Maybe selfish young women should be banned first?

Should the Handicapped Be Banned From Express Buses?.

This morning, the ride on my express bus from the Rainier Valley, which is supposed to take 30 minutes, was delayed four times for the entry and exit of two handicapped people in wheelchairs. The first wheelchair took a full ten minutes, as the bus driver scooted a few inches forward and backward repeatedly to line up with the curb. Thus a ride that was supposed to be “express” ended up getting me (and maybe 100 other people) to work 20 minutes late.

So I’m just putting this out there: Is it fair for one or two handicapped individuals’ right to public accomodation to trump the right of dozens or hundreds of others to have reliable transit service that gets them to work on time? Is it fair for two people in wheelchairs to make everyone else on the “express” bus late?

My own take on the matter is that many young women should be banned from having any sort of public forum. It's too cruel to let them show their heartlessness.

Comments

[M1EK]

While I can see both sides on this, I don't think most of the people who think she's a monster are even considering the pragmatic perspective here: if you want people to ride the express bus because it's faster than the regular bus (almost competitive with their cars), but then you have a policy which slows it down to the speed of the regular bus, those people are eventually gonna figure this out and go back to their cars, further slowing down buses for everybody that remains.

The answer is that buses suck as the spines of a transit system. Everybody knows this except for the road warrior liars - but somehow we're afraid to say it. Buses can't serve the purpose of arteries; they're designed to be capillaries.

[David Sucher]

If the argument was that one of the reasons we need greater transit capacity is so that we can provide better service to all populations, I'd say fine. If the argument even went so far as to say that the most efficient way to do so is to provide special jitneys and cabs etc etc for HC people, I'd consider that a serious argument, even if (in my view) wrong.

But the idea that we should do away with one of the most civilzing measures ever put into law (and by a Republican President!) because it inconveniences "young moderns" is not one with which I have much patience.

It also inconveniences me that The Stranger has newspaper boxes scattered all over Seattle which are a source of litter (as well as increddibly wasteful environmentally) -- maybe we should ban them too and make people subscribe by US Mail?

[Chris M.]

Folks in wheelchairs probably don't enjoy making people wait either.

It's a totally fair question. Turning a 30 minute ride into a 50 minute ride means more people taking cars.

Let's say there are 40 people on the bus. 40 people * 20 minutes = 13.33 hours. $6/hour that's $80. That'll pay for two cabs anywhere in Seattle. How about if we just give the wheelchair bound free cab rides?

[David Sucher]

And Chris, as I suggested, if her question had been along the line of yours -- such as "How do we best use limited resources to promote opportunity for HC people with minimal negative impact on other populations? " -- I would applaud.

But that is not what I read. Did you?

[Cam]

It's interesting -- and unfortunate -- that she assumes that it's the wheelchair-using riders who are the problem here.

I question this 20-minutes business. I ride the bus several times a week, and often my bus picks up somebody in a wheelchair. Never does it take ten minutes to get them in the bus and strapped in. I'd say it's more in the neighborhood of two minutes. Either her driver was unskilled, or the bus stops were for some reason difficult to pull into in a way adequate for wheelchair-using transit patrons. Or she's exaggerating.

Frankly, I hope this woman gets a little first-hand knowledge of life in a wheelchair. It could go a long way toward making her less of a jackass.

[Joseph LeBlanc]

Yeah, two minutes sounds a bit more like it. Not living in Seattle, are the buses there designed in such a way that you need to line up with the sidewalk ramp very precisely? The ones we have in DC have retractable ramps that work with ordinary curbs.

[KIETH Nissen]

I sympathize with the woman. I think she asks a good question. I don't believe the question reveals any character flaws on her part.

I assume her critics here ride the bus and calmly and patiently wait the wheelchair pickup ritual. I have to admit I do not and I am probably less likely to take the bus than I would be if it were not burdened with this extremely clunky device.

[Chris M.]

Well, my degree was in econ, so I'm no longer capable of reading anything like a normal person.

[Jon Stahl]

If we actually designed our express bus system properly, like they did in Curitiba, Brazil, this wouldn't be an issue at all.

There, they have simple, well-designed bus platforms at the stops that have wheelchair lifts. The buses simply have large doors. Since wheelchair users are already up on the platform when the bus arrives (and their fare paid), they simply roll onto the bus right along with everyone else.