3/30/07: 8:45am. State/Jay, Westbound. Route 1 Lake, bus 1125. Lift would not work. I noticed that the problem had to do with the height of the curb in relation to the lift. Had the driver gone a few inches forward to the curb cut, this would not have happened. Unfortunately, the driver ignored my efforts to offer this solution. I am not a mechanic, but as a wheelchair user with extensive experience with bus lifts in numerous situations, I feel that I have valuable insight to offer. The driver could have at least tried the suggestion, as it was not a safety issue, and if it did not work, then, so be it. She did, however, call this in, and call a mechanic, who arrived, but by that time, the lift was deployed.
April
4/2/07: 5:21pm. State/Jay, Eastbound. Route 1 Park, bus 613. The driver asked if I would wait for the next bus because he said that there were a lot of people already on. Since the bus was not full, I insisted that he allow me on. When I tried to board the bus, the lift did not work. The driver said that it had worked a few minutes earlier, and there was indeed, a woman in a wheelchair who was already on the bus. The driver did call a mechanic, who managed to get the lift to work, and at the bus operator’s request, the mechanic followed the bus to our stop, but the lift worked.
4/3/07: 8:52 am. St. Paul/Main, Westbound. Route 10 Dewey, bus 672. The lift would not work. The #1 was behind it, but it was going back to the garage. I called RGRTA about this, and the woman took my name, etc, and made a formal complaint.
4/12/2007: 10:03 am. State/Lyell, Westbound. Route 1 Lake, bus 702. I and another passenger who uses a wheelchair missed our stop at State/Jay. The driver took us to the closest stop, which was at Lyell. I debarked form the bus, but noticed that my colleague did not. When he arrived at our office 30 minutes later, he stated that the driver would not let him off because as she said, “this isn’t your stop”. This driver was used to taking this person to 41 Backus Street, and decided that since he always goes to Backus Street, he couldn’t possibly be going anywhere but to that location, even though he asked to be let off at the same stop where I alighted.
4/18/2007: 11:37 am. St. Paul/Main, Westbound. Route 1 Lake, bus 624. Lift would not work. Driver called it in, and all passengers were transferred to another bus. I called this in to RGRTA, and made a formal complaint.
4/18/2007: It has come to my attention that clients of Lifetime Assistance, an agency that serves people with cognitive and developmental disabilities, have been denied rides because the bus drivers do not believe that these passengers are persons with disabilities, even though all passengers have shown proof of their disabilities. The drivers have decided that since these passengers’ disabilities are hidden, that they are lying or faking, and so, will not honor their monthly reduced-fare passes. I spoke with Michele Ashford, a Service Coordinator at Lifetime Assistance, who explained to me that they purchase the bus passes at the Main Street office, where they show proof of each client’s disability at the time of the purchase. Ms. Ashford has complained (written and verbally) to the customer service department, but has received no response from RGRTA. I advised her to write to Mark Aesch, CEO, and Ann Nichols, Director of Customer Service. I also advised her to bring some of her clients to the upcoming Town Hall meeting on April 30 to talk about this, and she has agreed to do so.
4/18/2007: 5:32 pm. State/Jay, Eastbound. Route 10 Portland, bus 669. The bus broke down.
4/19/2007: 6:13 pm. Main/Clinton, Westbound. Route 4 Genesee, bus 676. The lift did not work. The driver called it in, as did I. RGRTA did send a bus for me.
4/26/2007: 8:34 am. St. Paul/Main, Westbound. Route 1 Lake, bus 115. This was a low floor bus whose ramp did not operate automatically. The driver refused to operate the lift manually. I called RGRTA, and the told me that they were sending bus 1204, but Route 10 Dewey came before the rescue bus, so I took that, instead.
May
5/15/2007: 7:55 pm. Backus/Phelps, Eastbound. Route 10 Portland, bus 657. Driver picked up two passengers in wheelchairs, and two other passengers with disabilities. The driver complained that they were too slow, and warned them that if he came by the stop, and there were two passengers in wheelchairs wanting to get on the bus that he would pass them up. A complaint was registered with RGRTA.
5/17/2007: 7:55 pm. Backus/Phelps, Eastbound. Route 10 Portland, bus 675. Driver refused to allow passengers in wheelchairs to board the bus, telling them that he would send for another bus. Additionally, the Director of the Recreation Center boarded the bus one stop prior to Backus/Phelps. Passengers began complaining to the driver that they would have to “let those wheelchairs on”, and the driver told them that he was not letting them on. At that point, the Recreation Center Director asked for the driver’s information, then, asked to be let off of the bus. The driver became angry, and yold her that she could do what she wanted, that noyhing would happen to him. A complaint was registered with RGRTA. Ed, at RGRTA is handling this.
Follow-up to the last incident
5/22/2007: 7:55 pm. Backus/Phelps, Eastbound. Route 10 Portland. I went to the bus stop with Pam and Pat Taggart, and Anthony Griggs to see for myself what was going on. When the driver pulled up, he stated, “Y’all lucky tonight, the bus ain’t crowded. I told you, when the bus is crowded, guess what?” I was trying to surriptitiously videotape this on my cell phone, but the driver busted me, and asked was I taking his picture because that was illegal. he was so busy concentrating on me, that he totally ignored Pat, who was taping everything on her radio.
Whe we got on the bus, he tried to act friendly with Anthont and the Twins, and kept asking them were they still mad at him. They told him that they were, indeed, still angry. The driver tried to make excuses for passing them up on Thursday, saying that there were 4 of them in wheelchairs, when in fact, there were only two. He tried to say that there were 4 women with baby strollers on the back of the bus. Personally, this driver was as full of stuff as a Christmas turkey! I am convinced that the only reason that he let them on the bus was that he saw me with them, and I have ridden his bus before. I will share my information with Chris, and we will file a formal complaint, and see what RTS does. More than likely, there will be firther action, because he has already said that he will leave them if his bus is crowded. I will keep you abreast of this ongoing issue.
