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accessibility_fail2010-01-04 03:41 pm
ysobel) wrote in accessibility_fail2010-01-04 03:41 pm
Entry tags:
Okay, seriously?
The town I live in has a fairly decent public transportation system (which is even accessible, except for the times when they use authentic red London double-decker buses, and you can get a disabled pass that basically gives you free rides) but it's designed around the university, which means that getting from one place to another, when neither of them is near the university, is not always easy.
(this is not the fail. It's annoying, but not fail.)
I have a weekly appointment Fridays at 3pm. Because of the way routes are laid out, I would need to catch a bus at 1:45, ride it for about ten minutes, wait half an hour to transfer to a connecting route, ride it for about five minutes, and be there over half an hour before my appointment. Seriously, I could walk* there faster; it takes less than an hour. A rather miserable less-than-hour if it's cold and rainy, but it's not like the waiting times would be any better.
(* for definitions of walk that translate to using my wheelchair. I think of traveling by wheelchair (without additional vehicles such as being in a van) as walking, but I often confuse people when I say it.)
Now. The place where I lives has a paratransit service. Their official website says, and I quote:
They are a curb-to-curb service, with the usual fun about how you have to give a 20-minute window (i.e. be available 10 minutes before and after the scheduled time) but the bus will only wait 3 minutes, etc. But basically, it looks like a thing where you can use it if you're disabled, right?
...sort of.
It turns out that you can use it if a) you are disabled, and b) the nature of the disability means that you cannot use any other public transportation service, including the aforementioned bus system.
WTFFF.
(and even more annoyingly: the fare for the bus service is free with a disabled pass, and otherwise $1 per trip; the paratransit is $2.)
ETA: I just realized that they do all communication by phone, which means that an otherwise-independent person with hearing or speech problems is basically screwed. Even better!
(this is not the fail. It's annoying, but not fail.)
I have a weekly appointment Fridays at 3pm. Because of the way routes are laid out, I would need to catch a bus at 1:45, ride it for about ten minutes, wait half an hour to transfer to a connecting route, ride it for about five minutes, and be there over half an hour before my appointment. Seriously, I could walk* there faster; it takes less than an hour. A rather miserable less-than-hour if it's cold and rainy, but it's not like the waiting times would be any better.
(* for definitions of walk that translate to using my wheelchair. I think of traveling by wheelchair (without additional vehicles such as being in a van) as walking, but I often confuse people when I say it.)
Now. The place where I lives has a paratransit service. Their official website says, and I quote:
Who May Use This Service?
* Customers who qualify under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) of 1990
* Disabled customers may be accompanied by a personal attendant at no extra charge when required.
* One unregistered companion may accompany a registered customer, and must pay the 1-way fare.
They are a curb-to-curb service, with the usual fun about how you have to give a 20-minute window (i.e. be available 10 minutes before and after the scheduled time) but the bus will only wait 3 minutes, etc. But basically, it looks like a thing where you can use it if you're disabled, right?
...sort of.
It turns out that you can use it if a) you are disabled, and b) the nature of the disability means that you cannot use any other public transportation service, including the aforementioned bus system.
WTFFF.
(and even more annoyingly: the fare for the bus service is free with a disabled pass, and otherwise $1 per trip; the paratransit is $2.)
ETA: I just realized that they do all communication by phone, which means that an otherwise-independent person with hearing or speech problems is basically screwed. Even better!
no subject
I know a bit about the rules'n'regs because I spent a decade doing paratransit and transit activism, including chairing the transit and paratransit boards in my town. Way too many transit systems don't come even close to fulfilling the requirements under the ADA. Those requirements are a lot better than nothing, but still not ideal.
You said:
It turns out that you can use it if a) you are disabled, and b) the nature of the disability means that you cannot use any other public transportation service, including the aforementioned bus system.
The theory is, if you could use the transit system EXCEPT for a barrier created by the interaction of your disability with the world, then your transit system must provide you with paratransit service.
Here are some examples of people who qualify:
Jill has cognitive impairments. She gets confused and anxious at the bus transfer station. She is not able to tell whether a friendly stranger could intend her harm. Her trip to work requires a transfer. She can get paratransit for a ride to work.
Jane has a vision impairment. She uses a mobility cane to navigate. Her psychic lives in a part of town without sidewalks. To reach the psychic from the bus stop would require walking in the street against traffic. She can get paratransit for a ride to the psychic.
Jesse has a mobility impairment, and uses a power wheelchair. She lives near a bike path, which is connected to an extensive pedestrian network to her library. When even plowed snow and ice block her access to the bike path, she can get paratransit for a ride to the library.
So, users are eligible for paratransit on a case-by-case and ride-by-ride basis. The application you're asked to fill out is to see if there are any cases where you'd be eligible. (Happy to go over those issues in nauseating detail.) It's not your diagnosis or label that matters, but your functional capacity. Some people can use the transit system, and others can't. If you can't because of your impairment, then the ADA guarantees you the right to paratransit.
Why it costs more: because it's door to door, there's no "volume discount" like there is for city buses. On the big bus, every run costs the same whether there are no people on board or a standing load. The income is better, but the cost is the same. Bus routes depend on riders walking that last 1/4 mile from their home; paratransit has to drive there and back. All transit systems subsidize the cost of rides. The last time I had data the system cost was $35/ride for paratransit vs $2.50/ride for transit. The ADA permits a paratransit ride fare to be twice as much as the full regular bus fare. Smart transit systems give big discounts for disabled users on the regular bus to keep costs down.
Finally, the paratransit call center must provide access via TTY (or other non-speech equivalent). My town's call center gave up training their own customer service people and tells people to use the text relay (nationwide 711 connects you to your local relay provider).