[Missouri-l] Southern California Transportation Advocacy Effort

[Terrie Arnold]

>>> passing this along
>>> ----- Original Message ----- 
>>> From: Laurie Mehta
>>> To: lauriemehta at yahoo.com
>>> Sent: Friday, April 10, 2009 
>>> 6:31 PM
>>> Subject: [GDUI-LEADERS] 
>>> Southern California 
>>> Transportation Advocacy Effort
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> If you live in the Southern 
>>> California area, please read 
>>> and act:
>>>
>>> From: Ken Metz [mailto:
>>> kenmetz at sbcglobal.net
>>> ]
>>> Subject: [acb-l] ACCESS 
>>> SERVICES INC LOS ANGELES AND 
>>> SERVICE ANIMAL ISSUES
>>> Good evening to all of you.
>>> My name is Ken Metz, and I am 
>>> the chairperson for our local 
>>> Access Para
>>> Transit system here in Los 
>>> Angeles County. The reason I'm 
>>> sending this email
>>> on such a wide basis is 
>>> because I'd like to get 
>>> responses from all over the
>>> country pertaining to the 
>>> following:
>>> Approximately 10 years ago, a 
>>> few Access riders in the Los 
>>> Angeles area
>>> filed a class action lawsuit 
>>> because a number of the 
>>> contracted provider's
>>> drivers refused to take 
>>> qualified riders with their 
>>> service animals.
>>> This
>>> lawsuit was successful, and I 
>>> must say that few incidents 
>>> occur these days
>>> with drivers refusing to take 
>>> our guide dogs or any other 
>>> service animals.
>>> Another result of this lawsuit 
>>> was that Access Para Transit 
>>> would organize a
>>> "service animal" sub-committee 
>>> which would look at complaints 
>>> and discuss
>>> ongoing issues pertaining to 
>>> riders who use service 
>>> animals. One of the
>>> major problems we have 
>>> discussed for most of those 
>>> nine years had to do with
>>> service animals slipping and 
>>> sliding in the wheelchair vans 
>>> when drivers
>>> either made defensive 
>>> maneuvers during heavy 
>>> traffic, or in some cases just
>>> had one foot on the 
>>> accelerator and one on the 
>>> brake. We in the Los Angeles
>>> area know of two or three 
>>> guide dogs that needed to be 
>>> replaced for this
>>> type of situation, slipping 
>>> and sliding, and even being 
>>> thrown into the
>>> wheelchair ramp on the right 
>>> side of the van. Also, the 
>>> flooring is so thin
>>> that a good amount of heat 
>>> comes up from the 
>>> undercarriage of these vans.
>>> We have been asking our Para 
>>> Transit company to purchase 
>>> floor mats that
>>> would stay in the back of the 
>>> vans only to be placed down if 
>>> they knew they
>>> were going to have a service 
>>> animal in their van. Our 
>>> reason for not wanting
>>> to carry these mats themselves 
>>> is due to the fact that the 
>>> van floors are
>>> often dirty, and we don't want 
>>> to carry someone else's dirt 
>>> with us
>>> especially if we are going 
>>> somewhere dressed up.
>>> In November, 2007, the 
>>> Community Advisory Committee 
>>> (CAC) listened to our
>>> story and voted to bring this 
>>> issue to the Access Board for 
>>> approval to pay
>>> for two mats in each van 
>>> and/or bubble-top bus, all 
>>> having these slippery
>>> floors. The Service Animal 
>>> sub-committee then went out 
>>> and purchased a few
>>> mats to show to the Access 
>>> Services people and their risk 
>>> management team.
>>> When nothing was done by the 
>>> end of 2008, we again 
>>> approached the Access
>>> team about the November, 2007 
>>> vote, and they said that now 
>>> they were sending
>>> this to a TPAC (Transportation 
>>> Professionals Advisory Team) 
>>> committee to
>>> validate the need for the 
>>> mats. This committee has no 
>>> Para Transit riders,
>>> one person in a wheelchair, 
>>> and all driving their own 
>>> vehicles. These folks
>>> are in the hierarchy of their 
>>> respective transportation 
>>> companies in the Los
>>> Angeles and Orange Counties 
>>> and claim to have all kinds of 
>>> expertise on all
>>> transportation requirements. 
>>> They have now submitted their 
>>> report to Access
>>> Services Inc and have 
>>> unanimously stated and voted 
>>> that there is no validity
>>> to our complaints of service 
>>> animals sliding and being 
>>> physically and/or
>>> mentally injured. The TPAC 
>>> stated that the mats would 
>>> perhaps cause problems
>>> with other riders tripping on 
>>> them, or wheelchair riders 
>>> having difficulty
>>> with them. We have only asked 
>>> that these mats be placed down 
>>> when the driver
>>> knew that a passenger was 
>>> going to board the van or 
>>> bubble-top bus with a
>>> service animal, and then put 
>>> it away in the back when they 
>>> disembarked.
>>> For the almost ten years that 
>>> our service animal 
>>> sub-committee has been
>>> meeting, we have complained 
>>> numerous times about these 
>>> situations, and both
>>> Access and the TPAC stated 
>>> that there were no complaints 
>>> of this nature,
>>> completely bogus.
>>> I would very much appreciate 
>>> any of you who use service 
>>> animals (guide
>>> dogs)
>>> out of the Los Angeles area to 
>>> please write me if you have 
>>> had similar
>>> incidents that I have brought 
>>> up so that I can present a 
>>> compilation of
>>> blind folks having similar 
>>> issues so that Access can't 
>>> say that this does
>>> not occur anywhere else in the 
>>> country. Please give me any 
>>> solutions if
>>> you've found resolution to 
>>> these issues. For those of you 
>>> in the Los Angeles
>>> area who can attend the 
>>> Community Advisory Committee 
>>> this Tuesday from 12:30
>>> - 2:30 p.m. to give public 
>>> comment, I would appreciate it 
>>> very much. The
>>> address of the building is 706 
>>> W. 6th Street, 6th Floor 
>>> Conference Room, Los
>>> Angeles.
>>> Either your written or oral 
>>> testimony (three minute 
>>> maximum for
>>> speaking)
>>> will be most appreciated. If 
>>> you respond to me directly, I 
>>> will print and
>>> compile your stories and turn 
>>> them in this Tuesday.
>>> If we don't get this situation 
>>> overturned, we will then look 
>>> for someone to
>>> represent us for either 
>>> structured negotiations or an 
>>> additional class
>>> action lawsuit.
>>> Your help is badly needed and 
>>> very much appreciated.
>>>
>>>
>>>
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