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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
So long as there is any place in your municipality that is in the paratransit service area which you can't get to using the regular bus -- even if you can get to most or even 99% of places using the regular bus -- you are eligible for paratransit.
You'll have to fill out a bunch of paperwork, and you'll need a doctor to sign off on a shorter form (and you may need to carefully explain to the doctor what exactly they need to document for you, especially if that particular doctor hasn't done one of these forms before) but it's no more taxing than the usual paperwork hurdles they make us jump through to get any of the stuff we need.
I use my chair or walker (or on rare occasions just a cane) on the bus when I can, since the bus is so much more affordable, but I absolutely rely on paratransit when I need it.
There are plenty of times when neither the bus nor paratransit can get me where I want or need to go (e.g. to dinner, or a late-in-the-day appointment, since even the bus system shuts down completely at 6:30pm) but that's a whole other rant.