Wheelchair Users Decry Lack Of Greyhound Lifts

Sat., Aug. 9, 1997

Grayden Jones Staff writer

Wheelchair users are willing to leave the driving to Greyhound.

It’s the humiliation of being carried onto a bus by a company employee that they hate.

Drawing attention to Greyhound Lines Inc. fleet of nearly 2,000 inaccessible buses, a half-dozen wheelchair users Friday demonstrated their displeasure with the commercial bus line at Spokane’s Intermodal Transit Center.

Protesters organized by the Coalition of Responsible Disabled in Spokane and Transitional Employment Services for the Handicapped in Coeur d’Alene said that rather than install power lifts and wide aisles, Greyhound forces wheelchair customers to give up their chairs and submit to employees who bodily carry them up the steps and into the coach. The chairs are folded into a luggage bin under the bus.

To demonstrate the point before TV crews and supporters, Bob Piper of Davenport attempted to buy an $8 ticket to Coeur d’Alene on a Greyhound bus that could accommodate his 265-pound body, which rides in a 200-pound power chair.

Greyhound had no vehicle equipped with a lift that could hoist Piper in his chair into the bus.

But terminal manager Gabriel Medina politely offered to carry Piper and five other wheelchair users onto the bus. They declined, saying it was humiliating and dangerous for them, and for Medina.

“I’ve been dropped and it’s embarrassing,” said Molly Habenicht, retired owner of a Coeur d’Alene lawn care business who lost her legs two years ago. “I don’t want to be manhandled unless it’s by a registered nurse.”

Medina, who passed out Greyhound refrigerator magnets to wheelchair users, faced pickets carrying signs that read “Don’t discriminate: We need rides, too.” He explained that Greyhound encourages wheelchair customers and lets their companions ride free to assist them in their travel.

The company has begun a test program with wheelchair accessible buses in California, Medina said. Greyhound expects to add more accessible buses as demand increases.

Wiley Marks, executive director of the Coalition of Responsible Disabled, said Greyhound is not solely to blame. The U.S. Department of Transportation has delayed completing regulations for wheelchair access to Greyhound and other passenger carriers, he said. Such regulations, he said, were a requirement of the Americans With Disabilities Act, which was signed into law seven years ago.

, DataTimes ILLUSTRATION: Color Photo

Local journalism is essential.

Give directly to The Spokesman-Review's Northwest Passages community forums series -- which helps to offset the costs of several reporter and editor positions at the newspaper -- by using the easy options below. Gifts processed in this system are tax deductible.

Meet Our Journalists

Jesse Tinsley

Meet Jesse Tinsley. As a certified drone pilot, this veteran Spokesman-Review photographer often can be seen capturing beautiful aerial photographs of our region. Sometimes though, the job requires getting down with the dogs.
Jim Meehan

Jim Meehan is no stranger to Zag Nation. As the lead writer covering the Gonzaga men’s basketball team, he tells the stories behind the game and gets fans a bit closer to their favorite players.
Molly Quinn

There is no artist in Spokane like Molly Quinn. Her whimsical style is instantly recognizable to readers of The Spokesman-Review. She has painted gorgeous illustrations that instantly elevate the journalism accompanying it. She brings to life the stories that defy photography. She makes our pages better.
Rob Curley

Spokesman-Review editor Rob Curley loves to talk with people and learn about their lives, whether it's a best-selling author or a stranger he meets downtown on his walk to lunch. It's that inquisitive nature combined with a playful sense of storytelling that helps make our newspaper different than most.