Ground Transportation

Well, after five weeks on the road, it's good to be home again. And after driving over 7,000 miles through some 23 states, we had more than a few unforgettable moments. Here are a few of our favorites.

Continue reading "Road Trip Roundup" »

As I was searching for some accessible airport transportation for a friend last week, Charles happened across a great resource - the National Limousine Association.



Continue reading "Resource for Finding Accessible Airport..." »

Accessible taxi service is now expanding to mid-size cities - cities like Poughkeepsie, NY. And the ones in Poughkeepsie aren't your average ramped-van type of accessible taxis. They're an entirely new design, one that works for taxi companies and passengers alike.

Continue reading "New Accessible Taxi Design" »

I find new accessible travel resources in a variety of ways - from reader recommendations and PR Rep pitches, to my own intensive research and gut instinct. In the end, sometimes it just boils down to plain old good luck. That's what was in play yesterday as Charles and I were cruising down the freeway, on the way home from a full day of errands. Continue reading "New Accessible Van Resource" »

In accessible travel news from across the Big Pond, scooters are now prohibited on the the Tyne and Wear Metro system. Apparently this new regulation is the result of several near misses with scooter-users. The ban replaces a temporary regulation enacted in April, which required scooter-users to travel with a companion.

Continue reading "Scooters Banned on Some UK Trains" »

I have to admit that Bahrain isn't the first place that comes to mind when somebody asks about wheelchair access; which is why an article touting the upcoming delivery of 300 accessible taxis to a new government-backed taxi service in that locale really wowed me.

Continue reading "Accessible Taxis Coming to Where?" »

This week Avis Rent A Car announced that the latest addition to their Avis Access program is getting a few upgrades and going nationwide. The pilot program, which allowed customers to rent lightweight folding scooters and have them waiting in their rental cars, is now avaialble at all Avis locations across the US. The program has also been modified to give customers a wider selection of mobility equipment, including heavy duty scooters, power chairs and manual wheelchairs.

"Customer response to mobility scooters in Orlando and Las Vegas was strong," said Michael Caron, vice president of product and program development for Avis Budget Group, Inc.

This mobility equipment rental program is operated in partnership with Scootaround. There is an extra charge for the equipment, and the minimum rental period is three days.

Other components of the Avis Access program include the availability of transfer boards, hand controls, spinner knobs, panoramic mirrors and swivel seats in their rental vehicles. There is no charge for any of these items, but advance notice is required.

I find it interesting that the accessible vehicle equipment part of the Avis Access program was implemented as the result of a legal ruling; however the mobility equipment rental part was market driven.

And it seems the market has responded enthusiastically.

No big surprise there!

Earlier this month a Greenville, SC woman got a ticket for parking in an accessible parking space. Not an unusual occurrence, but this story has a little twist to it.

Apparently Topeka Mendoza was taking her mom to the store when the incident occurred. Now mom is disabled, so Topeka dropped her off near the front door of the store and then went to park.

She had mom's placard and she parked in an accessible space.

Was it legal?

No, not according to the officer who wrote out the $440 ticket.

The caveat is that the disabled individual has to actually be in the vehicle at the time you park it.

At first I thought, well that's not fair. I mean Ms. Mendoza was just dropping off mom so she would be closer to the door, so you shouldn't penalize her for that.

But then I thought about it for a bit, and I changed my mind. If mom wasn't in the car when Topeka parked, then why should she be taking up an accessible parking space? A space that somebody else who really needed it could use.

I mean it's not like the placard is a bonus gift you get when you become disabled. It's for you to use to make it easier to get around.

Truth be told, Topeka had no need for the accessible space, so she shouldn't have taken it. Granted it's an expensive lesson to learn, but hopefully she learned it.

And, in the end, that means there will be one more accessible parking space available. And that's a very good thing.

A new public awareness campaign by the United Spinal Association focuses on educating the public about the purpose of the access aisles next to the accessible parking spaces.

In short they are trying to emphasize courtesy, as the summer travel seasons begins. The thinking behind the whole campaign is that if people can actually see and understand why the access aisles are there, they won’t block them.

In other words, the blue hash-marks don’t indicate a parking place for motorcycles or sub-compact cars.

This whole education campaign is done with a few simple photographs; one of a car parked on the hash-marks and one of a man using his wheelchair-lift deployed on those hash-marks.

I don’t know if it will work, but I’m all in favor of awareness. Check out the campaign for yourself at www.unitedspinal.org.