The ADA prohibits discrimination based
on disability and requires accessibility in public transportation. In the past
two decades since passage of the ADA, some progress has been made; however
transportation options for people with disabilities remain unacceptably
limited. Mia R. Oberlink, reported in “Opportunities
for Creating Livable Communities,” that of the nearly 2 million people with
disabilities who never leave their homes, 560,000 never leave home because of
transportation difficulties.
Transportation and mobility play key
roles in the struggle for civil rights and equal opportunity in the disability
community. Affordable and reliable transportation allows people with
disabilities access to important opportunities in education, employment, health
care, housing, and community life.
Even though paratransit services are provided to
people with disabilities in Memphis, problems still persist. Restrictive
eligibility criteria, unfair trip denials, tardiness, failure to show-up for a
ride, slow service in route, drivers’ lack of respect for users and inefficient
and unfriendly telephone reservation systems. The paratransit system
administration also provides inaccurate information, fails to respond to
complaints, provides inadequate training for drivers and uses punitive
cancellation policies. As a community we
cannot and should not be expected to depend solely on the paratransit system to
travel in Memphis.
People with disabilities in Memphis need
more accessible, affordable transportation options that bring employment,
health care, education, housing, and community life within reach. It is
important that the disability community continue show
up the way we did during the last Memphis 3.0 survey period which took place
earlier this fall. Our concerns about
the current state and future of public transportation in Memphis were ranked
third with more than 30 people responding to the survey.
As a
community of bus riders with and without disabilities, we will have to make
decisions that will not only impact our transportation needs in the years
ahead, but the bus riders for decades to come.
One of the key questions this report examines is if we want buses to run
more frequently or do we want more neighborhoods covered.
To read the complete report or become an
ambassador for a Memphis 3.0 event you can visit: http://www.memphis3point0.com/transit.
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