Wheelchair Users May Find It Better On Buses, Airlines

A dispute over getting an assignment to an accessible seat on Continental flights - that is, an aisle seat with a liftable armrest on the aisle side - was resolved in favor of a member and an employee of the Eastern Paralyzed Veterans Association.

Some recent developments involving buses and airlines will be of interest to wheelchair users who travel.

Greyhound Lines of Canada, owned by the Dial Co. and separate from United States Greyhound, announced in March that buses with wheelchair lifts were available on some intercity routes in four provinces. A small test began in 1992 in Alberta, and now 10 of Canadian Greyhound’s 400 buses have the lifts, which can accommodate wheelchairs as wide as 32 inches.

In British Columbia, the routes with lift service connect Vancouver with Hope, Kamloops or Kelowna. In Manitoba, the routes connect Winnipeg with Brandon or Dryden and Kenora. In Alberta, the route is between Calgary and Edmonton. In Ontario, the routes connect Toronto with Hamilton and London, with St. Catharine’s and Buffalo, with Guelph, Cambridge and Kitchener, and with Niagara Falls or Ottawa. Reservations are required 24 hours in advance. Local Greyhound numbers can be used in the United States, or - within Canada only - call (800) 661-8747.

In the United States, Greyhound has no lift-equipped buses in its fleet of 1,900, which will rise to 2,000 with summer leases. The Americans With Disabilities Act says that as of 1996, large private bus companies buying or leasing buses must start providing wheelchair lifts. But Marty Heires, a Greyhound spokesman, said the Department of Transportation has not yet written the regulations to carry out the legislation, though they were due a year ago.

At present, the line provides free passage to companions needed by people with disabilities; proof of necessity may be required. Inquiries about assistance with Greyhound travel can be made by calling (800) 752-4841; if a companion is required, the number is (800) 231-2222. The TDD number is (800) 345-3109.

A dispute over getting an assignment to an accessible seat on Continental flights - that is, an aisle seat with a liftable armrest on the aisle side - was resolved in favor of a member and an employee of the Eastern Paralyzed Veterans Association. So clear-cut was the case, according to Nicholas Lowry of the Department of Transportation legal staff, that the department levied its first fine under the Air Carrier Access Act, enacted in 1986. The regulations involved went into effect April 5, 1990.

Continental did not dispute the facts.

The case was brought by John D. Del Colle, a wheelchair user who travels frequently with his wife, Elaine, between Newark and West Palm Beach. The case cited six trips between Nov. 2, 1993, and March 1, 1994. Each time the couple telephoned in advance of the flight to ask for an accessible aisle seat. Twice they were told that such seats were available and four times that they were not.

At the airport each time, however, they were told that such seats were not identifiable and thus could not be assigned. Each time, on boarding, the Del Colles found a proper seat and Del Colle sat in it.

The formal complaint was filed for Del Colle in June 1993 by Kleo J. King, program counsel for the veterans association. In December, Rosalind Knapp, deputy general counsel of the Department of Transportation, obtained a consent decree from Continental, in which the airline agreed to create a system to identify accessible seats and accepted a fine of $3,000 “in compromise of civil penalties.” At the same time, Del Colle’s complaint was dismissed.

In consenting to the order, Continental said it had revised its “direct reference system” to include information showing the locations of the aisle-side movable armrests. Peggy Mahoney, a spokeswoman for the line, said that its computer system now lists the accessible aisle seats for each plane and that the gate agent can call this list up and assign a seat without going on board to look for it.

Under the Air Carrier Access Act, planes with 30 or more seats must eventually have movable armrests on half of the aisle seats. New planes must meet this goal on going into service, and old ones when they are refurbished. Part of Continental’s defense in the Del Colle case was that the planes involved were manufactured before 1988.

Most wheelchair users who encounter similar problems probably do not want to file formal complaints. But informal complaints to the Department of Transportation enable the agency to learn what is going on and to take steps if warranted. Complaints should be submitted by mail to the Aviation Consumer Protection Division, Mail Stop C-75, Department of Transportation, 400 Seventh Street, S.W., Washington, DC 20590. The Eastern Paralyzed Veterans Association welcomes copies of letters: 75-20 Astoria Boulevard, Jackson Heights, NY 11370.