Trolley

Segregated Grand Re-Opening

By Tim Wheat
MATA got the Main Street Trolley running today. MCIL had asked that they test the lifts at each stop and MATA administration assured us that each stop would accessible today. Alvin Pearson, MATA Director of Operations, told me directly today that all the stops are accessible.

But they were not.

The Trolley’s starting point at the Trolley Barn is not accessible. Mr. Pearson said MATA was just boarding at the barn so that people did not have to walk to the Hudson Station stop. That is true, the Barn is not a typical stop, and does not have an accessible lift like the other Main Street stops. Having the opening at the barn, however, made it impossible for people with disabilities to be on the grand opening Trolley ride.

All patrons were welcomed on the Trolley, except people who use wheelchairs. The maiden voyage of the Trolley left the barn on its segregated Grand Re-Opening. The mayor, some City Council members and Representative Steve Cohen were packed on the Trolley with other dignitaries and interested citizens. 

Gary Rosenfeld, the CEO of MATA started the event and said it was important for a transit company to be on-time. As I watched the Trolley make its way down Main Street, I wondered if the Trolley was thirty years behind, or fifty years too late.