The problem stated in the mail do not apply to all the counties. I never had such problems in the Orange county buses. US is definitely is a land of litigations. Any update on the so called enabling bus terminuses in Delhi? the special low floor buses are an achievement but they ply on a route not very frequently used by differently abled.
----- Original Message ----- From: "Sathiyaprakash Ramdoss" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: <[email protected]> Sent: Tuesday, January 02, 2007 11:59 PM Subject: Re: [AI] access news from US: > Dear Veera Kumar, > Thanks alot for letting me know this update. > Being a regular user of public transportation in US, I had several > difficulties that you cited in this message. I really appreciate your > effort for sending this article to list members. > Thank You, SATHIYAPRAKASH. > >>>> "B.V." <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> 1/2/2007 9:22:34 AM >>> > A new settlement of a federal lawsuit promises to bring sweeping > changes to Suffolk's public transportation system to accommodate > disabled riders, attorneys > said this week. > > Nassau/Suffolk Law Services in 2004 sued the county's department of > public works, which operates Suffolk County Transit, in federal court on > behalf of eight > > people with disabilities. > > A year earlier, the group filed a formal complaint with the U.S. > Department of Transportation alleging the county's bus routes did not > comply with the Americans > > with Disabilities Act, mandating that all buses have operational lifts > for disabled riders and that bus stops be announced for > visually-impaired passengers. > > The problems persisted for several years, despite repeated complaints > by disabled commuters and advocacy groups, attorneys said Friday. > > The lawsuit further stated that Suffolk County Accessible > Transportation, the county's paratransit system that provides > door-to-door bus services for disabled > > riders by appointment, was plagued with problems and federal > violations, including riders unable to book trips within 24 hours. > Suffolk officials say the > > system provides more than 230,000 trips a year. > > The court-ordered settlement calls for the county to purchase 59 new > fixed-route buses and to complete the installation of a fully automated > stop announcement > > system in all bus routes by 2008. The county has 162 buses in its > fleet, including most of the new buses mandated by the settlement. > > New buses also will be added to the paratransit system, which has 81 > vehicles. The county will also completely revamp its paratransit > reservation system. > > The settlement also requires the county to provide alternative > transportation for passengers when bus lifts are not working or when > they miss stops that > > are not announced. > > Law services attorney Robert Briglio said the settlement was "very > substantial" and a groundbreaking victory for the disabled, who struggle > with inadequate > > public transportation systems throughout the country. > > Briglio noted that the county showed "good faith" by agreeing to > changes not mandated by federal law, such as more comprehensive > training, monitoring and > > disciplinary measures for transit employees. > > "I'm happy that we settled it finally," said plaintiff Frank Perino, of > Islip, who is visually impaired. "But I'm certainly not happy that it > took several > > years to do it and that we had to do all this to get them to comply > with the simple regulations that they should have been complying with." > > Deputy county attorney Gail Lolis said the settlement was "something > we're very comfortable with" and added that, regardless of the > settlement, the county > > planned implementing many of the improvements. > > "It's good for the county and it's certainly good for our disabled > residents," she said. > > To unsubscribe send a message to [EMAIL PROTECTED] > with the subject unsubscribe. > > To change your subscription to digest mode or make any other changes, > please visit the list home page at > > http://accessindia.org.in/mailman/listinfo/accessindia_accessindia.org.in > > To unsubscribe send a message to [EMAIL PROTECTED] > with the subject unsubscribe. > > To change your subscription to digest mode or make any other changes, > please visit the list home page at > http://accessindia.org.in/mailman/listinfo/accessindia_accessindia.org.in To unsubscribe send a message to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with the subject unsubscribe. To change your subscription to digest mode or make any other changes, please visit the list home page at http://accessindia.org.in/mailman/listinfo/accessindia_accessindia.org.in
