San Antonio Light 4/24/85
(This article continues on ADAPT 190, but the text is included here entirely for ease of reading)

PHOTO by Roberta Barnes/San Antonio Light:
Sitting in front of a VIA bus in her scooter, an older heavy set woman (Edith Harris) in a tank top and culottes looks ahead and spreads her arms wide at an angle, almost like a bird's wings. Her upper hand grasps the windshield wiper, while her other hand stretches toward the ground.
Caption reads: CATCHING A BUS: Edith Harris of Hartford, Conn., blocks a VIA bus on Broadway.

[Headline] Disabled may get aboard some buses VIA Cisneros
By David Hawkings, Staff writer

After wheelchair-bound protesters clogged downtown streets by placing themselves in front of city buses, Mayor Henry Cisneros vowed yesterday to press for improvements in local transit service for the disabled.

The mayor made the pledge after meeting with protesters, who called off demonstrations scheduled last night. But a spokeswoman for the demonstrators refused to completely rule out further action.

Before the mayor agreed to meet with the group, about 50 members of the American Disabled for Accessible Public Transit had slowed traffic by creeping across intersection crosswalks and placing themselves in front of VIA metropolitan Transit buses.

There were no arrests, though two misdemeanor citations for obstructing traffic were issued.

The action by ADAPT marked the third day of protests, which included a demonstration at the VIA headquarters Monday afternoon that prompted 90 buses authority employees to lock themselves in their office.

It began Sunday with a demonstration at the Hyatt Hotel, where the American Public Transit Association is holding a regional conference.

In a statement, ADAPT said the transit association’s policies are “perpetuating discriminatory transportation systems in cities throughout the U.S.”

At yesterday’s session with ADAPT, the mayor agreed to lobby the Reagan administration to reinstate a federal rule -- struck down as a result of a suit brought by APTA -- mandating all public transit be accessible to the disabled.

He also said he would urge those in Congress representing South Texas to support funding to help cities pay for making all buses available to those in wheelchairs.

The mayor would not, however, endorse an ADAPT position paper “as it is now written” calling for all new municipal buses to be equipped with wheelchair lifts. The devices cost about $10,000.

Instead, Cisneros said he would work to get “some buses fully equipped on some routes” and would lobby to get a handicapped person appointed to the VIA board.

“Cisneros is obviously someone who’s sensitive to minorities, but the problem is he needs a good deal of education that we are a minority,” Jean Stewart, a spokeswoman for ADAPT, said in an interview after the meeting.

Stewart, also one of the two protesters cited, was ticketed near the Hilton Hotel.

The other protester cited by police yesterday was Robert A. Kafka of Austin, who allegedly was blocking traffic near the Marriott Hotel.

PHOTO by Roberta Barnes/San Antonio Light: A man in a power chair (Claude Holcomb) sits squarely in front of a bus in the middle of a traffic filled street. He is wearing shorts and hiking boots, no shirt, and his legs are tied to the leg rests of his chair. He looks to his left as a woman on a scooter (Edith Harris) rolls toward the back of the bus. Inside the bus the driver is just visible, and a paper sign on the windshield reads "APTA Western Conference" and at the top of the windshield a destination type sign with lighted letters reads "Sightseeing."
Caption reads: BLOCKADE: Claude Holcom [sic] of Hartford, Conn. blocks VIA bus.

Created on

Thursday 11 July 2013

Posted on

Thursday 10 December 2015

Tags

ADAPT - American Disabled for Accessible Public Transit, APTA - American Public Transit Association, APTA suit, blocking buses, Bob Kafka, Claude Holcomb, cost, Edith Harris, Jean Stewart, Mayor Henry Cisneros, Paul Alexander, Phoenix, President Reagan, San Antonio, VIA, windshield wiper

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