CAPE COD TIMES, FRIDAY, March 24, 1989

[Headline] Vigil planned to aid disabled
By KAREN JEFFREY, STAFF WRITER

Twenty-five members of the Cape Organization for the Rights of the Disabled are in Cambridge today as part of a nationwide effort to support a February court ruling requiring wheelchair lifts on new public buses.

More than 100 advocates for people with disabilities from across the state are scheduled to hold a vigil at noon in front oi the U.S. Department of Transportation office in Cambridge protesting the department's proposed appeal of a recent federal court ruling that requires wheelchair lifts on new public buses nationwide.

The Cambridge vigil will coincide with similar events in other states.

“This is about separate but equal facilities" said Mike Early, CORD president. "The 3rd District Court has ruled you can't have separate but equal facilities for people who are handicapped. And we don't want to see the Department oi Transportation try to appeal that decision."

In addition to ruling that new buses for public transportation systems must include wheelchair lifts, the court also ordered the department to
eliminate a 3 percent cap on the amount of money transit authorities must spend to improve transportation for the disabled.

In its decision, the court noted that 24-hour reservation services required for alternative mass transportation for people with disabilities hinders spontaneous use of mass transit. The court ordered transit authorities to make what the court called "reasonable accommodations to their programs."

Created on

Friday 12 July 2013

Posted on

Wednesday 22 July 2015

Tags

24 hour advanced reservation, 3% cap, Cambridge MA, Cape Organization for Rights of the Disabled, CORD, DOT, Mike Early, reasonable accomodations, separate but equal, vigil, wheelchair lifts

Albums

• ADA 1989

Visits

1711

Rating score

no rate

Rate this photo