CBS 2 News Report

[Busjack]

But guess who does have lots of money available to spend on TV advertising?

Automobile dealer associations.

I might buy that, except this is 2009 with a whole bunch of them losing their franchises. You aren't goig to see a lot of former Buick/Pontiac/Hyundai (now just Hyundai) or Dodge/Hyundai (now Hyundai), or Pontiac (out of business within a year) dealer advertising, except for fire sales. And, frankly, I don't think Honda, Toyota, or Hyundai care, and BMW drivers generally don't ride the bus, anyway.

I think that Channel 2 thought it needed something sensational, so it got something that was factually correct (if they meant 2006) but thus irrelevant. Don't forget, CBS are the people who brought you the 1960s letter about George Bush, typed using Microsoft Word.

Network stations generally rely on pharmaceutical advertising, anyway. It is the newspapers that (up to recently) only made money on classifieds (help wanted and car ads), but the Tribune published that CTA said the complaints were down.

[Stupid Sexy Flanders]

To me, this story utterly reeks of sensationalism, and yet another bogus story in which disabled people are either portrayed as helpless victims (in this case) or as “inspirations†for doing something “courageous†that really anybody with half a brain can do. Yes, as a wheelchair user and transit rider I have had my issues with the CTA, but never even close to the degree that this story tries to imply.

Whenever I am near a bus stop as a bus is approaching, I always try to make sure the driver knows whether or not I plan to get on. If I want to board, I look at the driver and raise my hand (and then try to guide the driver towards the curb if the bus has a low floor, so I can board quickly without having any ramp flipped out), and if not, I look away and shake my head “no.†The drivers almost always get the message. Regardless of whether a person is disabled or not, it is his responsibly to signal to the driver whether or not he wants to board, especially if he is waiting in a very urban environment such as the one in which the NP buses primarily operate, because it’s very easy to blend in when a bunch of pedestrians are walking around.

I honestly feel that some of these riders need to have a more proactive approach instead of constantly whining and letting themselves be the victim, because they feel this is the only way they'll ever get attention from anyone. Hell, there have been times when a driver operating a crappy high-floor bus tells me that the lift is broken. But you know what? I simply get out of my chair, ask a passenger to bring my chair on board, climb up, and get back in it. As much as this stuff annoys me, I don’t piss and moan about it. I just find a solution that works. If I don’t find it to be degrading to myself, no one else will. I dwell in my own reality, the only one that really matters.

Sadly, the reason many drivers refuse to help is due to liability reasons. If the passenger is injured or his chair breaks as a result of the assistance, he has the right to sue (either the driver himself or the CTA itself, I’m not sure). This has to change, as the passenger should bear the brunt of responsibility for his own actions and decisions at least to some degree. I’ve had drivers go off on me for unlocking myself a block before actually arriving at the stop at which I’m getting off. I understand why a driver might react that way, but I do it anyways because I’m trying to get off as fast as I can, and not hold up the bus unnecessarily. Many other drivers, however, love me for my willingness to do this stuff.

As a rider, I have never seen any wheelchair passenger passed up on any route, even on a crowded bus. Sometimes there have been two wheelchair passengers on the same bus at the same time. Now supposed both wheelchair positions are filled and a driver encounters a third wheelchair passenger? Then what? Would the driver stop and inform the third person that there is no room for him so that he/she has to wait for the next vehicle?

That is something that actually once happened to me about a month ago. After I had sprinted down Milwaukee from Ashland to Western during rush hour (you know, since it's actually faster than taking the 56, and the Blue Line doesn’t have accessible stations between Clark & Western). I got to Western just as a northbound X49 pulled up. Sprinting towards the stop, the driver opened the door to inform me that there were already two wheelchairs on board, he told me to board the bus, a local 49, that was immediately behind him. Since I was already running late for something I had to get to further on north, I wanted no part of that. It was close enough to the curb that I simply pulled myself on board. Yes, there in fact were two wheelchairs. I tried to calmly explain to him that I could ride without being strapped in and still be out of the way, (like I do all the time when I take the ‘L’) but he wouldn’t have it. At that point, admittedly I blew up on him and refused to get off, and he refused to go anywhere.

Luckily, since the X49’s had some bunching that day, another showed up within three minutes, so I got off and boarded that one. But I never wanted to strangle anyone in my life as much as I wanted to at that moment.

In my opinion, it seems that the ADA bunches together all wheelchair users as one in the same, despite that vast differences in physical ability found among said group. As someone who is very athletic and gets around quickly and easily in my chair, it is an insult to be bunched in with those who are physically very weak and need to use electric wheelchairs. Something that is terribly unsafe for such a person can often be not a problem in the slightest for me.

[Busjack]

To me, this story utterly reeks of sensationalism, and yet another bogus story in which disabled people are either portrayed as helpless victims (in this case) or as “inspirations†for doing something “courageous†that really anybody with half a brain can do. Yes, as a wheelchair user and transit rider I have had my issues with the CTA, but never even close to the degree that this story says....

I am proud to see that someone who is in this position can honestly discuss this problem with us.

Also being out in Pace territory (but not a wheelchair user) I have the impression there aren't that many. On the other hand, if both positions are already taken, the issue wouldn't be waiting for 3 or 4 minutes, but probably an hour. I wonder how often that arises and how it is resolved.