Ground Transportation

Earlier this month a Greenville, SC woman got a ticket for parking in an accessible parking space. Not an unusual occurrence, but this story has a little twist to it.

Apparently Topeka Mendoza was taking her mom to the store when the incident occurred. Now mom is disabled, so Topeka dropped her off near the front door of the store and then went to park.

She had mom's placard and she parked in an accessible space.

Was it legal?

No, not according to the officer who wrote out the $440 ticket.

The caveat is that the disabled individual has to actually be in the vehicle at the time you park it.

At first I thought, well that's not fair. I mean Ms. Mendoza was just dropping off mom so she would be closer to the door, so you shouldn't penalize her for that.

But then I thought about it for a bit, and I changed my mind. If mom wasn't in the car when Topeka parked, then why should she be taking up an accessible parking space? A space that somebody else who really needed it could use.

I mean it's not like the placard is a bonus gift you get when you become disabled. It's for you to use to make it easier to get around.

Truth be told, Topeka had no need for the accessible space, so she shouldn't have taken it. Granted it's an expensive lesson to learn, but hopefully she learned it.

And, in the end, that means there will be one more accessible parking space available. And that's a very good thing.

A new public awareness campaign by the United Spinal Association focuses on educating the public about the purpose of the access aisles next to the accessible parking spaces.

In short they are trying to emphasize courtesy, as the summer travel seasons begins. The thinking behind the whole campaign is that if people can actually see and understand why the access aisles are there, they won’t block them.

In other words, the blue hash-marks don’t indicate a parking place for motorcycles or sub-compact cars.

This whole education campaign is done with a few simple photographs; one of a car parked on the hash-marks and one of a man using his wheelchair-lift deployed on those hash-marks.

I don’t know if it will work, but I’m all in favor of awareness. Check out the campaign for yourself at www.unitedspinal.org.

Some people really shouldn’t open their mouth...ever.

Such is the case with Anthony Steen.

It seems Mr. Steen was in a rush at the Newton Abbott railway station, and when he couldn’t find a parking space he pulled into an accessible one. Not only is Mr. Steen able-bodied (except for the dead zone between his ears) but he’s also a Member of Parliament. You know, somebody who should set an example.

Of course when Mr. Steen was given a ticket, he defended his actions and said that there were an “absurd” number of accessible parking spaces at the station. He also went on to say that the national regulations should be changed to protect the rights of the “un-handicapped”. Yep that’s right folks, the “un-handicapped. ” - his word not mine. And he topped it off by saying, “Of course we want to help the handicapped, and of course they’ve got to be given provisions, but not against the interests of the majority”.

It’s also been reported that the Conservative Party has distanced itself from Mr. Steen’s comments.

Go figure!

If you’re thinking about cruising out of Galveston, there’s some good news on the accessible transportation front. Accessible taxi service in a ramp-equipped van is now available through Yellow Cab Company of Galveston.

Previously, cruise passenger that arrived one day early (sometimes a necessity because of air schedules and cruising times) could get accessible transportation to their Galveston hotel via Super Shuttle, but when it came time to get to the port the next day they were out of luck. With the introduction of this new accessible service by the Yellow Cab Company of Galveston, passengers can now just call (409) 763-3333 for a ride to the Galveston Cruise Terminal. Of course since they only have one accessible van, advance reservations are recommended. They can be made by phone on their website at www.yellowcabgalveston.com.

You can also use Yellow Cab if you require accessible transportation from either of the Houston airports to the Galveston Cruise Terminal (for same-day sailing arrivals). Says Robert Rugg of the Yellow Cab Company of Galveston, "Since many cruise passengers fly in to Houston Hobby or Houston’s Bush Intercontinental, we offer service from those airports to the Port of Galveston Cruise Terminal via our Yellow Cab Company in Houston. Through a special permitting arrangement with the Port of Galveston, Yellow Cab Houston accessible vehicles may pick up in Galveston for return trips to Houston." Although Houston has a greater number of accessible vehicles, advance reservations are still recommended. They may be made online at www.yellowcabhouston.com or by calling 713-236-1111.

And although Yellow Cab of Galveston only has one accessible vehicle, plans are in the works to add more to their fleet.

Now that’s progress!

For those of you traveling to Brisbane, things are about to get a little more accessible. The city recently ordered 45 new taxi cabs, 35 of which are wheelchair-accessible. Wow, that’s over 75%; a far cry from the percentage that most US ciites earmark for accessible vehicles. Maybe we could learn something from the Aussies?

Apparently they understand that accessible taxis can also carry able-bodied passengers, when not in use by wheelchair-users. In fact, Acting Transport and Main Roads Minister, John Mickel is quoted in the Brisbane Times as saying, "Of course, wheelchair-accessible taxis can also be used to transport other passengers as well, so this will mean better service for everybody."

Mr. Mikel gets it. A few US cities could learn from the example Mr. Mikel has set in Brisbane. Take Philadelphia for example; a major metropolitan city that has zero accessible taxis. That’s right folks, nada, none, zilch. Pretty sad.

On the brighter side of things, all the new Brisbane taxis will be in service by the end of the year, with the first ones being delivered sometime in August.

Now that’s progress.