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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!
Sadly familiar
So they refuse to pay for taxis even though this is against the law (complaint escalated to the point it is currently with the Public Services Ombundsman). This is a refund under the low income scheme, which is to pay for travel to hospital for people who otherwise would have to not go to hospital at all, you gotta be pretty poor to get this.
Then they told me I had to come by hospital transport, who then told me I don't meet the criteria, which is fine, I don't think I should, I just think they should let me park my car there.
So next up they said go by equivalent of Paratransit. But same problem, I can get to *other* hospitals than this one by bus, so I don't qualify. Same reason I can't get a taxi discount card.
So when I went by taxi they refunded me the "cheapest avaiable travel" which, in their opinion, was the paratransit fee less the discount from the Taxicard scheme, which is not even valid on paratransit!
Oh, and the paratransit also doesn't allow you to book more than one journey per month to the same location to stop people using it week on week for day centres and stuff. First - why? Second - some people actually *have* to go to appointments at the same hospital. So even if I qualified I still would have no transport. All this instead of putting in a single disabled parking bay in a car park they already have.