AVERAGE ANNUAL SNOWFALL IS 40 TO 42 INCHES AND THE MEAN WINTER TEMPERATURE IS ABOUT 28 DEGREES.

ANY WISCONSIN RESIDENT KNOWS AND UNDERSTANDS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN A DENVER POWDER SNOWFALL WHICH MELTS OFF IN A DAY OR TWO AND OUR WET, HEAVY ACCUMULATION WHICH COVERS THE GROUND AND PILES HIGHER AND HIGHER INTO THE WINTER. WHEN WE GET A MILD MELT DOWN DURING A RARE ABOVE FREEZING DAY, THE SLUSH MELTS FROM UNDER THE SNOW COVER ONLY TO FREEZE INTO SLICK ICE AS TEMPERATURES DIP DURING THE NIGHT. IF EACH HOUSEHOLD HAS NOT SHOVELED THAT SLUSH ON THE VERY DAY OF THE SNOWFALL, A HAZARDOUS PATH OF ICE BUILDS AND MAY REMAIN UNTIL A TOTAL MELT OCCURS IN APRIL.

IN ADDITION, WHEN THE WIND BLOWS ACROSS THE SNOW SURFACE IT CREATES WHAT WE KNOW AS WINDCHILL. THE ACTUAL TEMPERATURE MAY BE

28 DEGREES. HOWEVER, THE WINDCHILL ON THE SAME DAY MAY BE CLOSER TO 10 DEGREES. TRAVAILING THE SNOW AND ICE TO WAIT 15 OR 20

MINUTES IN 10 DEGREE WINDCHILL FOR A BUS CHALLENGES THE SOUL OF

EVEN THE MOST DETERMINED WISCONSINITE.

BASED ON THE MILWAUKEE EXPERIENCE, PERSONS WITH DISABILITIES PREFER, IF NOT REQUIRE, DOOR-TO-DOOR SERVICE. BUT DON'T TAKE MY WORD FOR IT. THE DISABLED OF MILWAUKEE HAVE EXPRESSED THEMSELVES IN THE MOST DRAMATIC FASHION -- NOT BY POLITICAL PRESSURE, NOT BY DEMONSTRATIONS OR LETTERS BUT BY ACTUALLY USING PARATRANSIT OVER

ACCESSIBLE BUSES WHEN BOTH WERE AVAILABLE. OUR RIDERSHIP COUNT ON

ACCESSIBLE BUSES (ATTACHED) SHOWS THE SHARP DECLINE DURING WINTER

MONTHS.

1

10

I MIGHT ADD THAT MILWAUKEE IS NOT THE ONLY INCLEMENT WEATHER JURISDICTION WITH THIS EXPERIENCE. IT HAS BEEN REPEATED AGAIN AND AGAIN IN OTHER INCLEMENT WEATHER SUBCOMMITTEE WOULD LIKE, I WOULD BE GLAD TO PROVIDE A VARIETY OF SURVEYS OF THE DISABLED COMMUNITIES' PREFERENCES AND RIDERSHIP FROM

OTHER SUCH JURISDICTIONS.

JURISDICTIONS.

IF

THE TRANSIT INDUSTRY IS IN GREAT FINANCIAL DIFFICULTIES.

THE

THE

THE

FAREBOX PROVIDES ONE-THIRD OR LESS OF THE COSTS OF OPERATION. FINANCIAL BURDEN OF PROVIDING AN ACCESSIBLE BUS SYSTEM FOR A VERY FEW, AS WELL AS AN EFFECTIVE PARATRANSIT SERVICE MAY PROVE TO BE TOO MUCH TO BEAR WITHOUT SUBSTANTIAL REDUCTIONS IN PARATRANSIT SERVICE AND/OR SERVICE TO THE GENERAL PUBLIC.

THERE IS NO QUESTION THAT THE DISABLED DESERVE TRUE MOBILITY. THERE IS ALSO NO QUESTION THAT THE BUS, AS WE KNOW IT, CAN BE MADE MORE ACCESSIBLE TO MANY DISABLED PEOPLE. WE SHOULD BE EXPENDING OUR EFFORTS TO HAVE LARGER DESTINATION SIGNS AND SIGNALING DEVICES TO AID VISUALLY DISABLED PEOPLE AND VISUAL AIDS TO HELP THE DISABLED WITH HEARING PROBLEMS. INSTEAD, WE ARE SPENDING LARGE AMOUNTS OF MONEY, LARGE AMOUNTS OF TIME AND ENERGY ON LIFTS THAT, IF OPERATED PERFECTLY, COULD SERVE VERY FEW PEOPLE. A LIFTEQUIPPED BUS, AT BEST, SERVES BUT A SMALL FRACTION OF THE MOBILITYDISABLED POPULATION. A LIFT CANNOT BE USED BY USERS OF CRUTCHES, WALKERS, THE BLIND, AND MANY OTHER DISABLED PEOPLE WHO ARE NOT DEPENDENT UPON WHEELCHAIRS. AN ALTERNATIVE SERVICE, SUCH AS WE OFFER TODAY IN MILWAUKEE, CAN SERVE ALL DISABLED PEOPLE.

11

A TRANSIT VEHICLE, BE IT A BUS OR RAIL, IS BUT ONE MEANS OF ACCESSIBILITY TO REACH FACILITIES. IT IS MY BELIEF THAT PERSONS

IN MILWAUKEE NEED ACCESSIBILITY TO WORK, TO SCHOOL, TO RECREATION, AND TO ALL THE OTHER RIDING OBJECTIVES OF ANY OTHER PERSON. THE SYMBOLIC MOBILITY PROVIDED BY A BUS LIFT IS A CRUEL JOKE FOR THE DISABLED WHEN IN FACT IT IS UNUSABLE BY THE GREAT MAJORITY OF THESE

INDIVIDUALS.

IF THE MILWAUKEE EXPERIENCE IS AT ALL INDICATIVE OF THE PROBLEM OF TRANSPORTATION FOR THE DISABLED, THERE IS NO REAL QUESTION OF CHOOSING ALTERNATIVES. ONE PROGRAM MEETS THE MOBILITY

NEEDS OF THE DISABLED, THE OTHER PROGRAM MAKES BUSES, BUT NOT NECESSARILY THE BUS SYSTEM, ACCESSIBLE. IN THE 2 3/4 YEARS OF LIFT BUS OPERATION, THE USER-SIDE SUBSIDY PROGRAM PROVIDED IN EXCESS OF 280,000 TRIPS OF WHICH APPROXIMATELY 195,000 WERE WHEELCHAIR USERS. THE LIFT-EQUIPPED BUSES IN THE SAME TIME PERIOD PROVIDED 1,495 TRIPS FOR WHEELCHAIR USERS. DOOR-TO-DOOR SERVICE IS NOT SIMPLY

PREFERABLE TO LIFT-EQUIPPED BUSES IN INCREASING THE MOBILITY OF DISABLED PERSONS, BUT IT IS ESSENTIAL IF TRUE MOBILITY, RATHER THAN SYMBOLIC ACCESSIBILITY IS THE DESIRED RESULT. FEW COMMUNITIES CAN

AFFORD BOTH.

LOCAL OPTION IN COOPERATION WITH THE DISABLED

COMMUNITY HAS BEEN WORKING IN MILWAUKEE.

THANK YOU FOR YOUR ATTENTION. I WILL BE PLEASED TO ANSWER ANY

QUESTIONS.

36-873 0-91-31

Mr. MINETA. I would now like to cail forward a panel made up of Kathleen Parker, Board Member of the Regional Transportation Authority of Chicago; Douglas Donenfeld, Board Member and Chairman of the Finance, Audit and Budget Committee, Chicago Transit Authority; Lou Gambaccini, General Manager of SEPTA and Dick Sandaas, Executive Director of METRO in Seattle.

Ms. Parker, we have your prepared statement. It will be made a part of the record. Ms. Parker, if you will proceed in your own fashion, please.

TESTIMONY OF A PANEL, CONSISTING OF KATHLEEN PARKER, BOARD MEMBER, REGIONAL TRANSPORTATION AUTHORITY, CHICAGO; DOUGLAS DONENFELD, BOARD MEMBER AND CHAIRMAN OF THE FINANCE, AUDIT AND BUDGET COMMITTEE, CHICAGO TRANSIT AUTHORITY; LOUIS GAMBACCINI, GENERAL MANAGER, SOUTHEASTERN PENNSYLVANIA TRANSPORTATION AUTHORITY; AND DICK SANDAAS, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, METRO, SEATTLE

Ms. PARKER. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. You do have our statements, so I will summarize it. Mr. Chairman, members of the subcommittee, my name is Kathleen Parker. I serve on the Board of the Northeastern Illinois Regional Transportation Authority which serves a six-county Chicago metropolitan area. The RTA is responsible for overseeing a transportation network which serves approximately 2.5 million riders per day in our area.

That number includes 3,100 daily paratransit riders for the disabled. I have served on the RTA Board since 1983 and have been Chairman of our Committee on the Mobility Limited since 1984. I am here today on behalf of our board and our chairman, Gail Franzen, who was unable to be in Washington today. I am testifying for the RTA, CTA, METRA and PACE.

I appear before you to express support for the broad goals of the ADA. But these broad goals can only be achieved if certain changes are made in the ADA. We applaud the House and Senate sponsors of this legislation for addressing long perpetuated civil wrongs and seeking to replace them with civil rights.

However, in several instances, we would maintain that the legislation before you as it emerged from the Senate will lengthen implementation time and add to the difficulty of achieving its stated objectives. As a local agency, which has sought to comply with a variety of federal regulations in this area, the RTA has some experience to bring to your deliberations.

In particular, I would like to acquaint you, briefly, with the regional plan for the Mobility Limited which we have just developed after a ten-month policy process. This local plan was developed in consultation for our Mobility-Limited Advisory Committee, MLAC, which includes representatives of the key groups representing the disabled in our region.

Further, our plan is consistent with the recommendations of the Illinois Governor's Task Force on Disabled Transportation completed in 1985. The result of these efforts is a realistic and compassionate plan for providing mobility to those who, until now, have felt excluded from the service provided by transit providers.