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Home / Albums / Keywords DOT Secretary Skinner
+ ADA 3
ADAPT (560)
U.S. to mandate bus service for disabled By The 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. In Denver, all buses owned by the Regional Transportation District are equipped with wheelchair lifts, and the district also provides a door-to-door service for handicapped riders. Groups representing the handicapped praised the Washington 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 representing the handicapped.
ADAPT (621)
PHOTO (by DIANNE LAAKSO/Staff): A tall African American man dressed in a casual clothes and carrying a baby in his left arm is extending his right leg forward to step over two people in wheelchairs who are attempting to block a glass doorway which is open. The man and the child have calm expressions and are looking down. The man holds the arm of one of the people in wheelchairs who is facing away from the camera. This person has a bumper-sticker on their battery box that reads "End USA Apartheid" and this person has both arms bent at the elbows and raised and is dressed in a warm jacket over a hoodie. To this person's left is a woman (Christine Coughlin) sitting with her wheelchair facing the first wheelchair so her feet touch the other chair's wheel. Both protesters look somewhat tense and rigid. On the back wall of the lobby is a abstract mural. Caption reads: Members of ADAPT (American Disabled for Accessible Public Transportation block the doors of the Richard B. Russell Federal Building this morning as they protest lack of accessibility on public transportation. The protesters want Secretary of Transportation Samuel Skinner to sign an executive order requiring any bus purchased with federal money to have wheelchair lifts. [Headline] Handicapped Protesters Block Russell Building In Demonstration Over Transportation Access From Page Al [we do not have the first part of this article. Also, the bottom of this page is torn so parts of the 6th paragraph and last 2 paragraphs are missing.] agrees to their demands. Sen. Sam Nunn‘s office, which is located in the federal building, was asked to relay a message to Mr. Skinner, who was at the Atlanta Hilton Hotel, that his presence was wanted. In the meantime, protesters, using bullhorns and their strongest voices, shouted “What do we want? We want Skinner!" This morning a protest followed a demonstration Sunday in front of the Hilton Hotel as the convention started, Stephanie Thomas, a spokeswoman for the group ADAPT (American Disabled for Accessible Public Transportation), said the protesters were angry over the transit group's continued opposition to federal legislation that would prohibit discrimination against people with disabilities. The protest was timed to coincide with the opening of the convention of APTA, a trade group representing a majority of public transit systems in North America. The bill, known as the Amer[icans] with Disabilities Act, would [make it] illegal to discriminate against disabled people in employment and places of public accommodations, would assure those with speech or hearing impairments of special equipment allowing them to communicate with anyone and would remove barriers in transportation. It is the latter part that upsets the members of APTA. “We assume it will become law, and if it does we'll implement it," said Albert Engelken, APTA‘s deputy executive director. “But that doesn't mean we have to be happy about it." Mr. Engelken said he does not want to sound cold-hearted, but with shrinking federal transportation funds it sometimes does not make sense to use those funds to install seldom-used wheelchair lifts on buses. “We're not harsh people, but our job is to offer the most people the most mobility for the best possible price," Mr. Engelken said. Ms. Thomas said her group does not expect the transit systems to refit all their buses immediately. nor make all the train stations immediately available to the disabled, ' “We realize it's a longtime goal, and we're willing to wait. We know the costs involved," Ms. Thomas said as other members crowded around. "All we're asking for is a commitment that they‘re willing to do these things, and they won't give us that." The Sunday protest, which closed part of Courtland Street, lasted about four hours and was watched by nearly as many police officers as there were pro[testers.] Police Maj. W.W. Holley [... ar]rests were made. ADAPT member [...] to hold Sunday [...] Holley said n[...] issued. The gr[...] protests in oth[er...] years. TEXT BOX INSERTED IN MIDDLE OF ARTICLE reads: The Americans With Disabilities Act would make it illegal to discriminate against disabled people in employment and places of public accommodations and remove barriers in transportation.
ADAPT (489)
Daily News, Wednesday, September 27, 1989 Handicapped protesters gain support Photo: A man kneels in the middle of a group of three people in wheelchairs, as they talk. Behind him another man stands looking down. One of the three people in wheelchairs, Mike Auberger, with his braids, is seen from the side; another facing the camera has on a hat covering is eyes; and the third has his or her head down reading a paper in their lap. photo by: JOHN BAZEMORE /Daily News Caption: Steven Diaz, chief counsel for the Urban Mass Transportation Administration, meets Tuesday in Atlanta with protesters to discuss their concerns. The Associated Press ATLANTA — Handicapped protesters who occupied a federal building for two days won a pledge of support from the Bush administration Tuesday, but failed to get their main demand — a federal order requiring wheelchair lifts on all new public buses bought with federal funds. The Department of Transportation “cannot issue a summary order commanding immediate access including wheelchair access for all transit,” said Steven Diaz, chief counsel for the Urban Mass Transportation Administration, who met with the protest leaders. “We would if we could." But Diaz said DOT officials and the protesters had agreed on three points: * Transportation Secretary Samuel Skinner will be urged to meet promptly with disabled activists to ensure a “principle of accessibility” until Congress passes the Americans with Disabilities Act. * The protesters will be allowed to continue a “symbolic presence" at the Richard B. Russell building in downtown Atlanta. * Officials will relay to Skinner the protesters’ concern that new rules for handicapped accessibility to air travel are not being drafted quickly enough. "This agreement by no means resolves the problem of access; it just brings us a step closer," said Mark Johnson, 38, of Alpharetta, one of the protest leaders who met with Diaz and other DOT officials. He said he didn't know whether the protesters would leave the building, where they blocked elevators and entrance doors earlier Tuesday. “We may stay here through Thursday, or we may just leave a sticker on the wall. There could be a constant vigil at the building, or we could all leave," he said. The protest by members of ADAPT, or American Disabled for Accessible Public Transportation, began Monday when Skinner was in Atlanta to address the convention of the American Public Transportation Association. At least two dozen protesters chained themselves to doors or blocked exits with their wheelchairs Monday. Authorities attempted to eject several protesters from the building Monday evening, but President Bush intervened and let them spend the night inside rather than send them out into the rain.