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Hjem / Albumer / Merknader wheelchair lifts
+ Denver RTD 5
ADAPT (129)
Rocky Mountain News RTD pleases disabled, reports wheelchair lifts on buses to be fixed By JOSEPH B. VERRENGIA Rocky Mountain News Staff Writer A Regional Transportation District committee voted unanimously Tuesday to fix the wheelchair lifts on 127 buses, ending a week of heated showdowns that led to the arrest of three disabled protesters. Amid cheers from the demonstrators who twice last week blockaded downtown buses, the transit directors reaffirmed RTD's policy that much of its regular service be handicapped-accessible. “lt was all emotional," RTD chairman William Rourke said of the events preceding the compromise. “Everyone kept reinforcing perceptions and speculation, rather than getting down to cases." The confrontations started last Thursday when three members of the militant handicapped-rights group ADAPT were arrested by Denver police for rolling their wheelchairs in front of buses along 17th Street and East Colfax Avenue. Mike Auberger, George Roberts and Renate Rabe face fines of $250 apiece or brief jail terms if convicted in Denver District Court next month for causing traffic hazards and disrupting a government agency. They were among 20 handicapped demonstrators protesting a Feb. 12 decision by RTD’s planning committee to delay fixing the balky electrical systems on 303 buses. RTD officials said the repairs would cost $753,059. With lifts on about half of its 750-bus fleet, RTD is one of the nations most accessible public transit systems. This winter, however, electrical and mechanical problems have made the lifts so unreliable that disabled passengers said they frequently suffered frostbite while waiting for an accessible bus. Handicapped protesters originally wanted all 303 broken lifts fixed. They relented Tuesday when RTD officials explained 176 of the buses with broken lifts would be retired next year. Fixing those lifts would be a waste, officials said. “If we had our druthers, we would like to see all of the lifts rewired," ADAPT spokesman Wade Blank said. “But those 127 (that will be fixed) are going to be around for 12 years, so we accepted in the interest of compromise.” Blank said the protests were sparked by rumors that some RTD officials wanted to scrap all of the wheelchair lifts and replace them with door-to-door vans. ADAPT members consider such “dial-a-ride” service“ to be unconstitutional because it would be separate from regular bus service. Rourke said two of the five bus manufacturers bidding to replace the 176 buses heading for retirement would include wheelchair lifts. RTD is required to accept the lowest bid. Rourke declined to comment on what RTD would do if the low bid does not include wheelchair lifts.
ADAPT (117)
Handicapped reach accord RTD Wheelchair-bound demonstrators and the Regional Transportation District reached an “understanding” Friday in a conflict that led the bus company to seek a restraining order against the demonstrators a week ago. Both sides “agreed to agree,” according to RTD spokeswoman Kathy Joyce, who said they would work out the details of the agreement before the issue comes before Denver District Judge Daniel Sparr on Feb. 2 During that time, Sparr will make no decision on RTD’s request for the temporary restraining order. If a formal agreement is reached by Feb. 2, Joyce said the request would be dropped. The demonstrators began staging a sit-in at RTD’s headquarters Jan. 4 over the company’s decision not to place wheelchair lifts on 89 new buses scheduled for delivery next year. The wheelchair-bound activists were from the Atlantis Community and Holistic Approaches to Independent Living Inc. Several of the demonstrators chained themselves to stairwells in the main lobby of the building at 1600 Blake St., and others blocked the front entrance during the demonstration. Their anger was directed at RTD Executive Director L.A. Kimball, whom they blame for the decision to omit the lifts from the new buses. During the sit-in, the building’s elevators were shut off, making it impossible for the demonstrators to reach Kimball’s office. The demonstrators weren’t arrested, but they were escorted from the premises by police and paramedics. RTD requested the temporary restraining order against the demonstrators after the third day of protest, claiming the demonstration caused “disruption, obstruction and interference.” John Holland, an attorney representing the demonstrators, said the issues that led to the demonstrations are still alive, but that both sides will work out their differences in the next two and a half weeks in a climate of more open communication. He said that during that tie his clients will not be “disruptive.”
ADAPT (102)
Rocky Mountain News Friday, May 7, 1982 All RTD routes to serve disabled By Jerry Brown News-Staff Regional Transportation District officials plan to provide wheelchair-accessible service on all RTD routes beginning next month, fulfilling a commitment made three years ago. “As far as I know, we are the first in the country to get this far,” in providing bus service for the physically handicapped, said district spokeswoman Kathy Joyce. About 150 rides a week currently are taken by handicapped passengers on the 10 routes in Denver, two in Boulder and all routes in Longmont that offer wheelchair-accessible service, Joyce said, with a peak weekly ridership of 270. The expansion of accessible service follows completion of the installation of wheelchair lifts on 186 AM General buses purchased by RTD in 1977 and 1978. RTD purchased 127 new buses from General Motors of Canada, and RTD also has 33 older buses that had been previously equipped with lifts, giving the agency 346 lift-equipped buses out of a total fleet of 671. RTD spent $3,882,222 - or $20,872 per bus - retrofitting the AM General buses, Joyce said. RTD doesn't have cost figures for the lifts on the new buses, which were delivered early last year. The cost of lifts on those buses was included in the $15.5 million purchase price, Joyce said. Beginning June 6, half of all rush-hour buses and all off-peak buses will be wheelchair accessible, RTD Executive Director L.A. Kimball said. Wade Blank, co-director of the Atlantis Community for the handicapped, said his organization is pleased with the proposed new service. RTD also has promised a public relations program to promote the new service, another longtime Atlantis goal, Blank said. Atlantis filed a lawsuit in 1977 and staged a series of demonstrations in 1977, 1978 and 1979 in efforts to force RTD to make its regular routes accessible to the handicapped. In mid-1979, RTD agreed to make all its routes wheelchair accessible after the U.S. Department of Transportation issued national regulations requiring that half of all rush-hour buses be wheelchair-accessible by July 1982. The federal regulations were rescinded last year, but RTD agreed to meet its earlier commitment, anyway. Earlier Atlantis held more demonstrations to protest RTD’s decision not to put wheelchair lifts on 89 new buses scheduled for delivery next year. Atlantis is challenging that decision in Denver District Court. RTD became one of the first transit agencies in the United States to offer wheelchair-accessible service on regular routes last June when it began providing such service on some of its busier routes.
ADAPT (142)
Rocky Mountain News Sat., 11/9/91 PHOTO by Glenn Asakawa, Rocky Mountain News: A man in a wheelchair [Bob Conrad] sits on a lift in the raised position. A man in a dark suit stands beside the lift. The lift comes out of the center of the driver's side of the large over-the-road-bus. The bus fills most of the frame, and you can see another behind it. TheRide is printed on the side. Caption reads: Dean Shaklee, an RTD maintenance instructor, demonstrates the wheelchair lift on a new intercity bus to Bob Conrad of Denver. RTD unveils 21 intercity buses New coaches to serve routes linking Denver to outlying suburbs By Leroy Williams Jr., Rocky Mountain News Staff Writer Commuters who ride buses between Denver and its outlying suburbs will soon be traveling in new comfort and style when $4.9 million worth of new buses hit the streets. Twenty-one intercity coaches were unveiled yesterday by the Regional Transportation District for use on the agency’s regional route network. They are expected to be in service by next week. The buses, similar to those used by Greyhound Lines Inc., will be used on routes that link Denver with such cities as Boulder, Longmont, Brighton, Evergreen, Conifer and Parker. “These are the first intercity buses we’ve bought since 1987,” said Dick Reynolds, RTD’s bus operation chief. RTD ordered the coaches, built by Motor Coach Industries of Pembina, N.D., for $235,000 each as part of a 150-bus order by the Dallas-area transit agency, RTD officials said. They carry 49 passengers and are equipped with side-mounted wheelchair lifts and space to tie down two wheelchairs. The practice of tacking smaller vehicle orders onto larger purchases made by another city saves money and delivery time. The new buses will replace several MC-5 intercity buses built in the mid-1960s, Reynolds said.
ADAPT (176)
ROCKY MOUNTAIN NEWS 10-17-83 PHOTO, STAFF PHOTO BY STEVE GROER: A short white man (Mark Ball) with a big afro and tinted, round glasses stands almost hidden, behind a podium with a large RTD on the front. Behind him are rows of other people, (all men), some in suits and ties, some with long hair. Caption reads: Mark Hall [sic] of Atlantis Community addresses RTD board at public hearing on agency's budget. [Headline] Handicapped complain to RTD More than 1,000 handicapped Denver bus riders cannot visit the Boulder Mall and other distant destinations by public transportation because the buses used by the Regional Transportation District on those routes cannot accommodate their wheelchairs, representatives for the handicapped told RTD on Tuesday. "It's a very touchy subject with disabled persons who feel trapped within the metropolitan area," Mark Ball told RTD directors during a public budget hearing. The hearing was the public's chance to discuss the agency's budget before it is adopted by the directors. Only a handful of people attended the 30-minute hearing. 'You’re going to have to come up with an over-the-road bus with a (wheelchair) lift," he said. “Boulder isn't very far for you, but I wouldn't want to do it in an electric wheelchair. Half asked the board to require that all new vehicles be equipped with lifts and other features for handicapped riders. In the past year, RTD mechanics have worked to improve the design of wheelchair lifts fitted to some buses used on busy Denver routes, officials said. But RTD assistant general manager Mike Smith said "there is not a high-degree of interest" on the part of bus manufacturers to mass-produce an over-the-road vehicle with lifts, extra-wide aisles and low ground clearance suitable for handicapped riders. The sensitive subject of handicapped access to public transportation will be raised again next week when representatives of ADAPT, a handicapped-rights group, will address the national convention of the American Public Transit Association at the Denver Hilton.