbished buses and require companies to make an effort to buy only used buses with such equipment if available. IN COLORADO The Bush administration order making transit buses handicapped-accessible is seen as the climax of 12 years of activism by the group American Disabled for Accessible Public Transit, which was founded in Denver. “It's a substantial victory,” said Wade Blank, a co-founder of ADAPT. “Denver led the charge (for wheelchair-accessible buses) all across the country. Blank participated in recent demonstrations in Washington, D.C.in which hundreds of disabled people pushed for quick passage of the Americans with Act, which would extend civil rights to disabled people. Dozens were arrested during the demonstration, which Blank believes spurred the administration to act. Blank said cities as Pittsburgh and Cincinnati with public transit systems that are inaccessible to the disabled, would be forced to equip buses. --Leroy Wiiliams