November 18, 2008
Whoever heard of a bus passenger who wouldn’t move so someone in a wheelchair could rid the bus? Evidently, just about anyone who uses a wheelchair and rides the bus in El Paso.
The El Paso City Council had to address that problem today with a new ordinance that no one thought should have been necessary but all agreed is needed to address the hard-to-believe problem.
The ordinance makes it a city misdemeanor punishable by a fine of up to $500 for an able-bodied person to refuse:
-- to move from one of two seats at the front of each bus that folds up to make room for a wheelchair if the space is needed by disabled or elderly passenger
-- to give up a seat for a passenger who is disabled or over 65 years old.
The unanimous passage of the ordinance was celebrated with applause and cheers by about a dozen people in wheelchairs who attended the meeting to speak or just make their presence known.
Ray Gilbert, a self-described government watchdog, said Sun Metro has another problem: its policy of only acknowledging elderly or disabled passengers if they have an official Sun Metro pass, which they have to go to Sun Metro headquarters in person to get.
“You shouldn’t require (the disabled) and elderly to go to Sun Metro Downtown,” Gilbert said, suggesting that the passes be available by mail or at other locations around the city.
Naomi Tovar, who regularly rides city buses, recalled one day when the seats on a bus she needed to take were nearly full and the driver refused to let her board because the sitting in the wheelchair spaces refused to move to another seat or stand up so she could board the bus.
So, she had to wait for the next one.
“This is not the first time this happened,” she said. “This is the second or third.”
Lori Vugteeveen said she had encountered the same problem repeatedly and that the bus drivers have told her they could not force the passengers to relinquish their places for a wheelchair.
“The problem is we can’t sit anywhere else,” she said. “If we have to wait for the next bus, it’s 50 or 60 minutes or 1-1/2 hours.”
Other passengers complained that some drivers don't let them board simply because they don't want to take the time lower the lift and then to tie down the passenger's wheelchair so it doesn't roll or tip when the bus turns or stops.
The possibility of sitting passengers having to stand up prompted city Rep. Rachel Quintana to ask, “Is it OK for people to stand on the bus?”
Mayor John Cook assured her it is.
City Manager Joyce Wilson said the problem is that bus drivers don’t have the authority to force someone to move from the seat they are occupying so an elderly person can sit down or so a passenger confined to a wheelchair can have the place.
Only two wheelchair spaces are available on buses.
Once the ordinance takes effect, she said, a bus driver can call the police and hold the bus until an officer arrives to issue a citation to the unmoving passenger.
Wilson said the new measure will be enforced once signs are posted on buses informing passengers of the new rules. That should only take several days.
City Rep. Beto O’Rourke, who has made a personal resolution to only speak at City Council meetings when it involves a matter in his district or when he has something worthwhile to say, finally had to say something.
“If you don’t know to give up your seat for someone who’s disabled or elderly, you’re an idiot and no amount of signage will help," O'Rourke said.
Cook read an email from someone saying the Americans with Disabilities Act prohibits recognizing people as disabled only if they possess an ID card saying they are and says people should be treated as disabled if they are perceived to be so.
With that, the council adopted the ordinance unanimously with amendments removing language recognizing people as elderly or disabled only if they possess a Sun Metro Senior/Disabled/LIFT picture identification card.
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To reach David Crowder, call dcrowder@epmediagroup.com or call (915) 351-0605