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ADAPT (508)
The Handicapped Coloradan AUTUMN 1989, VOL. 12, NOS. 4 & 5 [This is the full text of an article that appears in ADAPT 508 and 504] [Headline] FEDS GIVE IN! [Subheading] It ain't over till it's over—and it’s over A struggle that began ten years ago in falling snow on the streets of Denver may have ended this October in Atlanta, the city where Martin Luther King, Jr., preached the value of civil disobedience from the pulpit of the Ebenezer Baptist Church. As more than a hundred demonstrators held the Richard B. Russell Federal Building hostage, representatives of President Bush and the American Disabled for Public Transportation (ADAPT) hammered out an agreement that will eventually put a wheelchair lift on every bus in America. The statement stopped short of a full promise to mandate lifts, but it did contain this Statement: "Full accessibility in public transit is the President's policy." And it did promise that the government would try to prevent any transit system from purchasing non-equipped buses before the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) is adopted. That measure does mandate full accessibility and is expected to be approved by Congress and signed by the President. Privately, federal negotiators told ADAPT that they would guarantee that no more systems buy liftless buses, according to informed sources, who said that a videotape of this promise exists. It is probably too late to block the purchase of non-accessible buses in Pittsburgh and Albuquerque, however, since these cities have already had their proposals approved. The Atlanta agreement comes in the wake of a decision by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit in Philadelphia that reaffirmed an earlier decision by the court that persons with disabilities must be provided effective access to public transportation services throughout the nation. In the 9-3 ruling, the Court of Appeals struck down a regulation issued by the U.S. Department of Transportation limiting the amount that transit systems had to spend on disability access to three percent of their operating budgets. The Court said that the limit was "arbitrary and capricious.” By an 8-4 vote the Court ruled that existing buses need not be retrofitted but that all new buses must be equipped with lifts. Timothy M. Cook, director of the Washington-based National Disability Action Center, who argued the appeal on behalf of ADAPT, said the decision will lead to the adoption of multi-modal systems that include accessible mainline buses as well as door-to-door transit for those who are unable to board lift-equipped buses. The July 25 ruling reaffirmed a similar ruling made in February by three of the judges. That decision had been appealed by the DOT. The Court of Appeals has sent the case back to the lower court with instructions that it set a specific time-table for the issuance of new regulations by the Secretary of Transportation. One of ADAPT's founders, Wade Blank, said the court decision and the concessions made by the President in Atlanta were very satisfying, but that somehow the group was unable to celebrate, at least in a formal fashion. “I went down to a meeting [of the RTD Handicapped Advisory Council] and told the people there that we had won this great victory, and most of them didn't even know what I was talking about," he said. Blank said the accessibility victories that had already been won in Denver had made these people complacent. It was a different story in Atlanta, however, where scores of demonstrators from across the country had converged to picket the annual convention of their arch-nemesis, the American Public Transit Association (APTA), which has consistently opposed any attempt to require mainline wheelchair accessible service. ADAPT has been picketing national and regional conventions of APTA since the organization met in Denver in 1983. Except for Denver, where the demonstrators had the endorsement of the city’s mayor, Federico Pena, those meetings have been marked by demonstrators being arrested for picketing the APTA convention headquarters and for blocking city buses. The story was a little different in Atlanta where the demonstrators made a token push at the barricades around the Hilton Hotel on Sunday, Oct. 24, before they moved on to their real objective, the Russell Federal Building, the next day. Wheelchair protesters poured into the building, jamming hallways and blocking elevators, which trapped federal employees on the top floors of the building. At 6 p.m. federal marshals moved in and began physically removing demonstrators, but with little success. As marshals pried open a door and wheeled one demonstrator out, several more sped inside. One demonstrator managed to be escorted out of the building seven times. It was a game of musical wheelchairs until President Bush intervened, ordering the marshals to let the demonstrators back into the building. Things quieted down until the next day, Tuesday, Oct. 26, when the demonstrators once again poured into the building and blocked the elevators. “It got a little ugly," Blank said. "Some of the disabled people were attacked by federal employees." But even as demonstrators and federal employees were battling to see who would eventually gain control of the building, the historic agreement that would end non-accessible public transit was being signed. ADAPT had won, although a few blocks away APTA officials were arguing that the group had not been instrumental in the decision. With a public transportation victory in their hip pocket, ADAPT turned its attention to the private sector on Wednesday by halting bus service at the Greyhound terminal in downtown Atlanta for more than five hours. Demonstrators blocked the driveways and in some cases chained themselves to the drivers’ steering wheels. More than two dozen of them were arrested, but all were later released on their own recognizance. Greyhound regional manager Tom Street said that only four buses, carrying a total of 80 passengers, left Atlanta during the siege, instead of the normal 20 buses and 600 passengers. Greyhound has a “Helping Hands" program where persons in wheelchairs may ride the buses so long as they are accompanied by an able-bodied friend, who rides free. Demonstrators said that this policy severely restricts their freedom of travel. They were also upset that Greyhound does not allow battery operated wheelchairs to be transported on their buses. Boxed Text: Text of statement signed by Feds, ADAPT in Atlanta The following is the text of the statement issued on Sept. 26, I989, in Atlanta by representatives of ADAPT and the federal government. We have had the opportunity to meet with representatives of the disabled community here in Atlanta today. We have mutually agreed to the following points: 1. The Urban Mass Transportation Administration will recommend to Secretary Skinner that officials of the Department of Transportation and representatives of the disabled community shall promptly meet and confer for the purpose of establishing a process for identifying and dealing with any eleventh hour attempt to circumvent the principle of accessibility prior to the adoption and effective date of the Americans with Disabilities Act. Full accessibility in public transit is the President's policy, We are making this recommendation because the Department cannot issue a summary order commanding immediate accessibility, including wheelchair accessibility for all transit. We would, if we could. 2. Because the President shares the sense of urgency of the demonstrators here in Atlanta for the passage by the House of Representatives of the Americans with Disabilities Act, we have agreed to recommend that a workable arrangement be negotiated to accommodate a continuing symbolic presence by the disabled community at the Richard B Russell Federal Building. 3. We have also agreed to communicate to Secretary Skinner the concern expressed here that the current rule-making for implementation of the Air Carriers Access Act of 1986 is not on a sufficiently tight timetable and should be resolved at the earliest practicable date. End of boxed text. PHOTO (by Tom Olin?): A medium close up of Lillibeth Navarro, a small Phillipina, who leans forward intensely, chanting or yelling full force. She sits in her motorized chair her right hand in a fist resting on her armrest. Her large glasses and glossy dark hair seem almost out of place with her intensity. She is wearing and ADAPT shirt that says "I Will Ride" and has the old "no steps" (a set of steps covered with a circle and a diagonal bar across - the no symbol) logo surrounded by "American Disabled for Accessible Public Transit." On the left shoulder of her shirt you can see the list of cities ADAPT had held actions. In her lap a bandanna covered with the "no steps" logo. Caption: I am a disabled person. Hear me roar.
ADAPT (441)
DISCLOSURE September-October 1989, Issue No. 112 the national newspaper of neighborhoods [Headline] Disabled Protest Across Country: “Accessible Transit Is a Civil Right" This story continues on 436 but is included here in its entirety for ease of reading. PHOTO by Tom Olin: A large group of people in wheelchairs, on crutches, many carrying posters, are massed in front of a MCI New Jersey bus. Joe Carle is in the middle of the group with his back to the camera and on the back of his wheelchair is a sign that reads "I can't even get on the back of the bus." Also visible (right to left) are Cassie James, Diane Coleman, Brian Shea, Mike Early from CORD, two other guys in wheelchairs, Kent Killam, Julie Nolan, a white haired blind person with a big sign, and a short woman, perhaps a child, looking to her left and holding on to the back of a wheelchair. The group is blocking the bus and the street, while others walk by on the sidewalk. Caption reads: Members of American Disabled for Accessible Public Transit (ADAPT) and affiliated groups stages demonstratlon on disabled rights issues in front of buses at the federal court building, Philadelphia, May, 1989. by Mike Monti The message is clear: “We will ride,” say the members of American Disabled for Accessible Public Transit (ADAPT). From a series of demonstrations to a controversial court case, this relentless group keeps fighting for accessible transit around the country. Among its victories are a July, 1989 federal court ruling that transportation agencies no longer have a 3 percent cap in providing wheelchair lifts or paratransit. For the members of ADAPT, accessible transit is a basic civil right — and is always worth fighting for. We reported in Disclosure #l08 on ADAPT’s actions in Montreal at the annual convention of the American Public Transit Authority (APTA). APTA and other transit authorities continue to make it extremely difficult for people with disabilities to use public transit. Nevertheless, ADAPT has shown that it will confront APTA wherever it shows up. Last April, at the Western Regional Conference of APTA in Sparks, Nevada (just outside of Reno), over 125 ADAPT members staged actions at the conference, calling for public transportation that can be used by everyone — including people with disabilities. Members started off with a march from their hotel to the conference hotel. When they were about halfway there, ADAPT was met by a police blockade. Obviously, authorities already knew about ADAPT: here is a group that won’t stops until it forces permanent changes. In Sparks. the marchers were able to get around the police barriers. But when they got to APTA’s hotel, they were met by private security forces. The hotel security outnumbered the city’s police three-to-one -— and were able to chain the door shut before ADAPT entered. Forty-seven ADAPT members were arrested, and seven were sent to jail. “The Sparks police had obviously decided that we weren't going to march in the streets,” said Stephanie Thomas, an ADAPT member who lives in Austin, Texas. “But we were able to go around the car barricades. it was like water going around the rocks." The following afternoon, ADAPT staged another demonstration with many crawling across the street and around police barricades, blocking traffic until they reached the front door of the hotel. It was locked from the inside. This time, 25 were arrested. The charge: blocking a fire door which was locked. Many of the ADAPT members who were arrested went on a hunger strike. Meanwhile, ADAPT members on the outside held a press conference calling attention to the problems jail staff were having providing for several of the disabled people’s needs. A final protest was held the next day. One day later, the Sparks judge who sent the hunger strikers to prison made a deal with the protesters: he let out two protesters for the price of a $100 fine. The judge had imposed a much stiffer sentence a couple of days earlier, but changed his mind in the face of a group of arrested ADAPT members who made it clear that they would rather starve and stay in jail than pay a huge fine. Meanwhile, disability groups on the east and west coasts were raising money to help support ADAPT. On the fourth day of the hunger strike, the judge relented and the fine was reduced. By the end of the day, all arrested ADAPT members had been released — and many in the group headed to Denver, for more demonstrations. In Denver — which is the home of ADAPT — the group protested at the annual conference of the Urban Mass Transit Administration (UMTA). This time, demonstrations focused on the federal government's request for a re-hearing of the ADAPT vs. Burnley case. In February, ADAPT won a major victory from the Department of Transportation (DOT) - only to have it undercut by the government. The first of ADAPT’s arguments stated that the rule saying transportation agencies should not have to spend more than 3 percent of their budget on wheelchair lifts or paratransit was unconstitutional. Second, ADAPT held that the option allowing agencies to decide whether or not to provide new buses with wheelchair lifts was unconstitutional. DOT kept flip-flopping on the issue: first it said yes, and then it backed off, asking for a rehearing to vacate the decisions. In Denver, ADAPT confronted Michael Norton, U.S. Attorney for the Tenth District in Denver. “Why is the government working against disabled rights?” asked ADAPT. Norton eventually read a 20-page statement from Attorney General Thornburgh stressing “the need for concern, compassion, and commitment” — but also saying that the law never mandated integration. “It was a really offensive statement, ” said Stephanie Thomas. “On one hand, he was affirming the government's commitment, and on the other he’s fighting tooth and nail to stop rights for the disabled.” When the case was reheard in Philadelphia on May 15, ADAPT was ready. With help from the local chapter of Disabled in Action and the Cape Organization for Rights of the Disabled (CORD), protesters gathered at the federal court building. Four ADAPT members met with the U.S. Attorney, who listened to their concerns. Two days later, a protest was staged at Independence Hall. Dressed in revolutionary garb complete with wigs, three-cornered hats and fife and drum, the “Disability Rights Patriots” marched around the Liberty Bell. Court Decision On July 24, ADAPT won a significant victory as the original ruling striking down the 3 percent cap on wheelchair and paratransit lifts was upheld. On the local option issue, judges decided that the stipulation was legal. Now, it's back in the hands of DOT, for "clarification." Meanwhile, ADAPT will be working with lawyers to plan its next strategy in the legal arena, even though the courts have dodged the issue of equal rights for the disabled. Nevertheless, ADAPT is still ready for action. “We are not going to sit around and wait for the government to put a piece of legislation through,” said Wade Blank. What's next for ADAPT? The next APTA Conference will be held in Atlanta, Georgia, September 23-28, 1989. “The court’s decision on local option will make our demonstrations in Atlanta bigger,” says Mike Auberger, a co-director of ADAPT. Sparks Nevada, Denver, Philadelphia, Atlanta. . .ADAPT marches on for rights for people with disabilities. “Someday,” says Wade Blank, “ It will be just as appalling to see buildings without ramps as it was seeing signs that said ‘Whites Only.’ ” end of article Pictures of 2 graphic symbols: One is the ADAPT no-steps logo with American Disabled for Accessible Public Transit around the outside and a circle with a set of steps rising to the right and a bar across the circle and steps with the word ADAPT on it. The other is a power fist, with wheelchair warriors written below the arm. Caption reads: These symbols are part of ADAPT’s continuing fight. Says Wade Blank of ADAPT “Someday it will be just as appalling to see buildings without ramps as it was seeing signs that said ‘Whites Only.’”