Spring Break
Disabled left without reliable transportation
Abstract:
For more than a decade, CSU student Fran Wilson used the city's door-to-door busing service as her primary means of transportation for everything from picking up groceries to getting to work at the CSU Bookstore.
But after the city pulled funds from Dial-A-Ride, Fort Collins' call-in transportation service for disabled citizens, the wheelchair user was forced to complete a rigorous recertification process in order to access the service reevaluated under newer, stricter guidelines....
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Trevor Simonton
posted 5/12/08 @ 10:19 PM MST
Originally posted byEric Sutherland
Great article on a very important subject. This type of enterprise reporting rivals the best that Fort Collins print media has to offer.
wow thankyou very much, as a student journalist I really appreciate the encouragement.
Craig Hawley
posted 5/12/08 @ 2:22 PM MST
the last three words under the pic. TRANSFORT? LOL!
OK I don't ever want to hear about my spelling again.
OK I don't ever want to hear about my spelling again.
Amy
posted 5/12/08 @ 3:56 PM MST
Originally posted byCraig Hawley
the last three words under the pic. TRANSFORT? LOL!
OK I don't ever want to hear about my spelling again.
Actualy the public bus system in Fort Collins is called Transfort. That wasn't a typo.
Craig Hawley
posted 5/12/08 @ 4:28 PM MST
I stand corrected and still will get flack for spelling. Oh the humanity.
Thanks for the heads up Amy. Color me embarrassed. :)
Thanks for the heads up Amy. Color me embarrassed. :)
Amy
posted 5/12/08 @ 5:27 PM MST
Well...since I can't spell actually correctly...color me embarrassed :)
Marcia Fitzhorn
posted 5/13/08 @ 1:00 PM MST
Incredible amount of information put out in a relatively short article; well done. What unbelievable obstacles to put in the way of a person who faces more obstacles each day than I want to imagine. Did our City Council really make this decision based solely on the basis of saving a few bucks? I'd love a follow up story on exactly what percentage of the city budget has been saved by impeding the independence of disabled bus riders.
Trevor Simonton
posted 5/13/08 @ 4:17 PM MST
Originally posted byMarcia Fitzhorn
Incredible amount of information put out in a relatively short article; well done. What unbelievable obstacles to put in the way of a person who faces more obstacles each day than I want to imagine. Did our City Council really make this decision based solely on the basis of saving a few bucks? I'd love a follow up story on exactly what percentage of the city budget has been saved by impeding the independence of disabled bus riders.
Unfortunately some of the City's response was cut from the article after I turned it in because I left it too long. It is still very fair and balanced, but one thing cut was the fact that these three routes that the city created after reallocating funds have seen extremely high growth in usage, and on top of that ridership of disabled persons on the fixed routes has been up 160 percent. Still, people like Fran would be at better peace of mind if their access was not so restricted.
You could argue from a utilitarian standpoint that in the end more people are served with the same budget. But the unspoken minority here is what needs attention. Still, the city continues to go beyond what is required of them federally -- booked rides are kept even if the weather improves, but any effective, long-term changes would probably have to come from a higher level of government than the city council
Bob
posted 5/22/08 @ 11:27 PM MST
seems to me the ones that need the transportation are having to jump through alot of hoops (dont mind the pun there)but yet every day I see (and i take care of someone in a wheelchair so yes EVERY day) people that dont really need handicap access are getting it without fail, handicapped parking is the main one i see, something needs to be done about that
Bob
posted 5/22/08 @ 11:59 PM MST
Ok sorry about that last one, i went off the subject a bit, but it does irritate me to see people in need have to do this and that to get where they need to go and places to park, if you go stand in a shopping center parking lot where the handicapped section is and get you a list of 50 cars that come in, under 10 of those will be handicapped accessible vans, 10 more will have some kind of problem walking in and 30 will have no problem at all, not sure if im wrong or not but people over a certain age or weight get a handicapped tag for parking automaticly, i have seen quite well ables people jump out of an SUV or pickup and pretty much run into the store, but the handicapped tag on their window says different, now i know you dont see all handicapps right away but most of them dont consist of jumping out of a truck and running to a store, maybe im wrong on this one and maybe im not looking at it right, someone please let me know what you think of this
Craig Hawley
posted 5/23/08 @ 5:42 PM MST
I have seen lots of abuse of the Handicapped parking placards. I know that people let other family members and friends use the placards. It's a shame. I also have heard that doctors give them to patients who don't really deserve them.
I have a knee which most of the cartilage had to be taken out of. I can qualify for a handicap placard , but I told my doctor no thanks , as I feel i can walk just fine.
I agree abuse of the system harms it for those who really need it.
I have a knee which most of the cartilage had to be taken out of. I can qualify for a handicap placard , but I told my doctor no thanks , as I feel i can walk just fine.
I agree abuse of the system harms it for those who really need it.
- Displaying 1 - 11 of 11
Eric Sutherland
posted 5/12/08 @ 1:28 PM MST