A Letter to the T

Dear Tina,

I really want you to know what happened tonight on the 39. I was on the 39 bus and the back of the bus had number 1021 on it at 7:15 p.m. I got on at Copley Square, headed outbound for Forest Hills.

We stopped at the stop right before the Stop & Shop. The corner of Exeter Street and Huntington Ave. I was way in the back of the bus, and there was a long delay. I got up to see what was happening and saw the driver on her cell phone on the sidewalk. Outside the bus, there was a woman in a mechanical/electric wheelchair. I asked her what was going on. She told me the driver wouldn't pull the bus out a bit to lower the lift to let her on.

That corner has Huntington, and then a little side road that also cuts in there. The driver kept saying that she couldn't pull out into traffic. She told the woman she would have to go to the next stop, all the way down on the other end of the Pru where the duck boats load. The woman kept telling her that cars are always parked there and it's worse. The driver kept talking on her phone and refusing to lower the lift. The driver got back on the bus and got ready to drive away. The woman in the wheelchair began heading across the street and then came back and knocked on the door. I said to the driver "WHere do you want her to go, I'll walk with her." The driver ignored me and then left the bus again, and entered a yelling match with the woman, who was insisting that she could be picked up here and the driver telling her no.

At this point, I decided to get off and walk. I didn't want to be on a bus with a driver who didn't think it was her responsibility to pick up a disabled passenger at whatever stop they were at. A photographer came up at that point and took photos of the woman and the driver having words and then claimed he was from the Herald. When I walked away, he was kneeling down talking to the woman. God knows what'll be in the Herald.

It is bad enough that the T is so inaccessible to those who are disabled already. There are many many subway stations that are not accessible. It takes a lot longer for someone in a wheelchair to get somewhere in this city. And, fine. I know you are making improvements. But, people in wheelchairs should ALWAYS be able to enter a bus that is equipped with a lift. I don't see what anything (cut in the sidewalk, etc.) has to do with it. And they should not be asked to put themselves in harms way crossing streets or whatever to get on the bus. Bus stops should be RE-ASSESSED to ensure they are accessible.

That bus driver was ill equipped to deal with the situation. She blocked traffic, held up passengers and did not handle the situation well. She needs some sensitivity training, because not once did she apologize to the woman or try to explain the shortcomings of accessibility to her. She only said that she was trying to help her and that it wasn't going to happen, as if the woman's disability was an inconvienence to her and something to be fixed rather than her responsibility as a T employee to be accessible to all.

Thank you for listening.

Karen
Monthly pass holder