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Home / Albums / Tag paratransit 38
- ADAPT (103)
RTD Executive Promises To Try Wheelchair Bus Travel Firsthand ATLANTIS From 1-B The Handi Ride, 12 buses which provide curb-to-curb service for 150 handicapped persons each day on a flexible schedule, was to have been eliminated in July. It will be retained for the rest of the year, Kimball said. Starting in July, 334 buses equipped with wheelchair lifts — plus the Handi Ride - will circulate on more than two dozen routes, the RTD official said. Specially equipped buses now operate on only 11 routes. He also promised that the Handi Ride program would continue until another program has been developed. The official also told the group that “RTD alone can’t solve all (their) transportation problems" and urged them to think in terms of a “regional consensus” of agencies dealing with the disabled. He also suggested that they seek state funding. Spokesmen for the Atlantis Community for the disabled, one of the parties to the lawsuit, on Wednesday declared the Handi Ride shouldn't be phased out, and many attending the session agreed. They included Don Burton, executive director of United Cerebral Palsy, who said he feared many disabled persons would lack access to community services; Barb Sokol, a social worker with Western Dialysis Center, who said other transit alternatives weren't “as reliable or flexible,” and a number of handicapped persons, who asked for continuation or expansion of the service. Teresa Breda, executive director of Holistic Approaches to Independent Living (HAIL), said, “In no way do I want Handi Ride to stop. “But that’s just one segment of transportation services tor the disabled,' she noted, adding that it was “one part of a lot of needs.” - ADAPT (128)
Accent on Living Summer 1983 Transportation Denver Busing Its Disabled Highlighted text: A failure in many cities, Denver has made accessible mass transportation work as an increasing number of disabled use it everyday. The Rapid Transportation District (RTD) in Denver is one of the most accessible transit systems in the nation – and the disabled community will take credit for it. For the last ten years, since 1973 when the RTD initiated “Handy-Ride,” a door-to-door subscription service, accessible buses have been a real issue. To date, disabled advocates have been the winners. “It has been a political victory for us,” says Wade Blank, co-director of the Atlantis Community, a highly active disabled group in Denver. He explains that they did not rely on 504 but instead used a successful strategy. Blank said that in 1973 when HandyRide was implemented, the disabled took the same stance the Blacks took during the civil right movement. “Separate in not equal. We agree that this type of service was fine, but what we really wanted was to have the entire bus system accessible. HandyRide would just be an extra.” Disabled people began demonstrating for accessibility on public buses – and in 1978 RTD agreed to develop mass transit accessibility. By June, 1982, it had met its commitment of having fifty percent of the buses accessible (two hundred twenty buses were retrofitted with lifts and one hundred twenty-seven new buses purchased in 1981 had lifts). In the meantime, however, Blank said the RTD reneged on its commitment of total accessibility because it announced in November, 1981, that eighty-nine buses to be delivered in late 1983 would not be lift equipped. These new buses are articulated buses, twice as long as regular buses. Wheelchair Ridership Graph - Shows ridership by month in 1981, 1982, and part of 1983 (up to April. ) Ridership pretty much rises except in fall and winter there is a downturn, and July of 1982 a sharp drop to a low point of about 300. Highest mark is almost 1300 in October 1982. Caption reads: There was a sharp drop in wheelchair ridership in July, 1982, because there were no accessible buses running. - ADAPT (148)
Name of newspaper illegible Los Angeles Times? November 19,1984 Handicapped Stage Protests to Publicize Transportation Needs by Miles Harvey, Times Staff Writer PHOTO: Mary Frampton / Los Angeles Times A tidy looking woman in pants and a vest, with a slight smile on her face, sits in a manual wheelchair on a bus. She is sitting in the accessible doorway, the access symbol visible on the side of the doorway. Below and beneath her is a metal panel, like the barrier on some lifts that keeps the person from rolling off the front of the lift. Caption reads: Barbara Trigg rides a hydraulic lift onto a Los Angeles bus. Article reads: Washington -- It was a scene reminiscent of the 1960s civil rights demonstrations as angry protesters chanted slogans, picketed the White House and stopped traffic before they were finally dragged away by police. And the series of confrontations that ended with 27 arrests last month seemed to come down to a similar central issue— the right to sit on a bus, to have full access to public transportation. There was one striking difference, however. Unlike Rosa Parks and the black civil rights activist who battered down the Jim Crow barriers in the South, these protesters were in wheelchairs, and their goal was equal access for the physically handicapped. “It's a civil right to be able to ride public transportation," said Julia Haraksin, a wheelchair-bound Los Angeles resident who participated in the demonstrations. “In the ‘60s, the blacks had to ride in the back—and we can't even get on the buses." New, Radical Tactics Organizations representing handicapped persons long have urged Washington to require that new buses and rail systems built with funds from the Department of Transportation's Urban Mass Transportation Administration be equipped to accommodate handicapped riders. But Haraksin and other handicapped individuals like her now are beginning to press the old arguments with new, more radical tactics. Frustrated by years of negotiating, lobbying in Washington, going through the courts and staging non-confrontational protests, some members of the handicapped community now are resorting more actively to confrontations and civil disobedience. Thus, early in October, 100 members of a newly formed coalition called American Disabled for Accessible Public Transit confronted a national meeting of city transportation heads here, using the kind of civil disobedience tactics used 30 years earlier by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Protesters were arrested when they blocked entrances and buses of those attending the American Public Transit Assn. convention. The strategy was to physically be a barrier because handicapped people have to face barriers all their lives," Wade Blank, a founder of Denver-based ADAPT said. Calling the protests here " Selma," leaders of ADAPT claimed victory and promised that their struggle has only begun. They already are focusing their efforts on what they hope will be a larger demonstration at the next meeting of the American Public Transportation Assn. a year from now in Los Angeles. But they and their cause may be in for a tough battle. Their opposition comes from the Reagan Administration, from many city governments and even from within the handicapped community. And as public attention focuses on the underlying budget choices involved, the opposition may swell with the addition of taxpayers concerned about the possible costs of a national full-access program. ADAPT argues that a legal right to full access for the handicapped already exists. Federal law states that Urban Mass Transportation Administration funds — which account for about 80% of the costs of new and replacement equipment in most municipal transportation systems—cannot be spent on programs that discriminate against, or exclude, the handicapped. The law does not make clear, however, whether handicapped persons must be provided with access to regular bus lines or whether they can instead be provided with alternative transportation systems. Nor does it indicate who should make that decision. Cities Make Decisions Current Transportation Department policy, which is strongly supported by the American Public Transportation Assn., allows each city to make its own decision on what type of transportation it will provide for the handicapped. This is in sharp contrast with Carter Administration policy, which in 1979 interpreted federal regulation to mean full access. Members of ADAPT, opposing the separate-but-equal philosophy of paratransit argue that it does not meet the needs of the handicapped and that it is inherently discriminatory. "It segregates the disabled people from the able-bodied community," Mike Auberger, an organizer for ADAPT, said. Because paratrasit requires advanced scheduling [unreadable] a ride is needed, he said, “you have to schedule your life according to the system. No one else has to do that. That shows the inequality right there." He and other members of ADAPT contend that because of long waiting lists for paratransit, some cities refuse to offer the service to new users - thus cutting off thousands of handicapped persons from any public transportation. Transit authorities, on the other hand, argue that full access can be too expensive, given the low percentage of handicapped riders in many cities. Lift-fitted buses cost an estimated $8,000 to $10,000 more than regular buses. Furthermore, lift systems are often unreliable and time-consuming to operate and maintain, transit administrators say. In Denver, for example, the transportation district has spent $63 million to purchase or retrofit buses with lifts. 80% of which was paid for by the federal government, according to spokesman Gene Towne. Since it started mainline access in 1982, the district has spent close to $1 million in maintenance of the lifts and expects to spend an additional $900,000 this year. Yet of the district's total annual ridership of 38 million, only 12,000 use the lifts, according to Towne. ADAPT counters that the issue is not cost but civil liberties. “In America we have a way of hiding, our prejudices with pragmatism," said Blank, a Presbyterian minister and veteran of the civil rights and anti-war movements of the 1960s who now supports handicapped activists. Variety of Approaches Across the country, cities are using a variety of approaches to the problems of providing mass transit for the handicapped. In Los Angeles, mainline access is required by state law. Although 1,850 of the Southern California Rapid Transit District‘s 2,400 buses are fitted with wheelchair lifts some local advocates charge that the RTD gives only "lip service" to access, complaining of broken lifts, drivers who do not know how to use the equipment or refuse to do so and an overall lack of commitment to providing access. The system provides only about 1,400 rides a month according to the RTD. Handicapped activists charge that the low ridership is attributable to the system's poor management. There were and are people in the operation department (of the RTD) back there who were and are opposed to the idea of access from day one," Dennis Cannon, a Washington-based expert who helped to plan the RTD's access program in the 1970s said. But in the last six months, the RTD has made "a major effort" to overcome the problem, according to RTD General Manager John A. Dyer. The system boosted its fiscal year 1985 budget for handicapped service by $3 million, to $4.9 million, to provide for a program to educate drivers and upgrade the quality of equipment and service. In Oakland, half the city's 800 buses are lift-equipped and all of the Alameda — Contra Costa Transit District's new buses will be lift-equipped. Seattle’s Services In Seattle, 570 of 1,100 buses are accessible to the handicapped, providing about 5,900 rides a month. The Municipality of Metropolitan Seattle also contracts with private groups to supply paratransit bus and half-fare cab service, providing a total of 8,400 rides a month in Denver. 432 of the city's 744 buses are lift- or ramp-equipped, providing more than 1,000 rides per month. The city also uses 13 vans and small buses in a paratransit system that provides 3,200 rides a month. In New York City, where an estimated 35% of all the transit passengers in the country use Metropolitan Transportation Authority vehicles each day. half of the city's 4,333 buses are fitted with lifts. The city has no figures on how many handicapped riders use the system, but one official calls the number minuscule. A new state law calls for $40 million over the next eight years to retrofit “in the neighborhood of 30" subway stops for handicapped use, according to a transit authority official. In addition the law will increase the percentage of lift-equipped buses to 65% of the fleet, as well as provide a paratransit system in the city by 1988. Minneapolis-St. Paul uses 45 paratransit buses and contracts with private cab companies to carry handicapped persons in all, the city provides 40.000 trips a month. None of Chicago's 2.400 regular buses are fitted with lifts. Instead the city provides 42 paratransit buses, which offer 12,000 rides a month. Additionally, 14 of the city's subway stops have been retrofitted for handicapped access and 300 of Chicago's 1,100 subway cars are accessible. If there is a diversity of approaches to the problem, there is also a diversity of views on the militant new tactics used by ADAPT and its supporters. The views of the handicapped people are all over the lot on what type of transport they'd like," Bob Batchelder, counsel for the APTA, said. But transit specialist Cannon, himself a wheelchair user, counters: “I'm talking to disabled people who wouldn't do what ADAPT does ... but who support what they are doing and think it needs being done." Whether ADAPT's controversial style will work remains an open question. While no negotiations are scheduled, ADAPT leaders vow to continue to harass association meetings. But in Los Angeles, the RTD's Dyer indicated that he hopes demonstrations will be replaced at next year's convention with “serious dialogue and discussion of the issues." "It’s a new thing for the disabled to see themselves with power," ADAPT's Auberger said, "but it's also a new experience for the powers that be." - ADAPT (165)
[Headline] Disabled Advocates Are Rolling on Washington D.C. For the second year in a row wheelchair pickets will surround the national convention of the American Public Transit Association (APTA). Some 150 to 200 wheelchair demonstrators are expected to join the picket lines, although that number could increase dramatically by the time the four day long convention opens Sept. 30 in Washington, D.C., according to a spokesperson for the American Disabled for Accessible Public Transportation (ADAPT). But, unlike the convention held in Denver last year, ADAPT will not be allowed to argue the case for accessibility on the convention floor. “Gilstrap (APTA executive vice president Jack Gilstrap) told us there was no way we were going to speak this year,” Wade Blank said. Nor does Blank expect APTA to vote on a resolution introduced at the 1983 convention calling upon APTA members to purchase only lift-equipped buses. When the Carter administration mandated accessibility in the late 1970s, it was APTA that successfully fought those regulations in court, arguing that it was a judgment best left to the discretion of the local transit provider. Some cities, like Seattle and San Jose, California, and-to a lesser extent-Denver, chose to make their systems accessible, but the vast majority refused, claiming the lifts were impractical and too expensive. However, accessibility advocates say that the technology is available to design both economical and reliable lifts, but that bus manufacturers will not use it as long as there is little demand for lifts from transit providers. APTA argues that in many, if not most cases paratransit systems can offer better and more economical services to disabled riders. ADAPT maintains that isn't so, arguing that cities such as Seattle are experiencing a steady drop in the per ride cost for lift-assisted trips while paratransit costs are constant, regardless of the number of trips. At the Denver convention, APTA's position was championed by Colorado Governor Richard Lamm, who told the delegates that the country couldn't afford to equip all its buses with lifts and continue as a great nation. New York City Mayor Ed Koch is expected to take a similar tack at this year's convention. In 1983, Denver Mayor Federico Pena, who was instrumental in getting ADAPT a place on the convention agenda, supported accessibility, just as this year's host mayor, Marion Berry, is expected to do. Access/Denver will send 43 wheelchair demonstrators to Washington, although at press time they were short $4,400 of the $15,000 needed to provide them with transportation, food and lodging. Among the individuals contributing to the fund drive was Wellington Webb, an unsuccessful 1983 candidate for mayor of Denver. In addition, Denver's HAIL, Inc., will be sending five representatives. Several other cities, including Dallas, El Paso, Los Angeles, Cincinnati, Little Rock, Arkansas, Poughkeepsie, New York, and Chicago have confirmed that they will have representatives on the picket line. Boston's Disabled Liberation Front announced that it was sending eight pickets. ADAPT intends to provide a training session in confrontational politics in Washington on September 26. Ironically, one problem that demonstrators flying into Washington's Dulles International Airport will face is a lack of accessible buses between the airport and downtown Washington. "We were going to file a complaint," Blank said, "but it turns out that the Department of Transportation runs the bus system there and they say that they are the administrators, not the recipients, of federal funds, and therefor are not required to provide accessible service." - ADAPT (184)
San Antonio Express News, 4/22/85 Photo by Express News: A woman stands (Doris Rae?) behind an older man in who is seated (Frank McColm). Both are yelling, their faces full of passion. caption reads: wheelchair protesters [Headline] Disabled blast transportation, Protest inaccessibility by Gary Martin, Express-News Staff Writer About 50 disabled rights activists from across the nation rolled through downtown San Antonio streets in wheelchairs Sunday, protesting inaccessible public transportation for the handicapped. The group of protesters, American Disabled for Accessible Public Transportation (ADAPT), headed the march into the lobby of the Hyatt Regency Hotel where the American Public Transportation Association (APTA) is holding a five-day conference. Chanting “We will ride" and “Access now," the group presented a resolution to APTA officials, asking for support of federal regulations that would force local communities to install wheelchair lifts in all public transportation vehicles. Jean Stewart, spokeswoman for ADAPT, said the group wants 100 percent accessibility to all public transportation nationwide and accused APTA of segregating disabled riders by not supporting federal regulation of the industry. “To us there is no difference between riding a different bus and riding in the back of a bus if you’re black,” said Stewart, a resident of Poughkeepsie, N.Y. A San Antonio marcher, Rachel Rodriguez of 7180 Oaklawn Drive, said she was forced to ride VIAtrans vans in San Antonio because buses were not accessible for handicapped patrons. “You feel like your rights are violated,” she said. “lt‘s not a matter of riding in the back of the bus, it's a matter of not riding at all.” The group met wit APTA officials only after refusing to leave the Hyatt registration desk. Defending current policies of APTA, Vice President Jack Gilstrap said each community should have the opportunity to design its own system for its own particular needs. "There is no place for federal regulations,” he said. Gilstrap also accused the ADAPT group of trying to take away “this wonderful system" that has increased its service to disabled riders by l0 times over the past few years. Hecklers attacked Gilstrap and the VIA Metropolitan Transit System saying the convention site, San Antonio, had the worst accessible public transportation system in Texas. Although no VIA officials attended the rally, General Manager Wayne Cook said the local system contains 20 vans that carry 9,000 disabled riders each month. Cook said VIA purchased the vans instead of placing lifts in its buses after a committee representing the disabled requested the special access vans. At a cost of $1.2 million, Cook said the local system will spend four times more for disabled riders than the federal government requires. “We are very dedicated to serving the handicapped in San Antonio," he said. - ADAPT (186)
San Antonio Light, Monday April 22, 1985 METRO Section PHOTO by Jim Blaylock, San Antonio Light: ET, Earnest Taylor, holds his long lanky self in a wheelie on his manual wheelchair down on street level while other folks in wheelchairs and a couple of touristy looking walking people go by on the sidewalk by the edge of the hotel A woman in a motorized wheelchair up ahead has a sign on the back of her chair. Behind ET on the sidewalk, George Roberts?, rolls his motorized chair forward; he is wearing a cowboy hat and has a camera on a tripod attached to the front of his wheelchair. Caption reads: EQUALITY IS THE ISSUE: Members of the American Disabled for Accessible Public Transportation temporarily blocked the lobby of the Hyatt Regency Hotel yesterday afternoon to protest the lack of transportation access to the handicapped. [Headline] Protesters on Wheels Want Access By Laura Fiorentino [This article continues in ADAPT 185 but the entire story has been included here for ease of reading.] About 75 placard-carrying people in wheelchairs rolled through downtown streets, then stormed the lobby of a hotel, to protest the lack of transportation access to the handicapped. More than 30 San Antonio police officers were called in to keep the peace as the protesters, who belong to the American Disabled for Accessible Public Transportation (ADAPT), temporarily blocked the Hyatt Regency Hotel lobby yesterday afternoon. The demonstrators – many who had traveled from as far as Denver and El Paso – came to San Antonio yesterday to emphasize the need for wheelchair accessibility to conventioneers attending the American Public Transit Association’s weeklong meeting at the hotel. The group assembled at the Alamo, then moved to the Hyatt, which they circled four times before entering the lobby. “We’re talking about equality.” Mike Auberger of Denver, an ADAPT spokesman, said. “For so long blacks were separated, and that’s what we see happening here. The cost of these lifts isn’t what we’re talking about. It’s integrating everyone into the system.” In addition to the protesting transportation group, ADAPT also condemned the lack of wheelchair lifts VIA Metropolitan Transit buses and trolleys. Auberger said there are about 12,000 people in the San Antonio are confined to wheelchairs. He said only a small number of those are served by special buses provided for the handicapped every day. He said seven of the protesters outside the hostel yesterday were from San Antonio. But VIA General Manager Wayne Cook said local handicapped population does not want wheelchair lifts and instead prefers door-to-door service provided by special buses. “They (wheelchair lifts) are not an option,” Cook said at the hotel. “The local handicapped population does not want it. They want door-to-door service. We spent $1.2 million on the handicapped this year. They told us they don’t want lifts - they want special VIA trans buses instead.” Cook said each wheelchair costs about $15,000 and extra funds would be necessary to train a staff to maintain them. “What’s the point in having the ability to vote if you can’t participate?” Auberger said. “How can you give handicapped individuals jobs if they can’t get to work? Association officials at the hotel said that while they understood the protesters’ desire they agree with allowing each city to decide whether to install the lifts. “I sympathize with their desires and I wish I had the resources to make them (buses and trolleys) more accessible,” said association spokesman Jack Gilstrap, who met with the protesters before they disbanded. “The ironic aspect to all this in that we are on the same side. We want the best for the handicapped. We feel the courts’ decision that each city should decide how it should be handled is correct. They (the protesters) believe that ought to be dictated by Washington,” Gilstrap said. - ADAPT (189)
San Antonio Light, April 21, 1985 Viewpoint Thomas F. Brereton [Headline] Give handicapped the transit they deserve PHOTO: Head shot of a man in suit and tie, with a beard and moustach. He is smiling, and he appears to be Brereton. San Antonio's convention calendar features an unwanted bonus this weekend: some out of town demonstrators who have vowed to disrupt a conference at the Hyatt, in order to focus attention on a neglected national issue. The American Disabled for Accessible Public Transit (ADAPT) are the unwelcome guests at the American Public Transit Association's western regional conference. They have been similarly unwelcome guests at APTA conferences in Denver, San Diego, and Washington, D.C., where 28 members were arrested for civil disobedience last October. So now San Antonio's VIA Metropolitan Transit gets to take its turn playing cat's paw to make their point. ADAPT's demand is a simple one: civil rights for the handicapped, specifically the right to ride the same bus as everyone else. This means requiring public transit systems to make all of their mainline services fully accessible, particularly by installing wheelchair lifts instead of relying exclusively on separate “para-transit” services like VIA-Trans. They contend that this dual service system is a segregationist anachronism: 25 years ago blacks could at least ride in the back of the bus: today the handicapped still can't even get on board. At first blush, it may seem hard to believe that a person who is wheelchair-bound would really prefer to struggle to and from the bus stop in order to ride a regular bus, rather than being picked up and delivered door-to-door in a specially equipped van. But there are some real problems with a van service which makes it inherently less usable than full access to the regular transit network. First there is the matter of registration. In order to ride VIA-Trans, you have to be certified by a physician or a social service agency as completely unable to use the regular bus. As a result, there are only about 7000 people registered in Bexar County. Estimates of the potentially eligible “mobility-impaired" population range from 12,000 to 52,000, depending on whose definition you accept. Out of town visitors, of course, have a special difficulty of making arrangements in advance. Then there is the matter of time. You have to call and make a reservation at least two hours ahead, and preferably a couple of days. This may be okay if you know you have a doctors appointment every Wednesday at 2 o'clock. but it is no way to go out drinking with your friends on the spur of the moment. And since this is a shared-ride system, you will probably have to leave a lot earlier than you would like, and then to endure a long, circuitous journey to your destination, while other passengers are picked up and dropped off en route. So imagine yourself now in a wheelchair. Which would you rather do: Wheel yourself down to the nearest bus stop to get on a bus and go whereever it takes you, or call VIA-Trans a couple of days in advance to make a reservation? You don't have to buy ADAPT's tactics in order to see their point. Handicapped people naturally want to be as independent as possible, with a minimum of degrading “special privileges." On the other side, transit authority spokesmen ridicule the demand for wheelchair lifts as economically prohibitive and technically impractical. A study by the National Research Council's Transportation Research Board estimates the total additional cost of operating a fully accessible fixed-route bus system at about $2,000 per year per lift-equipped bus. But unlike VIA-Trans, where more riders automatically mean more vans and drivers - at an average actual cost of $l0.70 per trip — this cost does not increase appreciably with greater use by the handicapped. Opponents of accessible transit also object that the wheelchair lifts break down too often. And, you would have to take some regular seats out of the bus, to provide space to secure the wheelchairs. And the requirements of operating the lift would throw the bus off schedule, because the driver would have to take extra time to assist the passenger. In reality, the actual number of times per day you would have to stop the bus to use this lift makes nonsense of this argument. But what about the problem of getting to and from the bus stop, along streets without curb cuts and often without sidewalks? This objection is an excuse for not solving one problem because there are other problems beyond it. If you were in a wheelchair, you would probably need to live in a different house, too. You would consider this a factor before you moved. Note that this is not an either/or proposition, between specialized vans and lift-equipped buses. The same study by the Transportation Research Board estimates that only 30 percent of the "severely transportation handicapped" could use an accessible fixed-route bus. The other 70 percent — those on medication, with mental impairments or multiple handicaps — would still need to rely on VIA-Trans, taxicabs, or other means to get around. To me. this whole argument is pretty one-sided. The real clincher is the simple fact that other cities have already done what VIA says is impossible: to provide full accessibility on their mainline services. The old excuses won't wash anymore. it's time we stopped putting a price tag on people's dignity and independence. Tom Brereton is a former professor of urban studies at Trinity University. - ADAPT (197)
San Antonio Express News Tuesday, April 23, 1985 Metro, 9-A PHOTO by Jose Barrera: An angry looking Mike Auberger sits in his power chair holding a picket sign that reads "American Disabled for Accessible Public Transit" and the first letter of each word is dark so when you read down instead of across it reads ADAPT. Mike has on his no steps logo ADAPT shirt, and the large sign is taped to his wrist. Caption reads: MIKE AUBERGER OF THE DENVER CHAPTER OF ADAPT HOLDS SIGN WHILE BLOCKING DOOR . . . about 60 members of the group protested at VIA headquarters and held employees hostage. [Headline] Protesters hold workers hostage by Arthur Moczygemba, Express News Staff Writer Members of a group wanting improved access for the handicapped invaded the VIA office at 800 W Myrtle on Monday and used their wheelchairs to block all access to the building for about 90 minutes. Some 34 VIA employees held hostage inside their offices were released after police negotiated for a meeting with local and national transportation officials. The later session led to an airing of demands by about 60 members of the American Disabled tor Accessible Public Transportation. Police rented vans, in case the protesters were arrested. Bernie Ford of Chicago, president of the American Public Transit Association, and Wayne Cook, general manager of VIA, met with the ADAPT members Monday afternoon, but both sides stuck to their respective positions on public bus access for the handicapped. Ford was in San Antonio to attend the western conference of APTA, meeting at the Hyatt Regency Hotel through Wednesday. About 15 police officers were on duty there, Toscano reported. Ford refused to grant the ADAPT members 20 minutes of speaking time before the general transit membership, saying that a scheduled Wednesday work session on handicapped access was sufficient for consideration of the problem. Laura Hershey of Denver and Jean Stewart of Poughkeepsie, N.Y. listed the ADAPT demands, which included a policy change by the mass transit system that all new buses purchased be equipped with lifts that allow wheelchair-bound persons to use buses. ADAPT claims that it costs $8,000 to $10,000 to equip a new bus with lifts for the handicapped, while air conditioning a bus costs more “and doesn't always work." “It's a question of priorities," said Mike Auberger of Denver, where ADAPT is headquartered. After a 30-minute session, the only agreement between the ADAPT members and Ford was allow the group to publish an article in the September issue of the association's monthly newspaper. Cook was grilled about the San Antonio situation by Bob Kafka of Austin, a Texas ADAPT official. Cook said the VIA Para-Transit system used in San Antonio, which uses specially equipped vans to transport the handicapped was implemented upon recommendation by a 26-member task force, which included handicapped persons. “This is why you don‘t see San Antonians join your cause,” Cook said. Kafka retorted that numerous San Antonio handicapped members have contacted ADAPT, and refuted Cook's contention that the majority of the local handicapped persons support the VIA Para-Transit program because it is segregationist. “This is not to say you're lying,” Kafka told Cook, “but you are distorting the truth." The ADAPT members then read a statement submitted by Willis Williams on behalf of the San Antonio Citizens Concerned about Handicapism. The SACCH statement said the group declined to participate in the ADAPT demonstration but added: “It is our long-standing position to support the concept of a multimodal system with both lift-equipped mainline buses and door-to door service vans as the best and most economically sound approach for San Antonio." The statement was issued on behalf of Larry Johnson, chairman of San Antonio Independent Living Services, and Joyce Jenks, president of SACCH. "Twenty (VlA) vans cannot possibly serve 50,000 mobility impaired citizens," according to Jenks. The 60-member ADAPT group was composed mainly of Texans, with - others from Colorado, Illinois, and New York. Three people attending the protest identified themselves as San Antonians who came as individuals because their organizations are tax-exempt and do not participate in demonstrations. Tommy Leifester, 1100 Callaghan, said the VIA task force did not represent the majority of San Antonio handicapped. Leifester assisted Toscano in the negotiated settlement. Leifester stated that although local handicapped persons were not very visible at the protest, "This will help get our story out in public. VIA has been putting out only one side of the story." During the shuttle diplomacy segment the protesters chanted: “We will ride! Access now!" and demands for Cook to meet with them. Cook was not in his office since he was attending the mass transit convention at the hotel. He arrived at 12:10pm. Although the VIA employees were released about 12:30 p.m. and given the rest of the afternoon off, ADAPT members stayed until Ford showed for the meeting about 2:30 pm. - ADAPT (199)
[Headline] PROTEST: VIA demonstration PROTEST/from B1 door-to-door service,” Cook said. “It’s an effective way to provide transportation. That’s why you don’t see a lot of San Antonians joining you.” But some people speculated the lack of local participation meant the San Antonio handicapped community either is afraid to speak out or did not have transportation to get to the demonstration by ADAPT members from other parts of the country, including Denver and New York. While yesterday’s demonstrators did not include San Antonians, a local handicapped man was summoned by Police Chief Charles Rodriguez to help mediate. "There is a definitely a problem here in San Antonio,” said Tommy Leifester, who calls himself a local leading handicapped rights activist. He said the city’s van system that transports the handicapped has several inadequacies, including a requirement that users must request service up to a week in advance. “If I don’t have a medical certificate and prior approval by VIA Transit, then I don’t ride,” he said. “There’s a judge and a jury who says you can ride a bus. A normal person doesn’t need a medical qualification to ride a bus.” ADAPT leaders said they have asked transit association leaders to introduce a resolution to the full APTA membership proposing the handicapped be provided equal accessibility to public transportation. Ford told the demonstrators the APA board’s policy allows officials from various transit authorities to decide the best ways of serving handicapped people in their separate communities. “APTA has no power to force its attitudes on its members,” he said. “The local option makes sense.” Ford yesterday did grant ADAPT leaders their request to publish an article in APTA’s trade magazine by September. “We got one tiny concession out of the president, ADAPT leader Jean Stewart said after the meeting. “They are utterly in contempt of the needs of the disabled.” The protesters requested VIA officials endorse the resolution to provide public transportation to the disabled and to establish a forum in which the disabled community would be allowed to participate. Cook promised to plan a forum. Stewart said the local community has long supported ADAPT’s proposal of a multi-modal system with both lift equipped buses and door-to-door service. - ADAPT (202)
Handicapped American, 12/84 Two articles: Article #1: [Headline] Anti-APTA Protest Grows as Disabled Demand Bus Lifts Disabled activists in several states are pressing the attack against the American Public Transit Association (APTA) in an attempt to persuade that organization to support wheelchair accessibility. At its seventh annual delegate assembly in November, the Coalition of Texans with Disabilities [CTD] urged all transit providers in that state to withdraw from APTA. “It is the urgent desire of CTD and its 77 organizational members across the state that Texas become a model of full, equal access to all transportation systems," according to the CTD resolution. CTD President Marshall Mitchell said that APTA'S transportation philosophy “is a powerful tool for discrimination and denies the vast majority of disabled persons equal access to the community." CTD is also opposed to paratransit as an alternative to wheelchair lift equipped buses because this "provides disabled people only limited use of the locally operated transit systems in all Texas cities." Mitchell said that not only does paratransit violate the equal protection clause of the l4th Amendment but operating two separate systems "is infinitely more expensive than would be totally accessible systems with only limited door-to-door service to meet the needs of those who could not use mainline service." APTA is holding a Western Regional Conference in San Antonio in April (see related stories). Meanwhile in November a spokesperson for disabled groups in neighboring Louisiana has requested that APTA's board of directors reverse its position on accessibility. Susan M. Daniels, in a letter to APTA chairman Warren Franks, said that "disabled people will no longer sit quiet while their rights are abridged." Daniels points out that the Regional Transit Authority which serves the Greater New Orleans area is not accessible, making it impossible for disabled people in that city to participate on an equal basis in community activities with nondisabled persons. In California, disabled activists are seeking to cut off the flow of public money to APTA. At its December meeting, the California Association of the Physically Handicapped (CAPH) passed a resolution calling upon various branches of the federal government to withhold funds earmarked for APTA because such payments represent "a misappropriation of public funds." More than 60 percent of APTA's operating money comes from public funds, according to the CAPH resolution. CAPH charges that this money is being used in part “to deny handicapped individuals the benefits of transportation services requiring federal financial assistance." In addition to blocking the flow of federal dollars to APTA, CAPH urges "that all public transit agencies be prohibited from paying APTA dues" while any investigations of APTA are in progress. Article #2: [Headline] Texans Plan San Antonio Showdown Chances are if you board a public bus anywhere in Texas you won't find any riders in wheelchairs. That's all going to change if Jim Parker of El Paso has anything to do about it. Parker and several other people in wheelchairs from across Texas have organized the state chapter of the American Disabled for Accessible Public Transit (ADAPT), a new national group that is trying to force bus companies and manufacturers to equip all buses with wheelchair lifts. In 1979, the Carter administration's Department of Transportation mandated such a policy, but the American Public Transit Association (APTA) successfully fought those regulations in court, arguing that it was a judgment best left to the discretion of the local transit provider. Disabled activists argued that such "local option” policies are no different from the old states’ rights arguments used in the South to block integration and lead to policies similar to "separate but equal" laws. Reagan's Department of Transportation has generally sided with APTA in this dispute and has suggested that paratransit services could provide similar service to the disabled at less cost. Opponents of lifts argue that they're unreliable. In Houston, Metro's Grumman Flexible buses’ wheelchair lifts were removed because the company said they caused too many maintenance problems. Continued on p. 4 - ADAPT (203)
San Antonio Light, Tuesday, 4/23/85 Metro [Headline] Demonstration at VIA offices PHOTO by Marianne Thomas/San Antonio Light: Top down view of a mass of protesters, mostly in wheelchairs, in a rough circle in front of a reception type desk. This lobby area is filled with protesters. Some have signs taped to the front of their chairs, some are in manual wheelchairs, others in power chairs, at least one person is on a vent. Caption reads: PROTEST: Members of ADAPT ---- American Disabled for Accessible Public Transportation ---- occupy the VIA Metropolitan Transit offices during demonstration yesterday. [Headline] Disabled protest special bus rules By Laura A. Lambeth, Staff writer Sixty handicapped people rolled their wheelchairs into VIA Metropolitan Transit administrative and rode the elevator to the second floor, where they stage a four-hour demonstration yesterday. The protest, by members of American Disabled for Accessible Public Transportation, caused 90 bus company employees to lock themselves in their offices for an hour until officials with VIA and the American Public Transit Association agreed to meet the demonstrators who wanted to express their rights to ride buses. The protesters found themselves sitting calmly in the hallways from 11 a.m. until 3 p.m.. because the APTA leader could not be located. At least 20 police officers surrounded the building on West Myrtle Street to keep the peace as the demonstrators waited until their demands worn heard by VIA General Manager Wayne Cook and Bernie Ford, head of the APTA, which is meeting in San Antonio this week. None of the demonstrator were from San Antonio, which prompted VIA officials to say yesterday's protest was aimed at the national leaders. "The San Antonio community has told us to put transportation dollars into a para-transit system, with Please turn to PROTEST/B6 - ADAPT (204)
[Headline] Disabled riders hopeful after meeting transport officials San Diego Union By Ric Bucher, Staff Writer 2/11/85 Mike Auberger and Dana Jackson were not smiling when they wheeled out of the Hilton Hotel's Capri Room, but they were hopeful. Auberger and Jackson, along with 13 other wheelchaired members of American Disabled for Accessible Public Transportation, asked board members of the American Public Transportation Association to endorse full accessibility for the disabled to all public transit vehicles. And they aimed their plea at the board members’ hearts rather than their budget. “I think we really shook them up,” Jackson said. “They have come a long way,” Auberger said. “Two years ago, they didn't want us in the room. This time they asked questions.” One of those questions, posed by John Pingree, transit manager of Salt Lake City, Utah, personalized one of APTA’s primary disagreements with the ADAPT group. The transit manager said he has an autistic child whom handicap requires the use of specially equipped vans presently available to the handicapped in most cities. The cost of fitting public transportation system with wheelchair lifts, ramps and wider doorways would take away funds currently subsidizing these van services, APTA members claim. ADAPT members say, however, that the van service method is severely handicapped itself. Van service must be reserved 24 hours in advance for a specific time and destination, and ADAPT members say the vans segregate them from the rest of the public. “Imagine if you had to program your car 24 hours in advance every time you wanted to go anywhere, and that was the only way you could get there,” Jackson said. Jackson is the ADAPT transportation coordinator in Washington, D.C. Wade Blank, who helped found ADAPT 12 years ago, said the group's appeal focused on “the moral imperative” aspect of equal access, instead of “costs and everything else.” Blank, who is not disabled, feels the transit system discriminates against the disabled now as it once did against black people. Blank believes the presentation created a rift between transit managers who have superior handicap access – Seattle was cited as the best – and those with lesser facilities. San Diego is one of the worst, according to Auberger. APTA’s executive vice president, Jack Gilstrap, said the APTA board has appointed a committee to study the ADAPT and give a report, tomorrow. Gilstrap said the main purpose of the meeting here is to address the severe budget cuts planned for the Department of Transportation by the government. - ADAPT (221)
[no source or date included] ADAPT has been targeting APTA because of a lawsuit which APTA filed and ultimately won. Under the Carter Administration, the Department of Transportation (DOT) issued regulations in response to 504, which required all new buses to have wheelchair lifts. APTA filed suit saying that congress didn't intend 504 to put undue financial demands on the local transit authorities. The requirement for every bus to be lift-equipped was costly and cumbersome. APTA lost in the lower court, but appealed. The appeals court agreed with APTA that 504 didn?t mandate that all buses be lift-equipped. At present, every transit authority must make an effort to provide service to the elderly and disabled populations. There is an upper limit on the amount of money which must be spent on this service. Since para-transit is an expensive way to provide transportation services, the demand often exceeds the service available. California and Michigan have state laws requiring fully accessible transportation. In other states, transit authorities have started removing lifts from buses saying it is their "local option" to provide a fixed amount of para-transit instead of providing fixed route service. ADAPT promises to see APTA next year in Detroit. - ADAPT (235)
The Cincinnati Enquirer (This article continues on ADAPT 232 but the story is included here in its entirety for easier reading.) Title: Disabled protesters spark Metro debate BY PAUL FURIGA The handicapped protesters who halted Queen City Metro buses have left jail and Hamilton County, but the controversy they created remains. Leaders in the disabled community shied away from the demonstrations and arrests, but quietly applauded members of American Disabled for Accessible Public Transportation's (ADAPT) actions. Almost two weeks ago Cincinnati police arrested 17 ADAPT members when they attempted to block the Vine Street entrance to the Westin Hotel and the Fourth Street entrance to Queen City Metro's offices. The demonstrators came from all over the United States to protest at the convention of the American Public Transit Association at the Westin. Their protests raised hopes in Cincinnati. A fire has started; and it's important to keep the flames fanned," said Basil Vlahopoulos, co-chairman of Metro‘s Specialized Transportation Advisory Committee (STAC). “if it dies, it will take another 10 years to get it started.” Metro officials who run Access, the local transit service for the disabled, also find themselves in the public eye for the first time in several years. “I think we" understand the need is there for more service,” said Judith Van Ginkel, spokeswoman for Metro. “The question is one of funding and do we have the funds available.” “Every dollar is precious, and the issue is to put each dollar to best possible use,” said Murray C. Bond, Metro's assistant general manager. Both camps agree that the ADAPT visit raised the public awareness of public transportation for the handicapped. Both also agree that a big debate on Access is in the future, the result of the ADAPT visit and recent changes in federal regulations. Metro officials and handicapped leaders do not agree on the extent of problems with the current situation, or on the solutions that might improve transportation for the handicapped. At Metro, Access manager Carl Palmer and Bond point out that each one-way Access trip costs taxpayers more than $10. The annual cost for Access, Palmer said, is more than $1 million. For that money, he said Metro makes an estimated 105,000 one-way trips for passengers each year, charging them 60 cents each. Palmer said Metro turns away only 4% to 5% of those who call to schedule Access service. But he acknowledges that Access meets only 6% of the estimated potential demand in Hamilton County. A new federal interpretation of regulation 504, which mandates handicapped service, will require Metro to add about $200,000 to its Access service in 1987. That may allow service with two to three new vans, Palmer said. But even that, he said, will not make much of a dent. Bond says he sees few alternatives. As expensive as the Access service is, he argues that it would cost $6 million to equip Metro's 379-bus fleet with lifts that would accommodate handicapped passengers in lieu of Access. - ADAPT (240)
The Cincinnati Enquirer Photo by the Cincinnati Enquirer/Michael E. Keating: Four police officers holding a thin, tall man (Jim Parker)by his legs and arms suspending him in the air while they try to place him in the wheelchair. Another police officer and a passerby at the street corner are visible in background, as well as a city bus parked with its doors open. Caption: Cincinnati Police lower ADAPT activist Jim Parker into his wheelchair after removing him from a Metro bus. He had crawled aboard. [Headline] Group seeks access for wheelchairs By David Wells George Cooper and Bob Kafka climbed aboard a City Metro bus at Government Square Monday, paid their fares and were arrested. Cooper and Kafka were among several dozen members of the American Disabled for Accessible Public Transit (ADAPT) demonstrating this week against Metro and the American Public Transit Association gathered at the Westin Hotel. ADAPT disrupted operations at Metro’s main downtown stop on Government Square for about two hours Monday. Following arrests of Cooper and Kafka, Metro rerouted its buses and avoided further confrontation with the wheelchair-bound demonstrators. ADAPT wants full accessibility for the handicapped on all public transportation facilities. Regular Metro coaches do not have wheelchair lifts. The company does provide transportation for the handicapped with special, lift-equipped Access vans. ADAPT claims that Access vans are unreliable in poor weather and even in good weather require a 24-hour advance reservation. The group also wants the national transit association to adopt a resolution at its Cincinnati convention requiring full access for the handicapped. Wheelchair-confined demonstrators picketed Westin entrances throughout the day but were denied admission to the hotel or adjoining public atrium. Cooper of Dallas, and Kafka of Austin, Texas, were charged with criminal trespass after they refused requests from Metro and the Cincinnati Police to get off the bus. “There are no lifts in these buses. It is not safe (for the handicapped), “said Murray Bond, assistant general manager for the company. Yet, after Cooper and Kafka were arrested, they were transported to the Hamilton County Justice Center on the bus rather than being transferred to a lift van. “That was a judgement call on my part,” said Capt. Dale Menkhaus, who headed the police detail. “It was decided it would be much easier and safer to transport them on the bus than to try to carry them off of it.” Four officers rode with the prisoners to ensure they were not jostled on the five-block trip to jail. Also arrested at the demonstration was Mike Auberger from Denver, who Menkhaus said attempted to block the bus carrying Cooper and Kafka. Auberger was charged with disorderly conduct and taken to the Justice Center in a lift van. Menkhaus said it was “a no win situation” for the police. No matter how sensitively the officers acted, they still had to confront and arrest people in wheelchairs. Officers in that detail were briefed on handling the demonstrators. Menkhaus said. “Our officers were told to ask each individual what the best way to lift him was, even to the point of which limb they would prefer to have moved first.” Still, to the members ADAPT, they were being dragged off the buses. “People were being dragged off the buses because they just wanted to ride,” said Bill Bolte of Los Angeles. When ADAPT member Rick James, a cerebral palsy victim repeatedly tried to roll his motorized chair into the street and in front of buses, police officers unplugged the chair’s battery. It left James immobile on the sidewalk. Other ADAPT members reconnected the battery and James pulled up in front of another bus. Metro eventually took the bus out of service and left it parked at the stop during the demonstration. At the Justice Center, all three prisoners co-operated fully with deputies, said Sheriff Lincoln Stokes. About five other demonstrators boarded buses that pulled in the stops at Government Square but they got off the bus when asked to do so, Menkhaus said.