Barrier Free Travels

Although I'm technically on holiday, I just can't resist blogging. It's somewhat addictive; plus I've received quite a lot of mail asking me to post my impressions about access in Ireland.

And to be honest, it's hard for me to go anywhere and not take note of the access. Such was the case when we landed at Belfast City Airport and noticed accessible taxi cabs at the taxi queue. And I have to say that I'd recommend that airport as an entry point, as it's easy to navigate and nicely accessible. Plus the employees were quite punctual at providing assistance - wheelers weren't left waiting (and waiting) on planes to disembark.

As far as physical access in the cities goes, well it's pretty typical of Europe - meaning that curb cuts are not ubiquitous and steps up to shops are found - but with a little planning it's possible to navigate. I'm in Westport today and certainly the city has a few hills, so it wouldn't be the best choice for wheelchair-users; however Belfast was pretty level and parts of it made for a nice walk. In fact, walking in Belfast is much easier than driving.

As far as the attractions go, a good lot of them feature accessible parking and ramped entrances, although the accessible entrance may not always be in the front, especially at historic attractions.

Contemporary attractions are a mixed bag. At Bushmills Distillery there are many steps and steep inclines on the tour, so it's really not doable for wheelers or even slow walkers. But Belleek Pottery offers great access. They have accessible parking near the entrance, a barrier-free pathway to the visitors center and level access throughout the factory tour. And if you can't manage distances, they have a free loaner wheelchair on hand. I highly recommend the tour as it allows you to get up close and personal (and even talk to) the craftsmen.

So if Ireland is on your wish list, I encourage you to pursue it. Like many other destinations these days, it's most certainly very doable.

Mark McClenaghan had a very bad day last week, when he tried to board a Scotrail sleeper in Aberdeen with his service dog, Friday. Apparently Friday was barred from boarding because he might have "fleas, germs or mites."

So Mark had to find another way to get back to Edinburgh, and in the end he had to fork over an additional £95 for a taxi. Ouch!

So what went wrong? Well according to Scotrail, they welcome service animals on all their trains and they have clear guidelines for their staff about this policy.

Apparently the Scotrail employee that barred Mark from the rail car didn't see those guidelines. She claimed that if she let Friday aboard then they would have to deep clean the train afterwards.

And when Mark spoke to her supervisor, he backed up his employee. After all, he trained her.

In the end Mark did everything he could, but they still wouldn't budge.

Scotrail is looking into the matter, so hopefully Mark will be compensated. Personally I put the blame on the supervisor. He's in charge of training his employees and for making them familiar with all Scotrail regulations. It's quite obvious that he was unfamiliar with the access laws and issues, and apparently he passed along that ignorance to at least one of his employees.

So it just goes to prove that you can have the best access laws in the world, but if you don't train employees and educate them about those laws, access goes to Hell in a hand basket rather quickly.

Hopefully Scotrail will move just as quickly to rectify their training problem at the Aberdeen station.

 

Well, we're off to Ireland tomorrow. Technically this is a vacation, however no doubt I'll run across some accessible finds along the way. And even though I'm on holiday I'll still blog here and there. After all, I love to blog; and I don't want to miss out on doing something I love when I'm on vacation.

Ireland is really making great strides in access, but to be honest I'm just looking forward to the holiday. And part of looking forward to it was doing almost zero planning. After all, I spend a lot of time planning my editorial research trips so I didn't want to have to do that for a vacation too. I just bought the plane ticket and then called my friend Ann at Undiscovered Britain and told her to book a rental car and find us some nice places (manor homes and castles) to stay. And she did it all.

Charles wants to visit Bushmills Distillery (he loves their whiskey) and I want to visit Belleek (I collect china tea sets, so guess what I'm buying there), but other than that we don't have any must-sees. I pretty much just gave Ann free reign.

So when people ask me what I'm going to do in Ireland I reply with a very intelligent, "I don't know." But I don't.

And playing it all by ear will be half the fun - and so very opposite of what we do on our editorial research trips. I'm really looking forward to it.

Oh, and no; I'm not flying Ryanair. For those of you new to my blog or my writing, do a search about Ryanair or the evil Michael O'Leary on my blog. Truth be told, after all I've said about his airline, I don't think Michael would let me aboard!! But then again, I wouldn't want to give hiim my money either!

There was an interesting article in the Jerusalem Post last week about the apparent lack of hotel accessibility in Israel.

Tourism officials believe this will be a watershed year for tourism in Israel - I'm not sure why, as travel to the Middle East isn't exactly at the top of my list right now, and I lived in Beirut in the early 80s - but hey, we'll go with the Tourism Ministry's prediction. And apparently Israel isn't ready for (what is believed to be) an influx of disabled (meaning older) visitors.

Why?

Well, it seems that Israel's' access laws are in the process of being updated and it doesn't seem likely that resolution is near. To be honest, after reading about the specifics of the problem, I'm thinking the time frame is going to be something along the lines of our own pokey "Access Board - cruise ship guidelines" time table fiasco.

Here's the scoop.

Currently the law covering accessibility comes from a 1995 building code, and it's pretty ambiguous. Unlike our own ADAAG, it doesn't really give specific standards for accessibility. And it only applies to properties built after 1995. The problem is, Israel has some pretty old properties; in fact at least two-thirds of Israel's properties were built before 1995.

So you can routinely encounter things like narrow doorways, steps and elevators not big enough to hold wheelchairs. And under the current law, these older properties aren't required to make any changes.

So that's the reason for the new law. Little is known about the proposed legislation except that it will treat pre and post 1995 hotels differently, and it has to be approved by a special construction and housing committee before it's implemented.

And as you may expect, there is some opposition. The hotel industry will undoubtedly weigh into the debate, as according to the Israel Hotels Association the demand for accessible rooms is low and many property owners have a hard time justifying the expense of access upgrades. Disabled advocates of course dispute this claim and hold that there is little demand because of the lack of accessibility.

In the end, it all adds up to lots of talking and lots of time before anything is approved. Some experts estimate it will take several years, but nobody really knows for sure.

So what's a traveler to do?

Well, if by chance your travels take you to Israel in the near future, look for a hotel built after 1995, and make sure to ask specific questions about accessibility.

And if you can postpone your trip until after the new law is implemented, even better.

After all, there are lots of places in the world that want your business, and have made accessibility modifications. Why not give them your tourism dollars?

A quick look at the UAL website this morning yielded some good news for a change. It appears they have changed their “excess baggage” policy, yet again, in regards to wheelchairs and other assistive devices.

When we last visited this issue, UAL had just instituted a $25 charge for a second bag. This policy was set to go into effect in May, but they posted it in advance to give folks some warning. And according to their FAQs on the UAL website, that $25 charge was also going to apply to assistive devices, beyond one wheelchair — things like a commode chair or a shower chair, UAL-to-Charge-for-Medical-Equipment. But that was over a month ago, an eternity in the airline business.

Today the UAL FAQs have been edited to read: “An extra wheelchair may be checked and not be part of your checked bag allowance (or assessed a fee) if it is strictly for mobility purposes or is required to make a living. Other medical assistive devices are also exempt from the service fee.”

So it appears we are back where we started, which in the end is a good thing. So, start packing those commode chairs!

Oh and for what it's worth, as expected people are carrying more and more stuff aboard UAL flights in order to avoid the extra charges. Last week we took four UAL flights, and in all cases the overhead bins were crammed full when only half of the passengers had boarded. Lot's of stuff had to be gate checked. So if anyone from UAL is reading this — your gate agents need to start enforcing the carry-on limits so everyone can have room for their stuff!!!

As many of you know, airports and cruise terminals throughout Florida offer people with adapted vehicles free parking. That's the state law. But some venues, such as Miami International Airport (MIA), go a bit further - they offer free parking to anyone with a disabled placard or plate. They are allowed, yet not required, to do that.

But if county aviation director José Abreu gets his way, that policy will soon end. And it's all because of abuse - abuse by MIA employees.

According to the Miami Herald, video cameras caught "hundreds" of able-bodied MIA employees parking in accessible spots, including county workers, airline employees and even one federal officer! And they all had permits claiming that the holders could not walk more than 200 feet.

These permits were obviously obtained under false pretenses or borrowed from friends or family members, as the video clearly shows many of them carrying bulky bags long distances. Others who were nabbed were employees who had very physical jobs -- ramp workers or baggage handlers - which basically precludes the hidden disability defense.

So what 's the motivation? Well some of the employees wanted to avoid the shuttle bus ride from the employee parking lot, but others  just wanted to avoid the  $15 daily fee in the long-term garages or the $30 a day charge for the short-term lot when they went on trips.

According to the Miami Herald, six workers used the permits more than 400 times since mid-2005, waiving parking charges of $6,000 to $12,000 each. And another worker used a permit issued in New York to waive $4,800 in 2007 alone. In fact $1.1 million in waived fees can be directly traced to airport workers. That lost revenue drives up airport costs and in the end comes out of passengers' pockets.

So that's why Abreu is asking the Miami Dade Mayor to repeal the local law and go back to the state standard of giving free airport parking only to folks with adapted vehicles. It should also be noted that MIA (for now) is the only airport in the country that offers free parking for anyone with a disabled placard or plate.

It's unfortunate that it has to come to this, but at least airport officials are addressing the abuse. Under the new proposal, accessible parking will still be available to anyone with a placard, but only those folks with adapted vehicles will park for free.

One of the advantages to blogging on the road is that I get immediate feedback from my readers, and sometimes that feedback directs me to cool accessible finds. Such was the case last week when Darryl read my blog and noticed I was near PA Amish country; and he quickly directed me to the Strasburg Railroad.

And I have to say, Darryl was spot-on with his recommendation! 

Located just 15 miles southeast of Lancaster in the heart of Amish Country, the Strasburg station features accessible parking, level access to the platform, ramped access to most of the shops and an accessible restroom. The 45-minute trip takes you through scenic Amish country and for an extra $5 you can enjoy lunch along the way.

 As far as access goes, there is a portable lift at the station that can be used on any of the cars; however access varies depending on the car. Most of the cars have narrow doorways, and wheelchair-users must walk and transfer to a seat in these cars. They can leave their wheelchair at the station and pick it up when they return. Folks who cannot transfer should make reservations in the baggage car, which has wider doorways, so wheelers can stay in their own wheelchair for the duration of the trip.

 Advance reservations are highly recommended during the busy summer and fall seasons, and the ticket agents are very well versed in the access features of the railway. So if you’re in the area, give the Strasburg Railroad a try – it’s affordable and accessible.

 And if you’re just passing through Strasburg and want some rib-sticking Amish food, try the Good & Plenty restaurant. There’s lots of accessible parking in front and level access to the front door. The food is served family style, and like the name suggests, it just keeps on coming. It was the perfect place to stop before we hopped on the airplane home. After a beer in the terminal I slept for most of the flight! Now that’s the way I like to travel!

I love it when I stumble across access in a place where I wasn't expecting much. Such was the case yesterday when we were checking out a few of the Frank Lloyd Wright sites in Western PA. To be honest, it was a down day for us (we need one every now and again) and I decided to take Charles to Fallingwater. We both love Frank Lloyd Wright architecture and have visited many of his sites, but Charles had never been to Fallingwater, one of Wright's most famous commissions. I visited it some 20 years ago and I knew it wasn't accessible, so unless things had drastically changed, I knew it would be something I couldn't cover.

Unfortunately things haven't changed - you still have to be able to climb 100 plus steps to do the tour; and you can't even access the Visitors Center without scaling 8-10 steps. So it's still totally out for wheelers and slow walkers.

But I did find another Wright site that was partially accessible, which considering how he designed homes, is pretty good. It's a home called Kentuck Knob and it's just a short drive from Fallingwater. At the time of my last visit it was a private home, so this one was totally new to me.

There is accessible parking near the Visitors Center and a large accessible stall in the detached brick restroom building. The Visitors Center has one step up, but they are remodeling and adding a café, and it looks like there will be level access through there.

And the people at the Visitors Center couldn't be nicer. The home is located a short drive from the Visitors Center and once you buy your ticket you hop on the shuttle bus. Now, the shuttle bus isn't accessible, but you can drive your private car to the top if you need wheelchair access. There are 3-4 steps up to the entrance of the home, but if you notify the staff in advance they will have a portable ramp in place for you.

OK, there's not total access to this Usonian home, but you can see the huge living area, dining room and deck. The bedrooms are located down a 19-inch wide hallway, so it's not at all doable for wheelchairs, but you can still hear the guide, and that's a big part of the tour.

OK, it's not perfect access, but it is a rare chance to get a glimpse inside a Wright home. I did a radio show a few weeks back about other accessible Frank Lloyd Wright structures, and I wish I would have known about Kentuck Knob at that time. Oh well, there's always the possibility of a follow-up segment.

But like I said, it's fun to discover unexpected access! It really made my day.