Ideas sought..... improved access for those in wheelchairs....?

[Kanary]

This is something I've thought about for a long time, and would like to hear the thoughts and ideas of others.

When I see a bus pulling up, and a person in a wheelchair waiting, I know that that person is going to get impatient reactions, of one sort or another, because it takes time for the special lift to come down, the wheelchair to be loaded and brought up, and then put in place in the bus. In this society, most people don't wait with much grace. It seems to me that is not a very good solution.

When I was in Britain many years ago, I was dumbfounded to find hardly *any* accomodations for handicapped people. Lots of places had stairs with no ramps or elevators, etc. I found it hard to believe, until a friend there said that most people in Britain who are handicapped are provided with a specially equiped van by the government, so they don't rely on public transportation. That seems like a partial solution, but still not ideal.

Just brain-storming....... without regard to $$$ or any other considerations, what would a really good system look like?

I hope to hear some really innovative ideas.

Kanary

[Lefta Dissenter]

1. This won't be a helpful response,

but I can't IMAGINE impatient reactions taking place! Do I live in Dreamland?

We live on a semi-rural road, and the grade school is just up the hill from us. Every morning, when the school bus is on its way to school, it stops to pick up a girl in a wheelchair. The bus driver gets out, walks up the driveway, helps the mom down the hill with the girl in the wheelchair, puts her on the lift and then does whatever securing is necessary inside the bus. Sometimes this can take a full five minutes (yes, I've timed it). Traffic stacks up, people sit there, but I've never seen anyone getting impatient, or, heaven forbid, trying to sneak around the bus. As the bus driver pulls away from her stop, she honks and waves to the cars that have been sitting there. People ALWAYS wave back :hi:

I would feel pretty low if I, with my two good legs, acted or even FELT impatient about this process!

[Kanary]

2. Of course, ideally, we would all be accepting!

I'm glad you live in such a friendly place.

Not all do. I've seen some really ignorant situations, and I'm sure that people in wheelchairs could tell you some real horror stories.

It's just not a good situation.

"I would feel pretty low if I, with my two good legs, acted or even FELT impatient about this process!"

Well, t hat's just it. People with hearts share your sentiment. However, we live in a sociopathic society, with less and less concern for others. I don't see it getting any better in that regard.

In any event, I think there are better possibilities, if we were willing to look for them.

Kanary

[beyurslf]

3. Ride a NYC bus and see how many people get off when a wheelchair is

waiting to get on....

And I can say, when I rode the bus in NYC I got off when a wheelchair got on. It took at least 5 mins and in NYC you can walk as fast as the busses travel. Oftentimes, you could get off, walk up a few blocks and get on the bus in front.

[Sabriel]

4. i prefer it the way you tell it

I want my daughter to grow up in a society where people of all abilities exist, where she sees people all together moving in different ways. I went to school during a time when special needs students were segregated, and I'm the worse for it. Now I see kids going to school with classmates diagnosed with autism, and they don't bat an eye. I wish I had had that experience.
Sabriel

[pacalo]

5. Where I live, there is a side lane at each bus stop specifically

for buses to get out of the traffic to allow enough time for passengers to get on or off, & that's helpful for wheelchair-bound passengers who have extra needs.

If the government can legislate (& rightfully so) proper accomodations for handicapped people, why can't it also allow specially-equipped vans for those handicapped people, too? Sounds like an excellent idea!

[Kanary]

10. You mean, like what I was describing for Great Britain?

That's why I was asking for any and all ideas...... I think the time has come to shoot for the moon, in terms of what is wanted and needed, rather than asking for the little things so that more gets done!

It's really pitiful to have to keep bugging and bugging the cities to get the ramps and curb breaks.

I think we've let our sights sink too low. :)

Kanary

[skygazer]

6. I don't really have any good ideas

But I'd love to hear some, too. Several years ago, I was without a car for three months and relied on busses to get to work. I found it kind of disturbing to see what handicapped people have to go through to be mobile - much of it seemed very demeaning. Having to wait in a special spot, requiring help to secure on to the lift, being strapped into the wheelchair area on the bus - I know if I was in a wheelchair, it would make me feel very exposed and dependent.

Certainly it's good that the accommodations are there but yes, it seems like they could be better.

[NMDemDist2]

7. here in AZ and in CA too they had special "van service" that would

come to your house or work and take you were you wanted to go

up sides are that it was free and esp designed for special needs

down side you had to plan in advance to reserve the van

generally they were prompt and helpful. seemed like a wonderful service

[NewYorkerfromMass]

8. The special vans are better

As an architect I have to deal with ADA all the time, and have also thought about this.
Here in NYC, as stated above, the wheelchair boading process is torturously time consuming. The damned busses are slow enough as it is.
Special vans, dispatched at a phone call, are the better solution.
'Separate but equal' one may protest, but the front and back doors of a bus are also separate but equal.

Regarding building access- there is a small contingent of robotics engineers working on "walking" wheelchairs which could negotiate stairs and preclude the need for ramps. A colleague from Carnegie Mellon informed me of this development.

[southlandshari]

9. Interesting post....here's the picture from semi-rural Alabama

We have virtually no "public transportation" in this area, unless you count the meager bi-city bus system that plods along at painfully slow speed... or the only-slightly-better university buses that carry students here and there on the AU campus.

On the other hand, our county enjoys the services of a pretty impressive transit system for those living with disabilities, who can either pick up buses on their regular routes or apply for acceptance in the "demand/response" program, where a bus or van will pick you up at your home (no matter where in the county it may be, even 50 miles away from home base for buses) and deliver you to your job or school (etc) anywhere else in the county.

It isn't as reliable as your own car or ride, but nothing to sniff at. I find it very interesting that in the rural South, people with disabilities might actually get BETTER treatment than they would in other parts of the country, if only in this one area.

[Kanary]

13. That's good the rural south is aware of *something* ^_^

I was hoping for some ideas of what *could* be, rather than what is, but I guess that's not gonna happen.

At least there's been *some* improvement.

Kanary

[Valerie5555]

11. In Calgary I found that the "specially physically abled" had a choice of

either Handi Bus, accessible Calgary Transit buses (and everyone no doubt had to move to the back if a wheelchair user or a mom with a stroller needed the front seats) or "Unique Needs" Taxi.

[Kanary]

12. I want to clarify about what I heard in Britain......

What the government provided wasn't a van *service*, to pick up people and take them wherever.... The government would provide handicapped people with a specially-equipped vehicle of *their own*, which they could drive themselves to where they wanted to go.

Actually, from the standpoint of economics, it may be less $$$......... the vans themselves are easier to outfit, and don't require hiring drivers. Certainly I don't know the actual difference in $$$, but it seems like a solution.

I'm just wanting to express the idea that if we stop thinking in terms of what's done now, and throw open the windows to new ideas, what may emerge.

Kanary, who wants to see *ALL* people be able to live up to their own abilities in this nation!