Maggie and her classmate were unable to board the L Taraval yesterday because the driver refused to move the streetcar a few feet so that the wheelchair ramp would line up with the door to the coach. I just wrote this letter to the San Francisco Municipal Railway (Muni)
Dear Muni:
I need to bring a matter to your attention. On April 3, 2013
two classes from Mission High School took a field trip to the San Francisco
Zoo. These were special education students, several of whom use wheelchairs. My
daughter Maggie is one of the wheelchair users. The kids, teachers, aides and nurses boarded
the J Church at Mission High and transferred to the L at the Church street
station and then reversed the process coming home. This group uses Muni regularly and rarely has any issue. Unfortunately, yesterday was an exception.
Because of her medical conditions, my daughter had to return
to school a bit earlier than the rest of the group to receive a needed medical
procedure. She and another student (also
in a wheelchair) left with two aides and a nurse shortly before noon.
The L Taraval was sitting empty at the terminus ready to be
boarded. However, the car was pulled
beyond the ramp for the wheelchairs. One
of the aides talked to the driver and asked him to either back up a few feet so
the kids could board in the front door or pull up a bit so they could board
through the back door and make their way up to the seating area reserved for
the disabled. To their amazement, the
driver refused to do so.
Please understand, the coach was completely empty as that is
the end/beginning of the line. The driver was waiting for several minutes to
leave as is the custom at that particular place. There was no hurry, and there was no inconvenience to any other
passengers. Still, he refused to move the coach so as to allow my daughter or
her classmate to board the streetcar.
This is inexcusable.
Because they could
not get the two wheelchairs onto the streetcar, they had to wait for the next
one. That driver too had to wait several minutes before he took off. (I presume
that is for the schedule – there are always cars sitting there waiting.) The resulting unnecessary delay make my
daughter late for her scheduled procedure and quite uncomfortable, something
that could have been avoided if driver #1 had shown even the slightest courtesy
or concern for the passengers.
Interestingly, by the time the second car arrived a third
wheelchair user had arrived. This person was not connected with my daughters
group. Driver #2 originally told him he would have to wait for the next car as
there wasn’t room for three wheelchairs. His companion and the school personnel
easily made all three chairs fit and everyone rode without incident.
It seems some sensitivity training is needed for driver #1
and training on the proper wheelchair capacity for all your drivers. Muni
provides a crucial service for the disabled members of San Francisco who rely
on public transportation. Generally Muni serves this community pretty well;
but this incident shows there is more work to do.
I hope you can determine who Driver #1 was and let him know
that his lack of courtesy and refusal to accommodate the needs of the disabled –
when the accommodations have already been provided – could have had disastrous
results for my daughter rather than simply the discomfort she had to endure. I
hope too that he will be disciplined for what I can only presume was mean spirited violation of Muni’s policies.
__________________________________
The website says I can expect a response in 7 days. I can't WAIT to see what they have to say.
They really should start finding someone to abuse who has a nicer mother.
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