Hey, Friday AUGUST 8 ADAPT disability activists nationwide demonstrated at over 40 Greyhound stations and Greyhound Headquarters in Dallas. Greyhound has been fighting having to make their buses accessible to wheelchair riders. They have had 7 years to do that, already, and still do not have buses that are lift-equipped, nor is their service really accessible.
Were you at one of the protests? We want to hear your story! Zap it to us at: adapt@adapt-now.com and national@adapt-now.com
I was glad to see the forwarded message about ADAPT's actions against Greyhound.
As some of us have pointed out before, the access so many of us take for granted, the curb cuts, the access to airplanes, hire cars, restaurants and theaters, were not granted us by corporate benevolence or public altruism. They came about because some people were prepared to expend energy and risk arrest by demonstrating and rasing public awareness of accessibility issues.
We all benefit, whether we were part of the struggle or not.
I believe that quiet diplomacy will only move corporations to the extent that it is convenient for them to move. Public demonstration raises this threshold and makes diplomacy more possible. Every campaign needs a cutting edge and just as ACT UP has greatly enhanced public awareness of AIDS and thereby brought huge public resources to the issue, so might ADAPT provide the irritant that will cause change to happen in the disability access field.
I happen to know several of the people involved in the San Francisco demonstration: Karen Jones, a blind woman was a co-organizer, and Mike Pachovas (a quad) and Jane Jackson (Grey Panthers) are both long-time activists who were arrested in their wheelchairs and taken via the local bus company to jail. Ironically Jane is on the AC Transit board.
ADAPT in the San Francisco Bay area is a tiny organization despite Berkeley being the center of the disability rights universe for so many years. Maybe there is complacency after the local gains of the past 15 - 20 years. There is certainly unseemly petty politics. Also a great many disabled people who live mainstreamed lives refuse to publicly acknowledge the huge debt they owe to the activists that have made and continue to make their lives possible.
So perhaps we should all send a check to ADAPT today and enclose a big thank you for their efforts on our behalf.
AND THIS IS WHAT HAPPENED:
There were demonstration in over 44 cities. Over 70 people presented a demand to Greyhound at its headquarters in Dallas Texas. The Port Authority Bus Terminal in New York City was closed down for long distance buses only for over an hour. Let's hope Greyhound gets the message. Here are the reports (the ones we have, in order of appearance) from: El Paso, Houston & Dallas Texas(Corporate Headquarters); Phoenix AZ; San Francisco, Modesto and Stockton CA, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, & Harrisburg, PA; New York City and Rochester, NY; Dayton OH; Detroit & Grand Rapids MI, Chicago IL, Washington DC, Atlanta GA; Memphis TN; St. Louis MO; Wilmington DE; Yellow Stone Park; New Hampshire; Ottawa Canada; and Sydney Australia
0n Friday August 8, 1997, 20 members of Desert ADAPT gathered to protest Greyhound's failure to accommodate people with disabilities who use wheelchairs for mobility. Staging at the San Jacinto Plaza, members of Desert ADAPT, marched to the local Greyhound terminal at 200 San Antonio with protest signs, chanting and carrying inflated surgical gloves, tied together on a string and rapped around the persons neck, to symbolize Greyhound's humiliating and dangerous "helping hand" policy. [on the route to the target, we had to build a ramp to access a pathway though a construction site.]
Arriving at the Greyhound terminal, we began a moving protest march at the bus loading area. Police arrived almost immediately to tell us to quit blocking the buses exit. After a brief confrontation with the police, we continued our civil right to demonstrate, while two warriors of ADAPT attempted to board an inaccessible Greyhound bus.
A "helping hand" ticket was purchased, prior to action, to Las Cruces, NM and return to El Paso, TX for Frank (who is blind) with David (a football tackler sized quad) as his "sighted guide". David was hauled up the steps by three persons, dragged, dropped and humiliated for the free ride while MOONING the public.
The warriors of Desert ADAPT continued the demonstration as Frank and David departed the Greyhound terminal with the rest of us chanting "WE WILL RIDE THE DIRTY DOG: GREYHOUND!"
Upon their arrival in Las Cruces, NM, the Greyhound agent notified the fire department to assist unloading and then again to load Frank's assistant, David.
The arrival back in El Paso, TX again Greyhound called the fire department to unload David.
WHEN WILL THEY SMELL THE COFFEE ?
Here's the info on the Houston Greyhound action! Let me share some of my experiences from my very first attempt at organizing an action. While our fearless leader, went to Dallas to ride the dirty dog at corp. headquarters, Houston by no means intended to remain silent on this issue.
I and 14 other ADAPT members (including several new faces) laid siege on the downtown Greyhound station. While waving our signs and chanting our chants, we crossed the street at a few minutes before 2:00, we were met by cops and full media coverage. We even had some of the employees come out and agreed with us and said they were behind us. This did not include the station manager.
While most of our group handed out leaflets, two of us went in. I gave the manager our demands to fax to Dallas, and said I'd wait till I got verification the demands were received. With verification in hand, we left with the station manager shivering in her high heels hoping we wouldn't start trashing the offices and burning the buses. Instead we showed her and the media what it should be like to board buses as we got on the Houston paratransit to go home.
A very successful action, and we got several new members who say they can't wait till the next action. Houston ADAPT is alive and well and ready to give the Dirty Dog hell!
In Phoenix, disabled activists managed to shut down operations at the Greyhound Bus Terminal Friday, forcing one bus loaded with passengers and cargo to shift to alternate buses twice. About 50 demonstrators gathered, shouting chants like "Greyhound is a dirty dog," and "We Will Ride!" Two television crews, the major news/talk radio station, and the newspaper covered the story.
Hi! We're alive and still kicking. It is HOTTER than HELL down here, but that didn't stop 30+ WARRIORS from taking over Greyhound yesterday. Bye for now. WE WILL RIDE.
Here is an account of our action in Phoenix. Phoenix had our 1st demonstration in many years 8/8/97. We arrived at the Greyhound Bus depot in Phoenix at 11:30. The police had called Ken the night before to find out "what we were planning". They told him they would be there in street clothes. We figured that was better than to have a beat cop there used to drug addicts acting out. We lost a very powerful local transportation advocate just that week 8/4/97 who has been instrumental in getting a Phoenix ballot about public transportation for this next September, Don Aldrich. Don was the one in the news article for the Houston action at Kuntz's office. He had become suddenly ill and died within 7 days. We did the best we could getting the word out, Greg wrote the press release and we sent out flyers at the memorial service dedicating the action to Don.
Greg contacted KTAR news radio and from ABIL we faxed and called all TV stations the day before and that AM, the newspaper and KTAR again. About 30 advocates showed up. There must have been 15 plain clothes police there. At noon we went from the cafeteria area wearing black arm bands to remember Don, in single file up to the ticket line.
Three buses were due to leave within the next hour to LA, San Diego and Los Vegas. We asked to talk to the manager and gave them our demands. They ignored us for a long time. Andy from Jobs for Justice brought us a bullhorn and we took turns leading chants as we waited. WE had successfully blocked the ticket line and we passed out flyers about our concerns. Jim, a long time activist from AZ Citizen Action was there and brought 4 other supporters. ABIL's Director read out of the ADA preamble the intent of the law. The activists included all of us from the D.C. ADAPT action, old time advocates that don't usually identify with ADAPT, Don's life partner Debbie was there, and Carrie, whom ABIL has been working with to get out of a nursing home. It was 106 outside with humidity so we wanted to keep the action inside. But they started to sell tickets outside and loaded up the San Diego bus. So, Ken (local ADAPT leader), Ron (long time transit activist) and Greg (On A Roll) went outside and parked behind the San Diego Bus while we kept chanting inside.
Greyhound supervisor came looking for the "leader" to ask what we wanted and said he had called Greyhound but with no reply. The police just stood by and watched. We told him our demands again and told him to request a fax with a reply. He anxiously told us he'd be back in 5 minutes. Two TV stations showed up, KTAR radio was there through the afternoon, and the AZ Republic paper had a reporter. Several of us were interviewed. That afternoon, Phoenix heard our chants over the radio, "Greyhound is a dirty dog. Seven years is long enough!"
Greyhound moved the passengers to a different bus closer to the parking lot exit. At that point everyone decided to brave the heat and go out and block the bus! Perfect timing as Channel 12 news had just shown up and that was what went out on the evening news! Greyhound then took the passengers off the bus and they were angry ( the passengers). We explained that they should be angry at Greyhound who's CEO was making money off of their tickets, not us and I helped one of the most angry go to the supervisor to give him a piece of her mind! He brought us out a fax that stated that the TX headquarters had received a fax. We said we wanted an appointment to talk with their CEO. He went back to call them again. We brought everyone inside to cool off, used the bullhorn to educate the passengers about our cause, in English and in Spanish, continued to chant and fill up the ticket area. We celebrated our success and decided to call it a day. We had gathered 30 activist who got a dose of ADAPT action empowerment, we got lots of press, we disrupted business, and we warned management: We will ride and we will be back until we do!
from Marsha
Seventy-five ADAPT volunteers occupied the sixth floor executive offices of Greyhound Bus corporate headquarters for more than seven hours, Friday, August 8, 1997 in Addison, Texas, just north of Dallas. Their purpose was to talk with Craig Lentzsch, CEO, and to demand Greyhound install wheelchair lifts on all its buses.
ADAPT members from Texas and Kansas rode the elevators to the sixth floor, filled the hallways of the executive offices, blocked further elevator and stairway passage, chanted slogans, sang protest songs, called out to Lentzsch, pondered strategy, recounted former "actions," developed acquaintances with members they didn't yet know, and shared accounts of mistreatment while riding Greyhound. Meanwhile, ADAPT leadership planned moment-to-moment tactics as they continued to negotiate a meeting with Greyhound officials. ADAPT was ready to stay the night in the corporate offices.
At 10:15 PM Lentzsch finally met with the group in the lobby of the building. Individuals voiced their demands and their irritation with Greyhound, stating that it had seven years to comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). Instead it had sought special exemption from Congress and had recently bought a new fleet of busses without lifts. Their busses last 20 years.
An ADAPT leaflet states, "Back when the ADA was written Greyhound whined and moaned so much Congress gave them an extra seven years before they had to start making their busses accessible. Congress even did a special study and found the best way to do access was lifts! But last year Greyhound snuck in an amendment onto the ADA to give themselves even more time. City bus systems have been buying and using lift equipped buses since 1990. Now Greyhound is replacing all their buses with new inaccessible buses that will last 20 years. There will be no access until the 21st Century."
Lentzsch demanded ADAPT help him figure out how to buy the lifts without passing the charges on to "his customers." This outraged the demonstrators, who shouted that they were customers, too. Leadership members then put it to Lentzsch: was he going to install lifts or not, yes or no? He said, "Are you asking me a yes-or-no question?" and, unwilling to give a yes-or-no, he stormed out of his building with his tail between his legs. Guess the answer is "No."
ADAPT members vacated the premises for a nearby motel to celebrate the short-term victory: they had forced a meeting with Lentzsch and had forthrightly presented their demands. They now knew without a doubt that victory meant a prolonged struggle against an old-fashioned, dogged, corporate mentality that, unfortunately, is still very much present.
Greyhound's bigotry against people with disabilities MUST STOP!!
BY KATIE FAIRBANK AP Business Writer
DALLAS (AP) -- Protesters in about 40 cities demonstrated Friday against Greyhound Lines Inc., saying the company doesn't have enough wheelchair lifts for the handicapped to board their buses.
About 150 people with American Disabled for Accessible Public Transit (ADAPT) crowded the company's Dallas headquarters chanting, ``We will ride!''
In Denver, protesters carried placards reading, ``It's time to put the Greyhound to sleep.''
ADAPT said it was staging the protests because the company is replacing its entire fleet with buses that are inaccessible for >>handicapped<< riders.
``The issue here is our basic civil right to get on a bus,'' said Steve, who was at a Milwaukee protest.
Demonstrators passed out leaflets and sent their demands to Greyhound president and chief executive Craig Lentzsch in Dallas.
``We've shut down terminals across the country, blocked buses and passed out fliers -- whatever we can to show Greyhound our demands,'' said Crosby, a protest organizer.
The group wants wheelchair lifts put on all new buses, a meeting with Greyhound executives and an apology from Lentzsch.
Greyhound does offer wheelchair lifts on some buses, but their use is sporadic, said Ted Jadd, a Milwaukee spokesman for the company. One wheelchair lift-equipped bus operates in California, and the lifts were used twice in 14 months, according to the company.
Greyhound has about 2,000 buses and each lift costs more than $8,000, he said.
The company's policies include providing assistance to people with disabilities, training its employees to help the disabled and providing a toll-free number for passengers with disabilities to call while making their travel plans.
(a Dallas suburb, Greyhound's corporate offices sit on the border between the two cities) from Doris
Texas & Kansas ADAPT activists, numbering 80, at 2:00 p.m. CDT stormed and occupied national Greyhound headquarters in Addison Texas, a suburb of Dallas. This civil rights action was syncopated with actions against Greyhound throughout the nation. Negotiations begain with Greyhound officials following about an hour and a half of raucous chants demanding to see CEO Craig Lentzsch.
As of 9:00 p.m. details regarding a meeting with Lentzsch are still being discussed. Any break down in negotiations will continue ADAPT's all night occupation of the Greyhound headquarters.
Greyhound's CEO Lentzsch showed his face at about 10:00 p.m. but refused to consider lifts because such access would take more money out of his customers pockets." This was unacceptable to ADAPT and Lentzsch walked out of his own building. ADAPT followed him out chanting "We are ADAPT, we'll be back, and We Will Ride!"
ADAPT members from Texas and Kansas rode the elevators to the sixth floor, filled the hallways of the executive offices, blocked further elevator and stairway passage, chanted slogans, sang protest songs, called out to Lentzsch, pondered strategy, recounted former "actions," developed acquaintances with members they didn't yet know, and shared accounts of mistreatment while riding Greyhound. Meanwhile, ADAPT leadership planned moment-to-moment tactics as they continued to negotiate a meeting with Greyhound officials.
ADAPT was ready to stay the night in the corporate offices.
At 10:15 PM Lentzsch finally met with the group in the lobby of the building. Individuals voiced their demands and their irritation with Greyhound, stating that it had seven years to comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). Instead it had sought special exemption from Congress and had recently bought a new fleet of busses without lifts. Their buses last 20 years.
An ADAPT leaflet states, "Back when the ADA was written Greyhound whined and moaned so much Congress gave them an extra seven years before they had to start making their busses accessible. Congress even did a special study and found the best way to do access was lifts! But last year Greyhound snuck in an amendment onto the ADA to give themselves even more time. City bus systems have been buying and using lift equipped buses since 1990. Now Greyhound is replacing all their buses with new inaccessible buses that will last 20 years. There will be no access until the 21st Century."
Lentzsch demanded ADAPT help him figure out how to buy the lifts without passing the charges on to "his customers." This outraged the demonstrators, who shouted that they were customers, too.
Leadership members then put it to Lentzsch: was he going to install lifts or not, yes or no? He said, "Are you asking me a yes-or-no question?" and, unwilling to give a yes-or-no, he stormed out of his building with his tail between his legs.
Guess the answer is "No."
ADAPT members vacated the premises for a nearby motel to celebrate the short-term victory: they had forced a meeting with Lentzsch and had forthrightly presented their demands. They now knew without a doubt that victory meant a prolonged struggle against an old-fashioned, dogged, corporate mentality that, unfortunately, is still very much present.
Protests at Greyhound bus terminals were held Friday in 35 [actually at least 44 cities] cities.
70 people from Kansas ADAPT and Texas ADAPT went to the corporate headquarters.
The first ones through the door had to move a security guard's podium ousands of bus stops they refuse to serve us with....
Protest Halts Service At S.F. Bus Terminal: Greyhound lacks wheelchair lifts
From Teresa Moore's article for the Chronicle
A dozen people in wheelchairs shut down service out of the San Francisco Greyhound bus station for nearly three hours yesterday afternoon to protest the lack of wheelchair lifts on the buses.
At noon, on one of the busiest travel days of the week, several protesters parked their wheelchairs at either end of the Greyhound lanes at the Transbay Terminal, blocking buses trying to enter or leave. A couple of demonstrators also purchased tickets and tried to board the buses.
There were 15 other demonstrators who were not in wheelchairs.
``We're going against Greyhound because they are going against our rights under the Americans With Disabilities Act,'' said Helen Rodriguez, 43, of San Francisco.
Rodriguez, who had polio as a child, uses a motorized wheelchair. If she traveled on Greyhound, she would have to be carried aboard by the bus driver and her wheelchair dismantled and stowed under the bus.
Rodriguez and the other protesters argued that Greyhound personnel are not trained to lift and carry disabled passengers aboard buses; they also worried that their expensive motorized chairs would be damaged if they were taken apart and stored with other baggage.
The demonstrators called for Greyhound to install lifts like those found on many local buses; they were particularly irked that 700 new Greyhound buses are not equipped with lifts.
``AC Transit has a good lift system,'' Rodriguez said. ``Muni has a good system, too, and it's about time that Greyhound adopted the same accommodations.''
After spending an hour trying to talk the protesters into leaving, the California Highway Patrol began carrying them onto AC Transit buses -- equipped with lifts -- to take them to jail. Five protesters in wheelchairs were arrested, cited and released.
Under the federal Americans With Disabilities Act, businesses have to make a reasonable effort to accommodate people with disabilities.
But the act leaves ``reasonable'' open to broad interpretation, and Greyhound maintains that it is doing all it can.
Daisy Lu, manager of Greyhound's San Francisco terminal, said the company cannot afford to install lifts on its more than 2,000 buses. However, Greyhound does let personal attendants travel free and has an 800 number that disabled people can call for assistance in planning trips aboard Greyhound.
Lu said the Dallas company was experimenting with buses with lifts and adjustable aisle seating in Texas, Chicago, Los Angeles and Washington, D.C. One bus in California has a lift, which Lu said has been used just twice in the past 14 months.
``We are in full compliance with the ADA at this time,'' said Lu. ``We have spent millions in the past few years to comply. The Oakland station was built in the '30s, and we've brought it up to ADA standards. I empathize with their frustration, but there are other customers missing their connections.''
By the time it was over, eight buses were delayed, Lu said.
Noe Guevara, 26, was a passengers on a bus bound for Los Angeles.
``I have people waiting for me in L.A., and this is really messing me up,'' the Daly City resident said. ``You'd have to be inhuman not to be sympathetic to their point. It's just the way they are making their point is not so wise. I'd gladly sign a petition on their behalf, but this way -- taking it out on the travelers -- they're making enemies.''
Lonnie Stewart, driver of the Los Angeles bus, said he accepted the hardship of the protest -- he wasn't getting paid for the delay time -- because he understood where the demonstrators were coming from.
``I was born and raised in Mississippi, and I've seen discrimination,'' said Stewart, a 43-year-old African American. ``I know what it is to be told you can't eat here or shop there or ride here.''
Stewart looked at Blaine Beckwith whose wheelchair was parked square in front of his bus. ``These people have the same fight.''
Subject: Greyhound protest a success! 8 arrested! Our point well made!
Today, August 8, about 40 members of Northern CA ADAPT succeeded in shutting down the Greyhound Station at the Transbay Terminal in San Francisco, for over three hours. Eight members were arrested by the CHP and transported to the their headquarters near 8th & Bryant, where they were cited and released. Two members were detained for over five hours because they refused to cooperate with the CHP by not revealing their identities.
This protest was held in conjunction with similar protests held in forty cities across the country, by ADAPT. It was done in response to Greyhound's refusal to equip their buses with lifts, and other accommodations for persons with disabilities. In general, Greyhound refuses to comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).
Through intense lobbying by two associations representing them, the American Bus Association (ABA) and the United Bus Operators of America (UBOA), Greyhound and other smaller over-the-road (OTR's) carriers have managed to wrangle lengthy extensions to their dates of compliance to the ADA.
Greyhound is busy buying new non-lift equipped buses in a blatant attempt to beat any new regulations that may be drafted by the Dept. of Transportation (DOT), forcing them to comply with the ADA.
We must do everything in our power to ensure that Greyhound not beat us out of what we are entitled to, our right to ride!
MODESTO & STOCKTON CALIFORNIA from Linda
Anyway, the following is the info. for our protest (Modesto and Stockton areas.) All together we had about 30 people between 2 stations. When we arrived at 11:45 there were already 2 paddy wagons there to greet us, several roaming officers and a patrol car that would circle the stations about every 5 minutes.
Most of the folks involved were first timers and afraid of the unknowns, however we did pass out over 200 fliers, chanted for hours, marched all around the place, surrounded several buses and carried over 15 large posters with varying messages (imagination required). Between the 2 bus stations we had 3 of the major TV news crews, 3 newspaper reporters as well as announcements on most of the valley radio stations.
Surprisingly, most of the drivers supported us. There were a few drivers however, I would have loved to man handle up those steps!!!!!! (oops, was that your head?!)
Northern Calif. is ready for round 2, whatever it takes to make Greyhound take some action and do the RIGHT THING.
PHILADELPHIA, PA
On a pleasant and warm afternoon, 38 ADAPTers from the Philadelphia Region shut down Greyhound's service for 6 hours, causing traffic snarls and delays in people's travel plans.
Blocking off the terminal lot, we held Greyhound bus and New Jersey Transit buses while we tried to negotiate with Greyhound officials. They tried to placate us by promising a local meeting--but we demanded that the CEO Meet with ADAPT Nationally or no dice.
Being stubborn, neither sides budged.
After 2 hours, ADAPT then escalated by doing a Venus fly trap maneuver. We allowed the buses a path way out and then when the buses qued up, we closed down 10th Street near Market and stranded 6 Greyhound buses. Angry travelers tried yelling at the steadfast activists as we held them for 4 hours. Luggage handlers and passengers were forced to leave the buses and return to the station to wait.
At 8:00 PM, we released the buses and moved to the center of Market Street chanting, "We're ADAPT--We'll be back!" and "Our civil rights must be supplied, not denied!"
Police refused to arrest anyone even during the hottest moments.
PITTSBURGH & SOUTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA from Kathleen
Southwestern Pennsylvania ADAPT had thirty patriots descend upon the Greyhound bus terminal in Downtown Pittsburgh. Five individuals had tickets that had been purchased earlier in the week. Those individuals with tickets immediately went inside. They demanded to speak to the management and expressed outrage that the buses did not have lifts. The management insisted that Greyhound was in compliance with the ADA. ADAPT gave them the groups demands. They also demanded to be boarded safely on the bus that was leaving (supposedly) in 30 minutes.
25 ADAPT troops, from five different communities in southwestern PA, chanted and passed out leaflets in front of the building.
Two police arrived quickly. When it became clear that there was no safe way to board the bus, the ADAPT group came into the bus dispatch area and blocked the bus so it could not leave. Suddenly, there were almost as many police as their were protesters.
At first, they threatened to write citations on us. We asked the police to arrest the Greyhound managers for breaking Federal law. When they refused, we told the police that they were forcing us as citizens to enforce the law. That argument seemed to make them hesitate a bit more.
After an hour standoff, the luggage and passengers were moved to a bus on the busy street outside the terminal. The ADAPT troops quickly moved to that bus and held it hostage. Now the public could see us much better and we could see that we had many, many supporters.
After another 30 minutes, the police physically removed the protesters one by one to the sidewalk and the bus pulled away. The group went back into the terminal and blocked another bus for another hour then back to the sidewalk to show the public our "We will Ride" signs.
The police convinced the management of the bus terminal to fax our demands to Greyhound Headquarters and gave us a receipt.
The press from four local TV stations and two newspapers arrived right at the start and most stayed with us for the next 3 hours. The coverage was terrific, including an "alive at 5" news broadcast. We made the front page headlines with two color front page photos in Washington PA.
Afterwards, we all went to Froggy's restaurant...the site of an ADAPT action over lack of access three months ago. Froggy had a new ramp that did not fit the threshold. After angry words and 45 minutes, the ramp was cut down to size. However, once inside we discovered that his accessible restroom was certainly NOT accessible. More action to come on both fronts! >>
HARRISBURG from Josie
Mostly through Linda's recruiting, the Harrisburg contingent was 24 strong. Every time a bus came up or out the driveway, it was met with a closed street. The cops came out, arrested the same sorry ADAPT members over and over again, and dragged us off the street. John was told he was cited three times. Debby showed up late, and was arrested less than five minutes after she arrived. I forget how many times they told me I was cited. Probably about three. All in all, they told about seven of us that we were cited -- again, and again. But I don't think we really were. They took our names and addresses down, but didn't give us anything in return. We'll see what the mail man brings.....
We got good coverage on both the 6:00 and 11:00 news on all three major stations.
Lots of police attention, too. Two vans, one canine unit, two squad cars, four bicycle cops and two horses. The horses helped block the street. We also got our target to fax our demands to the CEO, and made him give us a receipt. The strange thing was, they insisted we hand-write the demands before they would fax them. Whatever. He complained about how long it took Dallas to receive the fax.
Apparently the line was busy, or something.
Folks at our action from Lebanon County came in on the .... Greyhound buses. When it was time for them to go back, a newspaper reporter was still there. He couldn't believe that one woman had to be carried on the bus. I don't think he took us literally until he saw it with his own eyes.
Although we got what we wanted about ten to five, we didn't leave until 5:30, so we could see the Lebanon group off on the ... Greyhound buses. As each one was carried up, or dragged themselves up with canes, we all chanted "We will ride."
Our group wants to come back together on Monday. For debriefing, of course, and because we are considering going after Greyhound again....depending on whether or not Greyhound will meet with ADAPT.
NEW YORK CITY from T.K.
The following is an account of our activities in the New York City area on August 8, 1997. This article is scheduled to be printed in a local newspaper in the metropolitan area. The paper is Able News and has a circulation of about 30,000. By the way, we were covered in the New York Times. T.K.
DIA and ADAPT detain the dog: As part of a national day of protest against Greyhound Bus Company, the disability community in New York City organized a demonstration at the Port Authority Bus Terminal on August 8th. The local event was planned in New York City by Disabled In Action and ADAPT-New York. The Action at the Bus Terminal at 42nd Street was one of over forty such demonstrations throughout the country. Approximately 30 people turned out to tame the dirty dog, Greyhound!
Greyhound was selected as the target of our protest because they are the leader of the Over The Road Bus industry and have been very successful in lobbying against making these buses accessible to people with mobility impairments. When the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) was passed, Greyhound extracted from Congress an extra 7 years before they had to comply with the law. More recently, Greyhound was able to sneak a provision into last year's Highway Bill that created an amendment to the ADA giving them even more time to comply. The issue has become more critical of late since, in the near future, Greyhound will be replacing all their buses with new inaccessible buses that will last about 20 years. This will effectively result in a complete lack of access until well into the 21 Century.
Our demonstration at the Port Authority Bus Terminal began with a unexpected twist. Somehow the police knew exactly where we were gathering and were waiting for our arrival. It was decided that we would disrupt the Greyhound ticket sales on the first floor. Greyhound and the police in turn tried to keep our activities contained. After chanting, cheering, and distributing anti-Greyhound flyers for about an hour, we attempted slip the police surveillance. We tried to make the police believe that we were done with our demonstration and heading home.
Straight from our success in disrupting the ticket sales, the group ventured onto the streets of New York City in search of a vehicle owned by that dirty dog, Greyhound. In no time we found one of these rapid dogs and quickly detained the beast. The bus was spotted by the fearless leader of Disabled In Action, Nadina. Without hesitation, Nadina jumped the curb with her wheelchair and stopped the bus. The daring act of Nadina seemed to be short lived. Three cops immediately grabbed her wheelchair and lifted her back onto the sidewalk.
Others quickly followed Nadina's lead and also got in the street to block the bus. Before long there were so many people using wheelchairs surrounding the bus that the police gave up their efforts at returning people to the sidewalk.
Upon realizing that we were serious in our cause, the local officials of Greyhound were summoned to receive our demands. Basically, we just wanted the national demands of ADAPT to be faxed to the headquarters of Greyhound in Dallas, Texas, and that we receive a written acknowledgment of these demands. With these demands we were successful.
However, with the actual demands from national ADAPT that's another matter. ADAPT wants Greyhound to: (1) Stop buying buses without lifts, (2) Write DOT Secretary Slader to say the regs should require all new buses have lifts, (3) have Craig Lentzsch, CEO of Greyhound issue a public apology to the disability community for the sorry excuse for service they have provided for the past 7 plus years, and (4) have Craig Lentzsch meet with ADAPT.
For those who are disappointed that they missed the demonstration, there will be others in the near future. At a similar demonstration in Dallas at the corporate headquarters of Greyhound, Lentzsch categorically dismissed our demands. In short, the battle with Greyhound and other such carriers has just begun. There will definitely be more demonstrations in NYC and around the nation. If you are interested in getting involved with this important struggle contact me directly at: (718) 875-1907 or DIA (718) 261-3737
ROCHESTER from Joe & Debbie
Wow, did we do great in Rochester NY!!!! We had over 60 people participating in the shut down of Greyhound! We blocked one Greyhound bus at the Trailways Terminal because Greyhound operates out of this station.
We had anywhere from 6-12 people willing to be arrested. Many of the passengers were angered at the "inconvenience". One lady was quoted on the news as saying, "she understands that we want to ride the bus, but how often do they use it?? Do they use it every three months like I do??" (WE WOULD IF WE COULD GET ON THE BUS!!!!!)
While we were outside stopping the bus, Joe and Sarah were inside negotiating the demands. Jack Barker, Vice President of NY Trailways agreed to fax our demands to Greyhound officials in Dallas. At about 4:30, the faxed acknowledgement arrived at the Trailways office. We then declared a Victory for now telling them we would be back if Greyhound fails to comply!
Until the next time... WE WILL RIDE!!!!!
DAYTON from Maria
Since we were not in a position for arrests [no legal sponsor] and most of the group had never participated in an action before we decided not to block off anything right away. We did a peaceful protest right outside the main doors and handed out copies of the press release while Wade and Mike went inside with the demands.
We had two officers outside with us. One asked us to move up some because we were blocking the entrance. Mike and Wade had one officer inside with them the entire time.
We were there for about two hours when the fax finally went through from inside. It was a good protest and I think more people will be willing to get involved next time.
MICHIGAN... from Ward
ADAPT/MI had two major cities in it's sights Fri. the 8th, Detroit and Grand Rapids. The Grand Rapids Action was by far more successful, by shear numbers alone, 13 people, though Detroit, with only 3 people got their demands fulfilled too.
The Grand Rapids group, led by the inimitable personality Weasel, garnered 2 station TV coverage too.
There were no arrests, threatened, or actual.... We've talked, and decided we'd like GOIN' BACK ON A WEEKEND DAY.... so more of our folks can join us.
GRAND RAPIDS from Suzie
Our action was somewhat small but together we were strong. We had probably about 15 folks at our peak, our channel 8 & channel 13 news came out & did the interview thing with Weasel. All was very peaceful, & went well although the manager of the terminal took it all very personally. We all had awesome dirty dog signs & posters and rallied much support from passers by as my kids held up signs to honk in our support . At times it was pretty noisy as some folks really honked passionately especially all the big truck drivers !!!! I took lotsa pictures so if you want any for any reason let me know, other than that we took no prisoners, but really made our presence known!
CHICAGO
Chicago had 40 people protesting Greyhound! When we arrived the police were already waiting.
We Chanted for over an hour ( "We will Ride", "Give us a lift, not the shaft!"....) while the media did interviews, including a few in Spanish. 11 Media outlets we there, got coverage on most local stations.
Later we blocked all the driveways for the exiting and entering busses. The arrest vehicles soon arrived but the police spent their time individually dragging us out of the driveways.
The Chicago District Greyhound Manager, Richard Braun did a Sun Times interview saying that Greyhound is in "full compliance" because "employees are made available to help passengers with disabilities board the coaches"........and that the system "works best when people give the company 48 hours notice"
He did agree to fax ADAPT's demands to Dallas and to meet with Chicago ADAPT on August 19th.
FYI .....APTA will be meeting in Chicago at the end of September.
IN THE NATION'S CAPITOL from Jill
Yesterday's Greyhound rally in DC went fine! In terms of fear on the part of Greyhound, the possibility of embarrassment over them denying my son a ticket (I had tried to purchase tickets for our family to travel together) last week seemed to spook them. I got a call from the ADA Director at Greyhound's corporate office on Thursday night. After a 45 minute conversation, I told her that her attempts at accommodating my family were not what I considered fair or acceptable service, and that I would be at the Greyhound station in DC, as planned. It turns out that Greyhound's PR Department had been telling the media all day Thursday that they had denied selling me a ticket for my son because I wanted to put him on a bus alone!
When I arrived at the station, there were half a dozen DC police officers in place. As I scoped the area and began to unload my belongings, a few others showed up. A police officer approached me asking if I was 'loitering', and I assured him that I was not, and had every intention of buying a bus ticket at some point during the demonstration. The police then cordoned off the area for a block behind the station on either side of the building, and blocked off the entrance and exits to the bus loading area with police vans.
Twenty protesters showed up. Justin Dart, Jim Dickson, and Jennifer Simpson (UCPA) were all there. UCPA passed out press statements in support.
After 45 minutes of sign waving outside, we went inside to buy tickets. I was able to purchase tickets for my family, as was another wheelchair rider. Of course, they were unable to get my son's wheelchair on the bus, and he could not sit in the chair they provided to take him into the bus. They offered to transport his wheelchair in the cargo bay, and it might have fit, but they would only assume damages up to $250, so I declined that option. When talking with the Greyhound ADA director the previous night, she had refused to let me take car seats on for Collin and Laura to ride in. She recommended that I "run out to a medical supply shop and buy some restraints for the children to wear on the bus." (Collin and Laura both have CP - Collin uses a power wheelchair and cannot sit up without his seating system that is in his chair. Laura walks with leg braces, but cannot sit in a moving vehicle without a seatbelt and something under her thighs to keep her from falling out of the seat) Obviously, the only acceptable solution for me is for Greyhound to put lifts on their buses.
Their policy regarding families travelling with mobility-impaired children is non-existent, as far as I am concerned. There was confusion at every step of the process. Robert Reuter, the other wheelchair rider who purchased a ticket, was also unable to get on the bus. Nine or ten people stayed inside carrying signs and passing out fact sheets while we tried to get on the bus.
Finally, after an hour of tying up employees and keeping the bus from leaving, we were offered refunds, which we refused, and left the station.
Some things I noticed:
a. Greyhound PR Department giving incorrect and possibly slanderous information to the press about the issue of me taking my family on the bus.
b. Greyhound changed the recordings on their Customer Service lines Thursday afternoon and evening to say that they 'are disability friendly, however, parents must travel with all children under the age of __. Parents of children with disabilities are expected to make the same responsible decisions for the care and safety of their children as any other parent."
c. All Greyhound personnel were armed with clipboards with 'Media and public information pointers regarding adults and children with disabilities.'
D.C. from Bob
About 20 activists gathered at the DC Greyhound terminal. We were waited on and some of us bought tickets to some nearby points.
Justin was there and engaged the terminal manager in some verbal sparing, the terminal manager was outgunned! we did notice that he had on the top of his clipboard a memo from headquarters on the ADAPT action Justin tried to get a copy from him but he refused, I was unable to read much of it.
I was one of the folks that bought a ticket and then tried to board, since I have a non-folding chair they could not figure out how to get it on board, and they could not get me onto the Aisle chair (standard aircraft type) to get me on. So we had a "Mexican standoff" for about an hour and a half. I sat in the doorway of a bus that was built in October '93 and they sent the driver to another bus.
They were going to put each of us on our own "private" bus, they did not allow any other passengers on that bus, they put them all on a different bus.
....Sat morn. There is nothing in the Baltimore paper on the DC action, however there is a little (2 inch) article in the National roundup section on the action at headquarters in Dallas.
ATLANTA from Zan
Georgia ADAPT had 10-12 people, mostly new comers. Police immediately threatened to arrest us for not having a protest permit. We marched on...as the cop followed us in a panic-saying, "you will be arrested." I said," ok- then we will all get arrested." We informed him that we would contact our attorney right then and started walking toward the ACLU, and the cop said--"hey- we can be rational here..." I said, "We are being rational, Greyhound is denying our civil rights and I am going to get the lawyer right now."
The cop left us alone until Leonard led the way to inside the building to give the manager our demands. The manager told the press that they did fax the demands to the headquarters. Police took the five ADAPTers out as they chanted ,"we wanta ride!".
Greyhound Lines Inc. told the media, including the Atlanta Constitution, that it complies with all applicable laws regarding handicapped access. It said the line has spent more than $3.8 million to help disabled people use Greyhound buses. The company also said wheelchair lifts installed as a test in California and Michigan were rarely used.
But other passengers also talked to the Constitution. "People who ride Greyhound, what are they supposed to do if they have a disabled family member?" wondered Bryan Raymond, awaiting a bus to his hometown of Jacksonville. "Greyhound makes enough money to change the buses."
All major press 4 TV channels, several papers, radio were here. Leonard had excellent interviews on TV and radio! (have on tape and video--an TV stuff is all captioned!) Our numbers according to the media ranged from 50 to 15 .
Kudos to all ADAPTers-being able to say it was nation wide really helped!
MEMPHIS from Tim
Members of Memphis American Disabled for Attendant Programs Today (ADAPT) blocked buses from leaving the downtown terminal for 45 minutes protesting Greyhound Line's buying inaccessible buses.
Memphis police arrested seven for criminal trespass.
Protesters demanded that Greyhound stop purchasing inaccessible buses, and that the CEO of Greyhound Line Inc., Craig Lentzsch, meet with national ADAPT, apologize, and work to publish Department of Transportation regulations as specified by the 1990 Americans with Disabilities Act.
Memphis downtown terminal manager Jeff Brown apparently sent the demands to the Dallas office, but was unwilling to take any action locally to meet the demonstrators demands. Similar actions took place in 40 cities around the U.S.
No buses left the terminal during the demonstration, although only one bus was physically blocked. Other protesters distributed leaflets saying "That dog don't hunt," and explaining to riders that Greyhound opposes adding lifts because they desire special treatment and hand-outs. Lifts on over-the-road buses are a practical, affordable accommodation according to the Office of Technical Assessment. Accessible technology adds only 1% to the operating cost for the life of a vehicle.
"We are asking that Greyhound do business with all American's," said Tim of Memphis ADAPT. " Excluding people with disabilities does not make them more economically viable."
The arrests allowed the bus scheduled for Birmingham to leave about 30 minutes late. Protesters were arrested but not cited. Dawn refused to move hiding the key to her powered wheelchair until the police said that refusal to move would result in a further charge of resisting arrest. A sign on the front of her scooter read: "To sin by silence when they should protest makes cowards of men." - Abraham Lincoln.
ST LOUIS From: Michelle
I don't even know where to begin? We had a kick @#% protest! Probably a good 60 of us and two real dogs. We made special signs for Dremel (Heather's dog) to wear saying of course, Greyhound gives dogs a bad name, and on the other side, real dog on strike! We tried our darndest, but they would not arrest us. I'm imagining your story might be a little different. They said they were going to arrest us about a hundred times, even called in the hostage task force (in fatigues no less), the police colonel (my personal new closest pal), two hook and ladder trucks and many firemen with axes, some people in the major's disability office, and 50 regular ol' police! They called in a bunch of call-a-ride buses (the special disabled transit around here) and had them waiting to take us to the big house. They cut Heather and Mark's chain and convinced them they were under arrest and moved them towards the bus but then never loaded them on. Our people stayed there but the police held them back so the buses could finally get out after 2+ hours.
Julie and I went around front zipped right in the drive to block it off again and never moved until they picked up our chairs and pulled us up on the curb, almost dumping us both out. The police roped off the alley so we were split in half on both sides and the buses got out, and we were afraid they were getting ugly (though still not arresting us) so we called it a day. We chanted it it's not over, we'll be back and went on our merry way. Every news station was there for most of it and the paper too, so I think we definitely gave them all something to write home about! It was incredible! My sister got all the good stuff on tape, since she's 5 months pregnant no one even said a word to her. WE WILL RIDE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Mark
By my estimates, we blocked buses 3.5 hours, from 1:30-4:00. These were the coolest cops I've ever met, and the few passenger I saw (chained in front the buses) were supportive and friendly too. The other side of d station had the wicked and mean mother though... God blessed us with a beeeautiful day ...no overheated St. Louis people :-]
They had me and Heather ready to load, when David(the lawguy) rolled up. He asked if we were gettin busted, and it was the opportunity the cop needed to let us go...buuut, it also got us outv the buses' way...c'est la vie.
We happened to catch the terminal chock full at 1:30 when we moved in! 8 buses never moved. The incoming buses unloaded, but the Greyhound guys never did have people walk across the street and load up... dunno why.
WE WILL RIDE!!!
ST. LOUIS ADAPT CHAPTER HAD AN AWESOME PROTEST AT THE GREYHOUND STATION. WE BLOCKED 3-5 BUSES AND PASSENGERS/PARCELS FOR AT LEAST 2 1/2 HOURS. MICHELLE DID A GREAT JOB ORGANIZING OUR PROTEST HERE IN ST. LOUIS!! KUDOS, MICHELLE! GLAD TO HAVE BEEN PART OF IT--LOOK FORWARD TO MORE.
JULIE
WILMINGTON, DE Daniese & Linda
Hi all, It's 7:30 p.m. Aug. 8, 1997. Linda and I just got back from the Greyhound Bus Station. We started out with a force of 5 and 1 more warrior was able to join us for half a hour. We tied up the ticket counter for a short while but there was just too few of us.
(Linda and I were the only ones to go inside) We may be small but Delaware (at least Wilmington) knows we are here. We had two bullhorns to make up some for few voices and engaged many riders in conversation.
Many voiced their support for civil rights and our right to ride. I seem to have almost lost my voice completely now. a few people thought we were the ones getting in their way but we kept insisting "WE WILL RIDE"
We handed out flyers and herd tales of the goings on in Philly and DC. A man gave Linda a dollar. Can you believe it? But the most obnoxious person (that doesn't work for Greyhound) was a school bus driver. He said we should not ride at all because we take up too much time to get on and we inconvenience everyone else. He also said if he was a Greyhound driver he would run right over us if we blocked a bus. It's real scary to know he's out there driving our children to school, don't ya think. He should have been arrested for terroristic threats. Kept trying to talk to him, but something about "casting pearls to pigs" kept coming to mind.
WE WILL RIDE!
YELLOWSTONE PARK
From: J. Quinn B.
A NY friend who has been visiting Yellowstone Park phoned me 13 AUG. to say that the 8 AUG. Greyhound actions received good coverage in WY, NE, IA, IL, IN, OH, PA, NJ, and NY as he traveled home last weekend.
NEW HAMPSHIRE From: Bunny
As to what happened on the 8th, it was great! I had a transportation problem, so I did my hounding of that bad dog on the telephone. I used Greyhound's 800 number on the morning of the 8th to get some information straight from that bad dog's mouth. I asked about transportation from Boston to Washington on Nov. 7th. Then I asked if the buses were all handicap accessible and the woman answered, "None of the buses are handicap accessible, and they should be!" I like her thinking.) I acted very surprised and told her that I thought most of them had to be because of the ADA passed 7 years ago. She said that they should be but aren't. She further told me that if I were to call 48 hours before hand, they would have someone there to help me on and someone on the other end to help me off. The lady acted as disgusted with the idea as I felt.
I called back in the afternoon, a little after three and hit them with the information that I had gathered and suggested that they do something about it.
We Will Ride!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
OTTAWA CANADA: enthusiastic support!
Hi there from Ottawa Canada. We're served by Greyhound here as well & should be applying the same pressure as you are in the States. I was out of town & away from my computer & missed the Aug. 8 day, but I would love some up-dates on the events of Aug.8 and what progress was made to put in our next Independent Living Centre's newsletter (of which I'm both the editor & main writer).
Up here I'm working on our local buses 'cause even they are not accessible. Ottawa was scheduled to buy it's first 20 low-floor buses, but at the same time they're gonna buy an additional 20 regular (inaccessible) busses.
Our government is subsidizing the low-floors at 50% (of $380,000) and the high-floors at 75% (of $360,000) , making the cost to the city $190,000 more per low-floor bus. Without the subsidies, low-floors are only $20,000 more.
I'm trying to mobilize the disability community here to apply pressure on government/transit authority to only buy accessible busses., so I could use some success stories about how direct action worked. I'm looking for stories that people would allow me to put in my newsletter.
You can e-mail me directly at shaiala@statcan.ca Alan Shain
SYDNEY, NEW SOUTH WALES, AUSTRALIA I am in Australia and obviously I did not demonstrate in the US. But maybe we can hit Greyhound here too... Wouldn't that piss them off! It will be great to hear how it went! I was glad to see the forwarded message about ADAPT's actions against Greyhound.
From: USA Today ...
BUS PROTEST: Protesters in about 40 cities demonstrated against Greyhound Lines, saying its buses don't have enough wheelchair lifts. About 150 showed up at the company's Dallas headquarters, Friday. The American Disabled for Accessible Public Transit says Greyhound is replacing its entire fleet with buses inaccessible to wheelchairs. Greyhound has lifts on some buses, but use is sporadic, said a spokesman. He said Greyhound has 2,000 buses and each lift costs more than $8,000.
AND THAT'S IT FOR NOW....