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HART Focusing On Access For Disabled

Tribune photo by SCOTT ISKOWITZ

Arizona Jenkins rides the bus and says grass around the boarding areas can be problematic, which is an issue HART plans to address.

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By RICH SHOPES, The Tampa Tribune

Published: December 12, 2007

Updated: 12/12/2007 12:13 am

TAMPA - Arizona Jenkins tries to avoid the grass at bus stops, so the wheels of his wheelchair don't spin on the wet surface when he boards.

Gloria Mills sometimes has trouble making out the route numbers on bus stop signs if they're posted too high off the ground.

Becki Forsell says it can be tricky getting to a bus stop on the parts of Dale Mabry Highway that lack sidewalks.

All three understand the problems faced by disabled people when trying to ride mass transit in Hillsborough County. So, too, does the county's bus agency, Hillsborough Area Regional Transit, but the agency has been slow to improve access because hundreds of bus stops it operates predate the federal Americans with Disabilities Act passed in 1990.

Now, a HART task force is looking to tackle even those stops exempt from the ADA. A study due out this month promises to detail thousands of compliance issues.

Officials at HART say some fixes will be quick and easy, such as lowering bus stop signs and moving benches off sidewalks. Getting all the other problems fixed, however, could take years to tackle, cost millions and involve not only HART but Tampa, the county and state Department of Transportation.

"We're talking about lots of bus stops, like in the rural areas where there aren't any sidewalks or places even to put a pad," said Mills, who is on the ADA task force along with Jenkins and Forsell. "Some stops will have to be moved."

Study Points To Problems

Some of the study's findings were released at a meeting last month of HART's ADA task force. Among them:

•At 64 locations, newspaper boxes are in the way, making it difficult to maneuver a wheelchair on the sidewalk.

•At more than 2,500 bus stops, new slip-resistant boarding areas, or concrete bus pads, are recommended because they are damaged or nonexistent.

•The study called for new curb ramps at more than 2,000 locations to allow wheelchair access to sidewalks and boarding areas.

HART is not being forced to tackle the ADA issues. The agency says it has adhered to the law since it went into effect in 1992 by steadily chipping away at compliance.

Instead, agency leaders say, they want to exceed ADA standards by tackling hundreds of bus stops exempt from the law. They haven't figured out exactly how many stops that comes to, nor set a timetable and price. The first step was to commission the study.

"The more people can understand what the needs and requirements of the disabled are, the better our service will be to the community, no matter how long the stop has been there and whether it's grandfathered in or not, because what it comes down to is trying to serve some key members of our society," said Mary Shavalier, director of planning at HART. "What we're saying is let's try to prioritize by putting these improvements into place to fit the community's needs."

Just as HART started looking at ADA issues two years ago, transit agencies across the country came under fire from disabled-rights groups demanding compliance with the ADA. They filed numerous civil rights challenges, though none against HART.

Broward County settled a lawsuit in 2006 that forced it to spend $10 million on bus stop improvements over five years.

In another case, the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority in Boston agreed to settle with disabled advocates, committing the agency to $310 million in improvements.

Those and other challenges forced transit companies to think carefully about ADA matters. Shavalier maintains that HART, although it took notice of the lawsuits, wasn't motivated by them. Instead, its ADA push came in response to a board member.

Storms Pushed For Compliance

Two years ago, then-board member Ronda Storms asked HART to tackle compliance as a way to help elderly and disabled riders. She formed a task force, and later HART hired Kansas City, Mo.-based TranSystems to evaluate all of its 4,000 bus stops.

Volunteers from HART - equipped with tape measures, digital cameras and hand-held computers - assisted the study, which started in January. Among other things, they looked at the height of signs, size of letters on the signs, the placement of benches, the condition of sidewalks, curbs and ramps and whether landing areas for the disabled have a stable footing. HART reported 40,000 wheelchair boardings last year.

Many of the stops have more than one ADA compliance issue and cross jurisdictional boundaries, which is why HART is partnering with the city, county and state. "In many cases, our job will be simply to pass on the information," Shavalier said.

HART will tackle bus pads, shelters and signs. Fixing sidewalks and curbs will fall to the city, county and state.

Stops needing attention by HART will be prioritized based on their usage and level of deficiency, Shavalier said. The agency will seek grants to pay for the upgrades. This past fiscal year, it installed more than 40 bus shelters at $20,000 to $30,000 each, paid for by federal grants. HART's bus stop program is budgeted at $1.2 million.

Jan Washington, manager of Tampa's sidewalk and streetlight program, said she's aware that a long list of deficiencies will hit her desk sometime next year. Likely, she said, HART's requests will be stretched over several budget cycles.

The city, which has its own ADA program, plows through about $500,000 worth of sidewalk repairs each year and works with HART at stops near schools, hospitals and high-traffic areas. So far, the city hasn't had problems accommodating HART.

"Our priorities are our communities' priorities," Washington said.

Reporter Rich Shopes can be reached at (813) 259-7633 or at rshopes@tampatrib.com.

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