Just One Small Change
I have cerebral palsy and I’m in a wheelchair. Until this summer, I could only go as far as my wheelchair battery would last, which wasn’t long. But this summer, my friend got me to try the wheelchair-accessible Spokane Transit Authority buses which gave me a feeling of freedom.
All the drivers are really helpful and kind. I remember one afternoon it was more than 100 degrees out. I was sitting at the corner of Sprague and University waiting for the No. 15 bus. I must have looked like I was melting because the No. 12 bus stopped to see if I was OK. I told the driver I was waiting for the No. 15 and the next thing I knew she was radioing my bus, telling the driver he had a customer. So he dropped his lunch and came right away to pick me up.
I do not have a complaint about the STA system at all. I just have one small problem. You see, I live on University between Broadway and Mission in the Spokane Valley. About seven years ago when they started making wheelchair-accessible buses, I thought, “Great, they will surely make No. 12 accessible because this is one of their main bus routes.” But they haven’t.
They tell me I can catch an accessible bus, but it is a good half mile from my house. I can go that half mile most of the time in the spring, but I can’t go when it’s too hot in the summer. And in other seasons I have to make sure I’m home before dusk because being out after dark in a wheelchair is not safe!
I have a 70-year-old mother in poor health, plus my 97-year-old grandmother is living with us, so I have to do most of the running around and the business for them. There are bus stops on both sides of my street, about 30 feet from my front door. If only No. 12 was wheelchair-accessible, I could make those 30 feet in my chair even in the winter. As it is right now, I’m a winter shut-in and that frustrates me beyond words.
People say, “Why don’t you call the STA van and have them take you where you need to go?” The van is a godsend for planned trips but it’s no good for last-minute trips.
Everyone up and down University is scared I will get hit trying to ride my chair on the street to catch the No. 15 bus. If there are other people in wheelchairs out there who wish the No. 12 bus were accessible, let STA know. Maybe it will help.
MEMO: Your Turn is a feature of the Wednesday and Saturday Opinion pages. To submit a Your Turn column for consideration, contact Rebecca Nappi at 459-5496 or Doug Floyd at 459-5466 or write Your Turn, The Spokesman-Review, P.O. Box 2160, Spokane, WA 99210-1615.