An interesting article in Ragged Edge about paratransit (public-transportion vans that provide taxi services for the disabled), and how it sucks. What got my attention is the article’s description of how structural factors create a strong incentive for public transport officials to keep paratransit as sucky as possible:
Anyone who met these criteria had to be allowed to ride paratransit, the law said. Paratransit now had to meet federal criteria as well, so bus companies could no longer legally restrict ridership as they had in decades past.
And ridership mushroomed.
Suddenly, what ADAPT had been saying during the 1980s began to sink in, as managers of the nation’s bus services began to realize that it was far more costly to provide paratransit, which was essentially a taxi service, than to run a lift-outfitted bus along a fixed route, with people getting on and off as they chose. A wheelchair lift was a onetime capital cost. Paratransit costs were ongoing, and rose whenever a new rider entered the system.
And so, in the 14 years since federal law required that disabled people be allowed paratransit, bus companies have worked to do all they can within the law — and quite often, outside the law — to “make it as unpleasant as possible to ride it, so you will crawl to the regular bus service.”
Although the article is focused on Louisville, I’ve heard similar complaints about the paratransit service here in Portland. The article suggests this is a nationwide problem.
Riders of the paratransit service in Metro Washington DC have been complaining about the suckiness of it for the past few years. I would not be suprised if it’s a nationwide problem. I’ll refrain from ranting about societal treatment of persons with disabilities.
“The article suggests this is a nationwide problem.”
I can beleive that. A friend of mine has Lupus and MD and has complained about the paratransit service wherever she has lived. Fortunately, she has a lift-enabled van now, but when she first came to Memphis, the transit system would get her where she needed to be on time, but it would literally make her wait hours afterwards before it could come and pick her up.
Well, the article is right. It’s a nationwide problem. It was definitely an issue in the Phoenix metro area where I used it and it is an issue for every disabled person in every city I have ever talked to. I have never had a conversation about paratransit where anyone said that it worked well for them.
Separate is not equal and this is yet another example of how the bias inevitably plays out.
Well, the article is right. It’s a nationwide problem. It was definitely an issue in the Phoenix metro area where I used it and it is an issue for every disabled person in every city I have ever talked to. I have never had a conversation about paratransit where anyone said that it worked well for them.
Separate is not equal and this is yet another example of how the bias inevitably plays out.
The only place I’ve lived where paratransit worked at all well is Vancouver, Canada. It just underscored how awful it is in every city in the US that I have ever heard of or tried to use it in.
And even in Vancouver, it was acceptable, but hardly an unmitigatedly successful experience.
SorchaRei, how long ago was this? I’m asking because I lived in Vancouver recently, and wasn’t even aware that there was a paratransit system – just that all buses are equipped with ramps, folding seats, and seatbelts for wheelchairs. I can’t speak to how good a system it is, but I know it was quite widely used.
I lived in Vancouver about 15 years ago. The paratransit system was, I think, a temporary situation while they outfitted actual busses.
From what I can tell, the paratransit system in Vancouver augments the normal bus system.
The ADA (disability rights law in the United States) specifically requires that all fixed-route buses be accessible AND that bus companies provide paratransit to people who can’t use the fixed route system. Canada’s provincial disability rights laws differ.
I’ve had my share of negative paratransit experiences as well since 1993 when I started using the system. We were able to implement some changes locally by forming an advocacy group. The key is reaching out to all riders: in our town 2/3rds are people with cognitive impairments who use sedans, not wheelchair vans. We tapped these riders, as well as the folks who interact with them daily (job coaches, home staff, etc) to amplify our voice and push problems to the forefront.
Paratransit now sucks a lot less here.