For the return trip, they will schedule a firm pickup time, but if the doctor is running late or schedules unexpected tests, you might miss that time and be out of luck for getting home.

As a result, we decided I would be the paratransit and would take time off work for his appointments (it works really well if you schedule the appointments at the beginning or end of the day and have a boss who is willing to work with you on these things). And now that I’m retired, my car is the default option.

Sorry, but paratransit is one of those things (like restaurants whose disabled entrance winds through the kitchen – we’ve seen that too) that reminds disabled people that they’re second-class citizens, and that their time has no value.

Glad to hear that about Paris (I don’t read French). The incredibly close spacing of the Paris stations is going to make it by far the hardest system in the world to make accessible.

I know every system I visited in Germany was slowly being made accessible, and that was back in the 1990s, so the laws must be even older there.

The NYC Subway has had the opposite attitude — a bad attitude.

FALSE.

The UK has the “Disability Discrimination Act”, which is their equivalent of the ADA. It isn’t quite as strict, but basically the transit agency has to either plead “impossibility” (which they can do in the US too) or say that they’re only doing minor cosmetic improvements — otherwise they have to revise the station to make it fully accessible.

I enjoy commuting to/from work by Mainline because the Mainline buses here in Madison, Wisconsin have ramps that enable me to board. Ambulatory people with other special needs are also accommodated. We also have a paratransit service because some people just cannot ride Mainline for one reason or another. The true operating cost of a paratransit trip one way is about $30 compared to about $5 for a Mainline trip. At what point is retrofitting older transit stations financially wise just based on this differential alone, even barring other considerations?

Regarding paratransit – maybe it’s time to de-emphasize organized paratransit and instead move toward cab vouchers for those who need and cabs with wheelchair access (perhaps mini-vans rather than full cutaways).

Futher – I live in Boston on the blue line which is currently undergoing a modernization. I would argue that if it weren’t for the pressure to make the T more ADA compliant the blue line would still rotting away. I’m sure we’d all love to see projects happen faster, easier, and cheaper but we can’t neglect members of our society that aren’t fully able.

It isn’t just the people in wheel chairs or with walking sticks that need elevators etc. Its people with children, grocery bags, and people that are simply tired after a long days work. Elevators and escalators are an amenity that attracts people to transit and away from their private autos. I am personally sick of people at my work place saying “Oh, you can take transit because you are young” or “You don’t have a toddler in a stroller, so the stairs aren’t a bother to you.”

Lastly – DO NOT give in and say its not worth installing elevators just because of broken elevators or escalators in certain systems. INSIST on maintenance! The elevator in myapartment building works and has worked for ages – its because someone cares about it. I would call into question the motives and values of the people budgeting for the installation of cheap, sh^tty elevators or for cutting crucial maintenance.