Denver Post Tuesday, January 19th, 1982

Editorials, Opinion, 2, 3
Weather 4
Ski Report, 4

Suit over Bus Lifts Hits RTD
By Howard Pankratz, Denver Post Legal Affairs Writer

Some of Denver’s handicapped, who believe the Regional Transportation District has broken a promise to install wheelchair lifts on 89 new buses, turned that belief into action Monday by suing the district.

In a lengthy brief filed in Denver District Court, seven wheelchair-bound individuals and the Atlantis Community for the disabled accused the district of violating both state and civil law and a settlement reached in federal court several years ago.

In that settlement, alleges the suit, RTD agreed that all new buses would have wheelchair-lift equipment.

But that promise has been broken, said the suit, which asks that RTD be required to install lifts on 89 new buses due for delivery beginning next year and on all new equipment in the future.

The Monday suit is based on RTD’s having contracted for 89 new buses, worth $21.3 million. The suit says that 80 percent of the purchase price is to be paid by the federal government.

Originally, said lawyer John Holland, who represents the handicapped, all the buses were to have had lifts to make them accessible to the handicapped. But last November, the RTD board decided not to have lifts installed.

The total cost of the lifts would be $1.1 million, with the federal government again paying 80 percent of the cost.

The suit alleges that it wasn’t the cost, technical feasibility or the maintenance of the lifts that caused them to be dropped, but rather a decision by RTD to use the new buses on “express bus service” from which the handicapped are to be excluded.

This, claimed the wheelchair-bound complaints, blatantly violates the state’s civil rights act.

Reacting to that alleged broken promise, handicapped individuals demonstrated on the RTD properly, for three straight days in early January, an action that caused the district to go to court seeking an order banning such demonstrations.

However, late last week, Denver District Judge Daniel Sparr told both sides he feared that if he issued a restraining order against the handicapped, it would only widen the gulf between the two sides.

He noted that the handicapped had legal avenues to follow if they felt a promise had been broken.

On Friday, heeding Sparr’s advice, the two sides reached an accord, whose points will be made public February 2.

RTD lawyers Alan E. Richman and Russ Richardson said Monday that RTD has a policy of not commenting on such pending lawsuits.

Created on

Wednesday 10 July 2013

Posted on

Tuesday 10 May 2016

Tags

broken promise, bus purchase, handicapped, John Holland, lifts on all NEW buses, negotiations, protests, RTD, state civil rights law, wheelchair bound

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